Social development
Family, children and youth
All children to have free healthcare in next three months
The Ministry of Health has confirmed that children will receive free healthcare at government hospitals within the next three months. The initiative is aimed at encouraging more parents to take their sick children to hospital and reduce the high rate of mortality among children under ...
Youth keying into digital economy
Southeast Asia’s youthful population is embracing the internet and rapidly connecting to the digital economy, creating enormous potential for economic growth throughout the region, panellists at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN said on May 10. Addressing a panel discussion on “The ASEAN Dream”, Kao ...
PM okays funds for social support system
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has approved a target programme to develop a social support system for the 2016-20 period. The programme is aimed to create a safe, friendly and healthy living environment for children and reduce the rate of increase in the number of ...
Shamed and exploited
Kneeling on the wooden floorboards of the Cambodian Prostitute Union’s “drop-in” centre, Bopha’s voice began to tremble as she spoke of the obstacles her daughter faced at school. Bopha, whose name has been changed to protect her identity as a sex worker, said her daughter’s ...
New education plan focuses on inspiring students
Education minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin has pledged to make upcoming educational reforms relevant to children. “Without relevancy, the reform can’t be successful,” he said on April 20 at a press conference on the new national education plan, which is meant to run from 2017 to 2036. Teerakiat said ...
Over 35,000 kids still in care
A staggering 35,000 Cambodian children and young people continue to be housed in a range of residential care facilities, with many of them flying under the government’s radar, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Social Affairs on April 20. The report ...
Ministry cracks down in orphans scandal
The Ministry of Social Affairs has decided to reintegrate more than 3,000 children in orphanages back into families after discovering the abysmal conditions of many facilities, with some having reported sexual abuse. The announcement, which was made during the launch of the Mapping of Residential ...
Anti-trafficking police to take over Suphan Buri gang-rape investigation
The Anti-Human Trafficking Division has taken over a case in which a 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped at a gaming cafe in Suphan Buri province. The alleged sexual attack took place last November. But local police have to date pressed charges against just one suspect. ...
Cambodia’s cycle of abuse
Childhood trauma remains stubbornly high in Cambodia, leading to perpetration and experience of violence against women, which in turn leads to further maltreatment of children, completing a cycle of abuse, a new UN-supported study suggests. The study – supported by UN Women in Cambodia and ...
Earlier sex education needed to fight abuse
Public concern is once again inspiring changes to education programmes in schools, with calls for more sex education to be included in the curriculum so that children can better protect themselves from sexual abuse. Recent reports of children being sexually abused in different parts of ...