Survey counts homeless youth
Cambodia’s seven largest urban centres are home to nearly 2,700 homeless adolescents who face numerous health and education-related obstacles, according to a new study by the Cambodian National Institute of Statistics, Columbia University and Friends International. The study is the first in Cambodia to use two simultaneous head counts, a research method known as capture-recapture, which is thought to produce more accurate estimates of homeless populations. “Findings suggest the number of homeless adolescents in Cambodia is much greater than one would expect if relying on single count data alone and that this population faces many hardships,” the study’s authors concluded. Young people were included in the study if they were between the ages of 13 and 17 and lived on the street, in emergency shelters or in public places, including the many construction sites erected in the Kingdom’s cities.
