Rivers and lakes
Tonle Sap lake reflections. Photo from Mariusz Kluzniak. Uploaded on 1 January 2012. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Despite severe droughts striking the country frequently, Cambodia possesses substantial water resources, mostly contained in the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap great lake and river. The lake ...
Education and training
Chi Phat primary school, Koh Kong Province. Photo by ODC team, taken on 28 November 2017. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.Access to free, good quality education in Cambodia is a right set out in the country’s Constitution: Article 65: “The State shall protect and promote citizens’ ...
Decentralization and deconcentration
Decentralization and deconcentration are seen as “internally driven” reforms106, where the national government gradually delegates power, involving either administration or finance, to local governments to administer in their locality.27-year-old Sun Sovath supports his family by raising chickens, in Kampong Thom, Cambodia. Photo by World Bank Photo ...
Judiciary and courts
The judiciary is one of the three powers, together with the executive (the Government) and legislative (the National Assembly and the Senate), that constitute the state. 134 Its role is to monitor the application of the law and punish its violation. This power is vested ...
Constitution and rights
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia was officially promulgated by Royal Kram on 24 September 1993. Image designed by Open Development Cambodia (ODC), 10 September 2021. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.The 1993 Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia is the supreme law of the ...
Economy and commerce
Counting money. Photo by Aaron Gilson, taken on 5 April 2013. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Cambodia re-opened for international trade in the 1980s, opened up to foreign investment in 1994, joined ASEAN in 1999, and became a member of the WTO in 2004. Its bilateral ...
Water and sanitation
Children in Moung district, Battambang province, wash their hands with soap and water. Photo by WorldFish Cambodia, taken on 08 November 2018. Licensed under (CC BY-ND 2.0).Recognized as a global crisis, the United Nations has included water and sanitation in Sustainable Development Goal 6, ensuring ...
Fish farming and aquaculture
Fish farmers operating cage culture, Cambodia. Photo by O. Joffre/WorldFish, taken on 3 October 2009. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Aquaculture production has grown significantly. In 2012 it stood at 74,000 tonnes, or almost 11 percent of total fishery production. By 2016 it had grown to ...
Oil and gas resources
Oil and gas have been found on Cambodian territory but no commercial extraction has begun. When extraction may begin is uncertain while oil prices are at comparatively low levels. All the petroleum products for local demand are imported, chiefly from Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. Consumption ...
Disasters and emergency response
Cambodia flood, 2011. Photo by European Commission, taken on 11 October 2011. Licensed under CC BY 2.0Storms, flooding and lightning strikes are the major causes of death and property damage from natural disasters in Cambodia, while drought causes severe hardship, especially for farmers. In a ...
Fishing policy and administration
Young man fishing with a cast net on Siem Reap river, Cambodia. Photo by Brian Hoffman, taken on 12 January 2015. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Fisheries management in Cambodia is divided between central and local governments. At the central level, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry ...
Land sales and trades
The legal framework surrounding land sales and transfers was obliterated by the 2007 Civil Code, leaving little legal guidance. Forced land sales and distress sales are a substantial cause of land tenure insecurity in Cambodia. They are a significant cause of landlessness, and it is ...
Labor policy and administration
Children working with bricks, Cambodia. Photo by Sodanie Chea, take on 6 June 2013. Licensed under CC BY 2.0Cambodia has a total population of slightly over 15 million, most of whom are under the age of 30. An estimated 250,000 people enter the job market ...
Urban administration and development
Bird eye view of a local market in Phnom Penh. Photo by Roberto Trombetta, taken on 8 May 2015. Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 GenericThe development and administration of Cambodia’s urban areas has struggled to keep pace with urban population growth. For example, ...
Agricultural policy and administration
Agriculture in Cambodia accounts for approximately 56% of the labour force. The size of the sector means that policies developed here have a significant impact on the whole country. Agricultural policy and administration is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). There ...
Environmental and biodiversity protection
Cambodia is one of the most biodiverse countries in Southeast Asia. Biodiversity supports Cambodians ecologically, economically and culturally. It plays an important role in providing ecosystem services and economic development to achieve the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals including poverty reduction. ...
Extractive industries policy and administration
Cambodia’s extractive industries have traditionally operated on a small scale, mostly mining construction materials, gold or gemstones. While commercial production of minerals or oil has yet to begin on a large scale – these products made up just 0.1% of the country’s exports in 2016517 – ...
Forest policy and administration
Logging truck in Mondulkiri protected forest , Cambodia. Photo by Global Water Forum, taken on 23 February 2014. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0Cambodia is deeply concerned about deforestation. While the country seeks fast economic development, forests represent a tremendous national treasure. In order to help ...
Water policy and administration
In Cambodia, alternate periods of drought and heavy rains bring challenges for water management. The current trends show increasing annual rainfall and temperature throughout Cambodia, with a likelihood that both flooding and droughts will increase in frequency, severity and duration568. Water management involves issues of ...
Maternal and child health
The number of mothers who died in labour has nearly halved over four years, from 182 fatalities in 2011 to 100 in 2015.597 Deaths among children have also dropped, although they remain comparatively high, and the prevalence of underweight newborns is high compared to many ...
