Family, children and youth

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. ... ...

Almost one in every 100 children in Cambodia is living in a residential care institution, a number far higher than previous estimates, according to a new report in the British Medical Journal. ... ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng has warned the number of drug users in the country has reached 20,000, as he urged authorities to do more to tackle the problem. ...  ...

A quarter of Cambodian students want more access to books and other reading materials, a study by World Vision revealed yesterday. Of the 4,000 students surveyed by the global NGO, 25 percent said they sought “more amount and variety” of books, while 12 percent wanted “better ...

The prime minister has urged government ministries and public institutions to speed up work on an action plan to prevent violence against women and children, calling for education on the issue to start from an early age. ... ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday used a speaking slot at a children’s rights conference to once again castigate the United States, urging the UN to “increase its volume” in condemning the US for dropping bombs that maimed and killed children.​ ... ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday called on everyone whose work related to children to be conscientious and passionate about their job. He spoke at the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Regional Early Childhood Development Conference, which is being held over three days in Siem Reap City. ...

Founded in 1995 by a French couple, Christian and Marie-France des Pallieres, PSE is a well-recognized charity, home to nearly 7,000 students who are educated, fed, provided with healthcare and vocational training skills. ... ...

Despite initial hopes that the man who tortured her 2-year-old son last year would face trial in Cambodia, the child’s mother said on Tuesday that Vietnamese police have informed her that the abuser would not be extradited from Vietnam. ... ...

Watching the premiere of Angelina Jolie’s new film “First They Killed My Father” in the shadows of the ancient ruins of Angkor on Saturday night, Riem Vet was transported back to his teenage years living under the Pol Pot regime. ... ...

The government, Hagar International and Save the Children are teaming up to address the country’s lack of social workers, hoping to beef up the social service sector and deal with the growing number of children in residential care facilities – informally known as orphanages. ...  ...

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. ... ...

Cambodia’s insurance industry saw record growth in 2016 and was valued at $113 million, according to a report from the Insurance Association of Cambodia (IAC). ... ...

Even by his own admission, it is an extraordinary change in fortunes for Adam Whittington. Eight months ago, the so-called “child recovery agent” was languishing in a stark Lebanese jail facing kidnapping charges after a failed attempt to snatch two children from the streets of Beirut ...

Civil society organizations and youth groups have called for young people to be more involved in human rights and the environment. They also demanded greater protection for young activists who have suffered threats, violence and court action. The call was made in a youth forum on young ...

In a move activists fear could endanger thousands of Cambodian children, Thailand plans to reduce the number of children of illegal migrants living in the country to zero by 2020, according to a newspaper report. Thailand is the top destination for Cambodians seeking work abroad, with ...

Young potential voters who have migrated abroad in search of work are facing the loss of their voting rights due to a lack of information and documents required to register to vote from a location different to their registered address, civil society groups said yesterday.​ ...

The Ministry of Social Affairs yesterday confirmed it would construct a new national facility to rehabilitate child offenders. The news follows a meeting last Thursday when spokesman Touch Channy told attendees that the new centre to detain juvenile offenders would be built following the recent adoption ...

To mark 20 years of the work of NGO Pour un Sourie d’Enfant (PSE), a new film about the founders was premiered at the Chaktomouk Hall on Phnom Penh’s riverside on Friday evening when Queen Mother Norodom Monineath was the guest of honor. ... ...

The government will meet this month to begin addressing concerns that the lack of regulation for the surrogacy trade could lead to a proliferation of brokers working in Cambodia and foreign couples traveling to the country to take advantage of their services. The Ministry of ...

Cambodia’s justice system often fails to support children who are victims of and witnesses to crime, many of whom are so terrified to appear in court that they’re unable to give testimony, children’s rights experts said yesterday. ... ...

Officials at the Prey Speu Social Affairs Center in Phnom Penh’s Por Senchey district are scrambling to deflect criticism after reports surfaced that a young boy and a man were beaten and injured there, with the director of the center saying the boy injured himself ...

Twenty-nine homeless Cambodians, including 20 children, will be repatriated from Ho Chi Minh City today. Apart from the children, the group consists of nine adults – three men and six women. Of the 20 children, 10 are boys and 10 are girls, according to Ministry of ...

Slow action from courts and police, a dire lack of mental health counselling and sparse government funding were named as ongoing challenges in Cambodia’s quest to eliminate violence against women at a conference yesterday. ...  ...