Social development

A UN women’s rights committee has praised the government’s efforts to promote gender equality and combat violence against women, but noted its concern that there are no provisions in the constitution that define direct or indirect discrimination against women. ...

Rhona Smith, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia on Friday issued a statement expressing “grave concerns” over the “heightened political crackdown across Cambodia”. ...

The government has prohibited the distribution and sale of rabies vaccines Abhayrab and Indirab, that are not registered with the Ministry of Health. ...

Cambodia has significantly benefited from its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) membership, Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) secretary-general Yang Peou said on Thursday during a conference to mark the 52nd anniversary of Asean’s establishment and the 20th anniversary of the Kingdom’s membership in the ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday noted a decline in the number of mothers breastfeeding their children and appealed for help reversing the trend. The Planning Ministry previously said the number of breastfeeding mothers dropped from 73.5 percent in 2010 to 65 percent in 2014. ...

During a meeting on the revision of the Law on Non-Governmental Organisations yesterday, the Interior Ministry said it will address concerns raised by civil society groups, but it remains unclear how many articles will be revised. ...

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs invites all federations, associations and communities of women entrepreneur-driven micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Cambodia to join its planned Cambodian Women Entrepreneurs’ Network (CamWen) initiative, the ministry said. ...

The Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia has established a working group tasked with promoting media freedom and evaluating content to foster quality journalism in the Kingdom. The UJFC in a statement on Tuesday said the working group is dubbed the Cambodian Committee for Media Assessment ...

The Interior Ministry will meet with NGO officials next week to listen to their requests for the government to amend the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations. In a press statement issued on Monday, the ministry said the meeting will enable representatives of local and international ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has instructed the Education Ministry to step up its efforts in increasing the quality of education for all students in the Kingdom so they can land good careers later in life. Mr Hun Sen made the instruction in a recording released yesterday ...

At a workshop on Monday, government officials and civil society organisations expressed concern over the increase in the number of people suffering from blindness and visual impairments, with blindness being the most common form of disability in the Kingdom. The workshop on the “Marrakesh Treaty”, ...

Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Sam Heng said the government is committed to eliminating violence in the workplace. Civil society, he said, supported the government’s action but wanted a specific mechanism introduced to help support female victims of such violence. ...

The government yesterday expressed its commitment to reduce gender-based violence, eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls and provide effective reproductive health services in line with the action plan of the International Conference on Population and Development. The commitment was made during the National ...

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday with 13 NGOs for a three-year project which aims to promote the wellbeing of children across Cambodia. ...

The Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia has urged local unions and media associations to collaborate and conduct a joint evaluation of the Kingdom’s media freedom. UJFC president Huy Vannak, who was re-elected to his position during its congress on Saturday, said all local unions and ...

Representatives of 24 indigenous groups from 15 provinces on Thursday urged the government to solve their outstanding land dispute and expedite the process of registering their collective farmland to prevent private companies grabbing it. ...

The Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia are to hold a national-level workshop on Wednesday to ensure the implementation of recommendations by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR). ...

The Information Ministry yesterday announced that the draft Law on Access to Information is ready to be reviewed during an unspecified inter-ministerial meeting next month after it deemed that the draft’s contents are in line with international standards and the constitution. It also said the draft ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $40 million policy-based loan to support poor and rural households and improve their financial access, it said. ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng said the government had reached a quorum to deploy 3,600 teachers at schools that lack teaching personnel and will continue to improve teachers’ quality and raise their standards of living. Speaking at the 22nd Teachers’ Day celebration at the National ...

In August, two local Cambodian organizations, Licadho and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) published Collateral Damage: Land Loss and Abuses in Cambodia’s Microfinance Sector, a report about the dangerous growth of the country’s microfinance sector. It spotlighted an issue that researchers have been warning about for years. A report ...

The government has spent more than $5 million to support female garment workers who delivered babies during the first nine months of the year. The National Social Security Fund yesterday said that from January to September, 55,180 workers who delivered 55,543 babies received money through the ...

The Ministry of Health has banned the sale of medicine without a legal permit at supermarkets, mini-marts and baby shops nationwide. It said offenders face strict legal measures, including fines of up to 10 million riel ($2,500). A letter signed by secretary of state at ...

Nine representatives of the Bunong indigenous communities in Mondulkiri province who claimed to have fallen victim to a development project by French firm Socfin-KCD appeared for questioning at the Tribunal of Nanterre in France on Tuesday. ...