Social development

An NGO is taking aim at development companies in a new report detailing the troubling tactics of construction companies forcibly evicting residents of Phnom Penh. The study, released yesterday, showed that among 77 sites since 2011 throughout Phnom Penh where residents were evicted so their building ...

In recent years, communities displaced by sugar plantations have attempted to reclaim their land by targeting the plantations’ investors and buyers overseas, but a study published last week in the peer-reviewed Journal of Civil Society suggests such efforts may disappoint. ...

Education Ministry officials said yesterday that there will be greater participation by disabled children in schools, announcing a plan that would allow disabled youngsters to attend schools with the rest of the country’s children by early next year. Im Koch, a secretary of state for the ...

More than 40 unions have joined together to ask the Labor Ministry to make changes to 10 articles in the draft Minimum Wage Law, saying the law did not cover all sectors and restricted the rights of union representatives in wage negotiations among a host ...

Civil society organizations, unions and citizens celebrated Human Rights Day in Phnom Penh on the weekend, but were not permitted to march through the streets and many opted to hold their celebrations in Freedom Park. On Saturday, Yang Kim Eng, the chairman of the Cambodian Human ...

Boeung Kak land activists have called on the government to release one of their most prominent representatives, Tep Vanny, who was charged with intentional violence related to a protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house in 2013, a case reactivated after she was arrested during ...

Local garment sector stakeholders failed to find common ground at a meeting on supply chain safety protocols, with the government and employers expressing reluctance to take on an additional level of responsibility. ...

Opposition lawmakers have requested Health Minister Mam Bunheng appear at the National Assembly to answer questions over graft, irregularities and poor services within his portfolio, including claims that officials from the National Malaria Centre misappropriated cash from the Global Fund. ...

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 ...

Female workers across multiple sectors yesterday urged two ministries to ratify International Labour Organization conventions to ensure protections for expectant mothers and domestic workers, the latter of whom are not even covered under Cambodia’s Labour Law. ...

Civil society groups yesterday urged the government to step up transparency in the judiciary to create an environment where activists could address social injustices without having to worry about being prosecuted. ...

More than 50 people representing 253 families from Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district resubmitted a petition to the Interior Ministry yesterday, asking authorities to expedite a resolution of their land dispute. ...

Violence against female staff at entertainment venues in Cambodia has dropped as education among staff, patrons and owners has increased, according to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, although it warned that the success had not been repeated at karaoke parlors (KTV).​ ...

Just weeks after Laos announced its plans to begin constructing a third mainstream dam in the Lower Mekong River region, Prime Minister Hun Sen used a bilateral meeting with his Laotian counterpart to signal that the controversial Don Sahong dam will no longer receive opposition ...

Several civil society groups yesterday issued a joint statement urging members of parliament to review the national budget which is set to allocate close to 35 percent of national spending solely to the Defense Ministry and a contingency reserve. ...

Civil society members and Ministry of Mines and Energy officials came together recently to discuss discrepancies in the export figures of sand from Cambodia to Singapore, after 47 NGOs wrote an open letter early this month to the ministry seeking an explanation. The letter from civil ...

About 120 students at a Christian school in Oddar Meanchey’s Trapaing Prasat district came down with food poisoning after consuming a dessert served by the school on Wednesday, though officials confirmed that all were “recovering well”.​ ...

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 ...

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron has unveiled a plan to add coursework on entrepreneurship to the school and university curricula starting in the next academic year, state news agency AKP said yesterday. ...

Acleda Bank, a leading locally-owned commercial bank, has received a $30 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US government’s development finance institution, through Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women and the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Banking on Women program for supporting women-owned small ...

Cambodia fell four spots in a 2016 ranking of internet freedom across the world released yesterday, with the organization behind it tying the drop to a spate of arrests for nothing more than Facebook posts and a much-maligned telecommunications law that critics say gives the ...

The United Nations is standing behind Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) country representative Wan-Hea Lee after a letter signed by Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon accused her of failing to respect Cambodia’s sovereignty.​ ...

A new tech-centered co-working space is challenging the country’s young leaders to find practical ways technology can be utilized to create a positive impact on the day-to-day lives of people. ...

The ban on surrogate pregnancies announced by the health minister on Monday will remain in place until the government drafts a law protecting Cambodian women giving birth to the children of other parents, an official said on Thursday. ...