Social development

The Ministry of Health has called on all travelers to beware of a new strain of bird flu that is now spreading in South Korea and Japan. In a notice released yesterday, the Health Ministry said the discovery of H5N6, a new strain of the bird ...

Almost 200 people protested yesterday in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet City, demanding the release of Mang Puthy, president of the Cambodia Informal Economy Reinforced Association (CIERA), who says he was arrested after officials framed him for attempted murder. ...

About 100 people representing 162 families from Koh Kong province came to Phnom Penh yesterday to resubmit a petition to the National Assembly and some state institutions asking for intervention in a decade-old land dispute with three sugar companies. Phav Nherng, a representative of the families ...

The government has patched up a quarrel with the United Nations’ human rights wing less than two weeks before the organization would have been forced out of Cambodia. But the two-year agreement came with a reminder of Cambodia’s sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in national ...

An environmental impact assessment released on Friday for a $245 million mining project slated to begin operations in Mondolkiri province next year has raised concerns about its potential effects on the environment and local communities. The project, proposed by the Chinese-owned Alex Corporation, would see a ...

With 10 days remaining until a government-imposed deadline for the U.N.’s human rights office to either sign a new agreement to operate in the country or close down, there is no sign that the two sides have come any closer to reaching a deal. ...

More than 30 percent of Cambodian women have experienced some form of domestic violence at the hands of their partner at some point in their lives, a report released on Friday by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) revealed. ...

Tourism Ministry officials outlined plans yesterday for two new vocational training facilities for the country’s growing tourism sector. Try Chhiv, deputy director general of the Ministry of Tourism, said the government will build the first school in Phnom Penh with a capacity of 1,000 students, ...

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 ...