Social development

More than 2,000 ducks have died from the H5N1 bird flu in Siem Reap and Battambang provinces since Thursday in the first outbreak of the virus since March 2014, according to officials and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on Tuesday. ...

To tackle youth unemployment in the Kingdom, new short-course programs preparing youths for their future career path are set to start in early December. ...

For the second time in three weeks the United Nations has expressed concern over increasing tensions between Cambodia’s Government and opposition, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today calling the arrest warrant issued against opposition leader Sam Rainsy “worrisome.” ...

The victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s movement in Burma after years of military rule and repression is already starting to unnerve autocrats nearby. Last week, Sam Rainsy, an opposition leader in Cambodia, declared that the democrats’ “resounding” victory “has created panic among the last ...

Cambodia must work to close the skills gap between its labor force and the domestic job market in order to maintain its economic growth, according to a report released on Monday by the Asian Development Bank and the International Labor Organization. ...

Cambodia reported two outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus among backyard duck flocks in the northwestern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday. ...

The Interior Ministry on Friday released a letter that it sent to Mondolkiri provincial governor Eng Bunheang asking him to respond to a petition—filed last month and thumbprinted by 900 members of 17 ethnic minority Bunong communities—requesting his removal. ...

Hear The World Foundation, which is an initiative of the Switzerland-based Sonova Group, on Friday donated 150 sets of hearing aids to a Cambodian charitable organization in order to help children with hearing loss. Sarah said the value of the 150 hearing aids, hearing aid ...

Representatives of 14 ethnic mi­nority communities in Ratana­kkiri province on Friday accepted $1,700 each from Vietnamese rubber company Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) to buy a buffalo and hold a ceremony to appease the spirits that had been disturbed by the firm’s plantations. ...

Borei Keila residents reacted with outrage yesterday when City Hall announced only 34 of 154 displaced families will get on-site housing in the community, following a reassessment of the land dispute victims’ claims. ...

The move toward modernity and development is often represented in numbers: growth in GDP, wellness indicators and many other kinds of statistics. ...

The Ministry of Public Function has begun conducting a census of teachers in Cambodia ahead of a planned salary increase, officials said yesterday. ...

Despite recent announcements of large development projects throughout Cambodia focusing on so-called “affordable housing” for the emerging middle class, there remains a massive gap in the market for quality affordable housing for the poor; especially the urban poor as more rural Cambodians flock to cities ...

Fleeing strict new laws at home, surrogacy companies are moving their “wombs for rent” services from Thailand to Cambodia, causing some analysts to raise concerns that would-be parents could be swindled by the little-regulated industry. ...

At a small food shop in Phnom Penh recently, customers crowded in, eating hotdogs and meatballs. These kinds of processed meats are widely popular in Cambodia, and business was brisk. Few here seem to be concerned by new warnings from the World Health Organization that ...

The children rehearse twice a day, for about two hours each time – once at 4am, and again at 7pm – so they can perform for tourists on board cruise ships that dock at Phnom Penh year-round.But these children are not professional buskers nor part ...

A groundbreaking new study on human transmission of the dengue virus conducted in Kompong Cham province has shown that the virus can be spread back to mosquitoes by asymptomatic carriers, who are actually more infectious than those displaying symptoms. ...

International rights groups issued an “urgent appeal” this week for the release of three environmental activists in Koh Kong province imprisoned in August over their anti-sand dredging activities. ...

Representatives of a large group of secondary school teachers in Kandal province who complained about the allegedly corrupt behaviour of their boss spoke out about the failure of authorities to act on their concerns yesterday. ...

A teacher accused six months ago of punishing an 11-year-old female student by making her strip at the Hun Sen Wat Thmey Primary School in Svay Rieng province was finally detained and is awaiting trial, authorities said yesterday. ...

The international market for surrogacy is proving to be very resilient in the face of legal and social disruption. Now that India, Nepal and Thailand have banned international clients from using local surrogates, clinics and brokers are shifting their business to Cambodia. ...

The health minister on Friday defended the government’s failure to fine or shut down any of the private clinics that are currently illegally promoting baby formula to new mothers, saying that more time was needed for committees to “investigate” the breaches. ...

After years of research and testing, a nutritional snack meant to halt rampant malnourishment and stunting among Cambodian children has been developed in the form of a fish paste-filled wafer, which will be released on the market by 2017. ...

The Ministry of Social Affairs yesterday announced that it would form a committee to address the lack of services available to the homeless and mentally ill. Yesterday’s meeting was precipitated by the revelation this week by rights organization Licadho that two more residents at Prey ...