Social development

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. ...

The Ministry of Interior will carry out a census of local NGOs and associations from October 10 to November 29 to obtain updated figures of how many such organisations are present in the Kingdom. Some 5,386 NGOs and associations had registered with the Ministry of ...

The National Assembly is drafting a law to take action against doctors and patients who collude with each other to cheat the National Social Security Fund into paying for false medical expenses. Chheang Vun, chairman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Information and Media ...

The Minister of Health has instructed all health departments to completely eliminate illegal medical practitioners in order to ensure that only proper treatment is provided across the Kingdom. Speaking during the Roundtable Forum on Hepatitis C at the University of Health Sciences in Phnom Penh on ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday received assurance that South Korea will continue to assist the Kingdom with the development of its healthcare sector, including training doctors.​ ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said the Kingdom should begin providing free medical treatment to foreign workers in order to kick start reciprocal treatment for migrants working abroad. ...

A Mondulkiri commune chief and its head of police are among three people who could face up to five years in jail for allegedly allowing protected forest to be illegally cleared after complaints were filed with the provincial court. ...

The Education Ministry has formed a committee tasked with addressing complaints from students who failed the national high school exam and demanded a review of their grades. A ministry press statement issued yesterday acknowledged that many students have protested the results of the exam and filed ...

The NGO Forum on Cambodia and indigenous communities have called for stronger efforts on the conservation of indigenous languages and the development of indigenous peoples in the Kingdom. The request was made as more than 300 million indigenous people in over 90 countries around the world ...

U.S. and Australian crime fighters are preparing Cambodia for a spike in online child sex abuse cases but local officials fear that predators are a step ahead of police due to narrow laws.​​​​ The spread of cheap, high-speed internet and the rise in mobile phone ...

The government yesterday slammed rights group Licadho and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut for refusing to attend a scheduled meeting and make a public statement retracting a critical report on the negative impacts of microloans. Last week, the two NGOs defended their research during a meeting with the ...

The government has tasked the Cambodia Human Rights Committee with preparing a draft law on establishing the National Human Rights Unit in the Kingdom, a move in line with the Paris Principles adopted by the United Nations in 1993. A CHRC statement yesterday said that on ...

Cambodia has launched a campaign to end child labor in the brick industry by 2020, a move industry observers cautiously welcome while expressing doubts the goal will be achieved, and calling for more structural changes. ...

Every year, the world celebrates 8th of September as the International Literacy Day, to recognize the important role of literacy as the basis for poverty reduction, democratization, and sustainable development. International evidence demonstrates that literacy improves the quality of people’s lives as literate people are capable ...

Cambodia’s first mental rehabilitation centre was formally opened in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district on Wednesday, with the government planning to build a specialist facility to house jailed minors. Speaking during the opening ceremony, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng said the Kingdom’s socio-economic progress meant ...

Cambodina Human Rights Committee (CHRC) spokesman Chin Malin on Wednesday rejected a report by a group of NGOs to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the Kingdom is facing an “ongoing human rights crisis”. Malin said he also expected that the possible adoption of ...

The government yesterday ordered two NGOs to retract a critical report on the negative impacts of microloans after summoning their representatives for a meeting to defend their research. The report, published last month by Licadho and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, featured seven case studies of abuse chosen ...

NGO Good Neighbours Cambodia (GNC) has released a report which said that 3.4 per cent of youths had tried drugs and another 4.9 per cent were enticed or forced into using narcotics by friends and neighbours. GNC said a survey of 283 youths from 13 ...

Civil society organisations along with local authorities in Kampot province have kick-started a campaign to plant 100,000 mangrove trees in eight communities in the province throughout September to December. The campaign was jointly organised between ActionAid, Children and Women Development Centre in Cambodia, Samaky Organisation, Kampot ...

Some 70 NGO representatives, forest activists and university students signed an open letter urging the government to find ways to prevent and combat forestry crimes more effectively. In their petition released on Saturday, the group said they had been observing the government’s clampdowns over the ...

Cambodia yesterday urged Asean member countries to jointly combat the spread of substandard and counterfeit medicines which are endangering people’s health and welfare and affecting economic growth in the region. Defence Minister General Tea Banh, representing Prime Minister Hun Sen, made the call during the 14th ...

Some 500 representatives from civil society organisations (CSO) on Thursday urged the Ministry of Interior to uphold the principle of democracy and allow them to carry out activities without any restrictions from local authorities. ...

Six non-governmental organisations on Tuesday praised the government’s decision to increase electricity generated by solar panels up to 20 percent of national output by 2023. The organisations included the NGO Forum on Cambodia, 3s Rivers Protection Network, My Village, Culture and Environment Preservation Association, Fisheries ...