Social development

Greg Barron, an award-winning radio producer, was 32 when he reported the despair of Cambodian refugees fleeing across the Thai border to escape the Khmer Rouge genocide in late 1979. ...

On Tuesday, two more buildings in the series of buildings in the Morodok Techo National Sports Complex commenced construction at a groundbreaking ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...

The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts yesterday announced that they have submitted the Khmer martial art Bokator, as well as Lakhon Khol – the traditional masked dance theatre – to be considered for recognition on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. ...

The US government has pulled any future funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a group focused on reproductive rights for women and girls, over claims it has practiced coercive abortions and involuntary sterilizations in China.   ...

The Swiss government has vowed to help secure long-term financial sustainability for the Kantha Bopha children’s hospitals. Last week Beat Richner, the founder and head of the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital and a Health Ministry adviser, resigned from his position as managing director due to health ...

Doctor Beat Richner, the prominent Swiss-born doctor credited with resurrecting the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals – which have treated millions of patients free of charge since 1992 – stepped down from his more than two-decade role of managing the hospitals, citing a serious illness. ...

About $170,000 remains to be found for a coalition of watchdogs and civil society observers known as the “situation room” to successfully monitor all of Cambodia’s 2017 commune elections for irregularities. ...

In its first two months of regular operation Cambodia’s first civil aviation training centre has provided certificates to dozens of aviation officials and airport staff, helping to raise the skill level of personnel in the Kingdom’s fast-expanding aviation sector. ...

Chroy Changvar peninsula land disputants yesterday delivered a petition to the Ministry of Land Management rejecting City Hall’s proposal to take away 90 percent of their land for the development of a satellite city. ...

Beat Richner, the founder and head of the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital and a Health Ministry adviser, is seriously ill and has resigned from his position as managing director. ...

The government yesterday announced a total ban on the collection and export of human breast milk, after it emerged poor women had been earning cash through the trade. ...

Thirty-eight civil society groups have formed a situation room to monitor the upcoming commune elections in a bid to ensure a free and fair electoral process. During a press conference in Phnom Penh yesterday, members of the situation room explained that despite having insufficient observers ...

A civil society group yesterday rebuked a recent report by the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), claiming the scathing report on the country’s legislative practices violated Asean principles. ...

The Commerce Ministry has banned imports of several food products over a health scare and warned the public to avoid them. The Camcontrol directorate-general took action over I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter and I.M. Healthy Granola products after the US Food and Drug Administration linked them to ...

Cambodia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is coming out with an assertion of unprecedented pride, in stark contrast to just five years ago when discrimination and bullying were usually endured in private. ...

Almost one in every 100 children in Cambodia is living in a residential care institution, a number far higher than previous estimates, according to a new report in the British Medical Journal. ...

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation will start dispensing pensions for former civil servants and veterans at select ATMs starting in April. Minister Vong Soth issued a notice yesterday stating that pensioners will be able to withdraw their monthly allocations from Canadia Bank ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday released a strongly worded, albeit vague, rebuttal to a harsh report released by ASEAN parliamentarians on Monday, which chided the government for its legal onslaught against the opposition and alleged the “systematic dismantling [of] democracy” in the Kingdom. ...

Civil society groups in Cambodia have expressed concerns over increasing restrictions placed on them since the passage of laws governing NGOs and unions. ...

Cambodia’s improvements on human development are the biggest in the region, but standards of living still lag behind neighboring nations, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) figures have shown.   ...

A senior government official has urged the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport to help children – both those who have never attended school as well as dropouts – get an education or receive training to improve their job prospects and income. ...

Significantly fewer upper secondary students dropped out of school in 2016 compared to the previous year, but Cambodian education authorities say they still want to halve the rate to improve graduation rates and students’ chances of success in life. ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry expects to complete construction on its first training institute for local diplomats in the next 18 months, officials said Monday. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokes-man Chum Sounry said work on the National Institute for Diplomatic and Relations of International Study began in December. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng has warned the number of drug users in the country has reached 20,000, as he urged authorities to do more to tackle the problem.   ...