Social development

Months after announcing the resignation of its founder and promising to start afresh to continue its “vital work” protecting vulnerable girls in Cambodia, the U.S.-based Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF) announced Saturday that it has ceased operations, telling supporters to turn to other organizations to help ...

A Ministry of Commerce official said in a speech last week that the controversial draft cybercrime law was almost ready to appear before the National Assembly, though another government official dismissed this yesterday. At a conference on cybersecurity attended by representatives of the public and private ...

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through central Phnom Penh yesterday morning calling for a controversial refugee resettlement deal between Australia and Cambodia to be scrapped. While the protesters echoed human rights concerns that have been repeatedly made about the scheme, an undercurrent of xenophobia was also present. After ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday concluded the trial of six Vietnamese nationals accused of selling 20 girls and women for sex out of two establishments in the city center. ...

Siem Reap’s Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital, which has provided free medical treatment since 1998, has been transferred to the Ministry of Health, the Post has learned. ...

As world leaders vowed to dramatically step up the global response to the Ebola virus this week, the Cambodian government sought to reassure investors that they are making adequate preparations to contain an outbreak in the Kingdom. Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce luncheon yesterday, ...

More than 100 human rights activists, youths and Buddhist monks marched on streets here on Friday in the latest round of protests against a refugee deal that Cambodia signed with Australia last month. Under the deal, Australia will send refugees, who intend to seek asylum in ...

Cambodians have experienced one of the largest drops in the rate of hunger in the world over the past quarter century, though the situation in the country still remains “serious,” according to a new report by three international NGOs. Cambodia cut its score in the ...

A man who volunteered at a Christian NGO that seeks to combat sex trafficking was found guilty yesterday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and jailed for three years for raping four former street children younger than 10 years old who were meant to be ...

The government has seized back more than 12,000 hectares of land previously awarded to seven companies as economic land concessions (ELCs), according to a letter from the Council of Ministers. It explains that licences awarded from 2006 to 2011 for eight ELCs in the provinces ...

Cambodian authorities have held two rounds of talks with garment factory owners and unions under a new mechanism to help break a deadlock over increasing the workers’ monthly minimum wage but to no avail. But Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng said that he expected the Garment ...

A French non-governmental organization (NGO) director had been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing seven boys, police and anti-pedophilia agent said on Thursday. Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), a child protection NGO, assisted the police in an investigation that led to the arrest, the police ...

Another 17 people are to be deported for living illegally in Kampong Chhnang province, bringing the total number of deportations to more than 500 nationwide since a foreigner census began in late August. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen is set for a monthly salary hike of more than $900 as part of sweeping changes to senior government and high-ranking civil servant bonuses, according to a new sub-decree. The document, dated October 13 and obtained by the Post yesterday, states that ...

Students, activist monks and land rights demonstrators will hold a march in Phnom Penh on Friday in protest of a controversial refugee resettlement agreement between Australia and Cambodia. ...

The wife of slain journalist Taing Try filed a complaint with the Kratie Provincial Court on Tuesday urging judicial officials to bring charges against two more men, including a local military police chief, for her husband’s murder on Sunday. ...

A study by the International Labor Organization, the U.N.’s labor body, shows most Cambodian garment workers do not eat enough nutritious food and that, as a result, many are anemic and even underweight. Now, a pilot project will feed workers at five factories a free ...

The Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an appeal filed by three garment workers shot by disgraced Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith during a 2012 demonstration, since Bandith’s lawyer did not turn up to court. Bandith was sentenced to 18 months in prison in June last ...

Activists from two local rights groups yesterday accused soldiers in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district of seizing their cameras and stopping them from investigating a land dispute. ...

Cambodian children are less prone to diarrhea and fever and perform better on cognitive tests after regularly eating nutrient-fortified rice, according to a new study, the results of which were announced Tuesday. ...

Following a meeting with parliamentarians at the National Assembly yesterday, Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng announced the ministry would form a 27-member committee to study technical aspects of raising the minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment sector. The new committee will comprise nine representatives each from ...

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Sok An on Tuesday gave advice to youths to learn about China’s successful experience in politics, economics, diplomacy and poverty reduction, his personal spokesman said. ...

As Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport is taking tough measure to curb cheating and bribery during examinations as part of its education reform, over 7,000 students have abandoned the second high school exams. The number can be the highest ever in the last 10 ...

Cambodian farmers are at high risk of being affected by climate change due to low levels of awareness, education and adaptation, with women particularly vulnerable, a study released yesterday says. The study, which surveyed farmers in the provinces of Battambang, Kampong Thom, Takeo and Prey Veng, ...