Cambodia
40 years after it was founded in the Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand, HI continues to support Cambodians experiencing extreme hardship, including hundreds of survivors of mines and explosive remnants of war.
Kuy Navy lost her right leg due to an anti-personnel mine. Since 2010 she has been a patient at HI’s PRC Center Kampong Cham in Cambodia and has received 7 prostheses and rehabilitation services. | ©Stephen Rae/HI
Our actions
Humanity & Inclusion’s work in Cambodia reduces preventable disabilities, improves access to high-quality health and rehabilitation services for people with disabilities, and promotes their social and economic independence. The organization also works to reduce armed violence.
HI has been working in Cambodia since 1982, at first under the umbrella of the American Friend Service Committee. In 1987, HI started to operate under its own name. Today, HI is recognized in the country as a major disability actor.
Today, the organization continues to support the provincial rehabilitation center in Kampong Cham to ensure it provides quality rehabilitation services, including remote rehabilitation services, and to ensure the sustainability of the sector. There are more and more victims of road traffic injuries as well as individuals recovering from strokes or living with congenital disabilities who are coming to the rehabilitation center. To this end, HI is training staff and improving the center’s management system.
HI focuses on access to rehabilitation, health care for all, and early childhood development. The organization also promotes the economic inclusion of people with disabilities to reduce poverty and social exclusion in a sustainable way. The organization promotes the participation of every citizen in local government.
With funding from the U.S. government, HI supports mine clearance specialists from Cambodia Self-Help Demining (CSHD), a local mine action organization that participates in clearance efforts. Cambodia aims to be landmine-free by 2025.
Areas of intervention
Latest stories
OpenTeleRehab: customized remote rehabilitation services
HI's telerehabilitation software was first rolled out in Cambodia in May 2022. Here is some feedback from two families who have been using the customized service it provides.
Srey Neang: a prosthesis so she can return to school
Srey Neang's leg was amputated after she was injured by an explosive device at the age of four.
Mother and daughter: both walking again thanks to HI!
After a road accident, Vuth Ta and her mother Tum Thab were so seriously injured that they each required a leg amputation. They have been treated for four years at the HI rehabilitation center in Kampong Cham province.
a life
Background
Cambodia endured the radical communist Khmer Rouge regime under the leadership of Pol Pot between 1975 and 1978 - when 2 million people died - and Vietnamese occupation between 1978 and 1992.
The conflict ended in 1991 with the signing of the Paris Comprehensive Peace settlement. The country has since experienced relative stability, economic growth and some significant progress, the most striking being the decline in maternal and infant mortality rates. However, Cambodia remains among the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.
There is still much poverty and inequality. There is continued corruption and impunity for the richest members of society and numerous problems remain unresolved. The still-fragile economy generates little public revenue, which explains the continued weaknesses in the health and education systems.
Number of HI staff members: 41
Date the program opened: 1987
