With its impressive temples, rich culture and beautiful beaches, Cambodia is fast becoming a tourist hotspot. But the south-east Asian nation has a darker attraction luring tourists – the infamous killing fields of the brutal Pol Pot regime.

An estimated two million Cambodians died under the Khmer Rouge communist movement, with many buried in the mass graves known as the killing fields.  Between 1975 and 1979, the ruthless reign of Pol Pot resulted in the death of about 20 percent of the population through starvation, execution, torture and overwork in forced labour camps.

In addition to the challenges facing other developing countries, Cambodia is burdened by its recent history of civil war and political turmoil and is in the process of rebuilding its devastated infrastructure.

Although poverty has declined slightly over the past decade, one in three Cambodians lives on 50 cents a day, and children – who make up more than half of the country’s population – endure many obstacles to their development.  About a third of all Cambodian children do not complete primary education; one in 12 do not live to the age of five; and thousands have been orphaned by HIV and AIDS.

Save the Children Australia has been working in Cambodia since 1979.

Our programs in the country include: