All children deserve the right to a healthy start in life, access to education and to be safe from harm. In Cambodia, many children don’t have access to basic healthcare & education and are at risk of violence, abuse and being exploited through child labour & trafficking. Below is how we are helping children and their families as a charity working in Cambodia to ensure they are safe, have a healthy start in life and have access to the support & education to survive, and thrive.
Save The Children has been working to protect & empower children around the world for over 100 years and is one of Australia's largest aid and development organisations. Our mission is to create a world in which every child lives, learns and is safe from harm. We go to the toughest places to save children from earthquakes, cyclones, conflict and disease, we protect them from harm and do everything we can to ensure a healthy, happy childhood.
What we are doing in Cambodia
Because Cambodia is susceptible to natural disasters, this puts children’s safety, health and education under threat. This, along with political instability and many children being born into poverty means many children in Cambodia need our help. Our Cambodia charity work is working hard to protect children from harm and help them grow up healthy, and with education.
In terms of healthcare we are doing the following:
- Providing healthcare services, particularly to remote, hard-to-reach areas
- Providing pre- and post-natal care along with birthing support to help end newborn and maternal deaths
- Equipping health centres with the supplies they need
- Training health workers and providing help & advice to improve health knowledge & family care practices
- Delivering life-saving vaccines and working to prevent, diagnose and treat major childhood killers, including pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria
Education is also a key focus of our programs. In Cambodia, we provide education and safe learning spaces for children. We are working to improve school safety during natural disasters so children can be safe and continue their education regardless of what happens. We are also training teachers in Cambodia to use more effective practices that better engage their students.
We are also working with the government in Cambodia to strengthen child protection systems to help protect children who are at risk of harm.
When disaster strikes, we deploy Emergency Health Units that include nurses, doctors, logisticians and engineers within 24 hours. We provide immediate life-saving aid & essentials, safe places for children to play & learn. Ongoing, we provide psychosocial support to help children recover from the traumatic events they have experienced and help to reunite families that have been separated. We also ensure children who are at a higher risk of harm, which often happens as a result of a disaster, have the protection they need to be safe.
Donate to our Cambodia programs
If you would like to help children in Cambodia and want to donate, you can make a once-off donation today or become a monthly giver. Over 80% of your donation goes directly toward program expenditure and any donation over $2 is tax deductible.