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In Cambodia, population living under the poverty line of US$1.25 is defined as the poor. As of 2007, about 30.1% 1 of Cambodians live below the national poverty line indicating that at least one in five Cambodians are still living in deprivation. They essentially lack the sufficient resources to meet their daily needs. Cambodia’s long history of violence and conflicts, both internally and externally has contributed to the current poverty situation. Most notably in Cambodia’s troubled history was the Khmer Rouge regime and a period of occupation under Vietnam’s communist leaders from 1980 to 1989. As such, it was not until recently did the political situation in Cambodia settled down. Since then, its economy has been growing from strength to strength, driven by the expansion in the garment, construction, tourism and agricultural sector.
However, a good proportion of Cambodians that are living in the rural areas are not experiencing the prosperities especially in the plateau and mountainous region where more than 80.5% of the population reside. 2 They are mainly employed in the agricultural sector and many small-scale farmers practice agriculture at subsistence level, using traditional methods that are low in productivity. Two thirds of the country's 1.6 million rural households face seasonal food shortages each year. Rice alone accounts for as much as 30 per cent of household expenditures.5
The rural citizens are the people who have the least access to education, health and other public services because of poor infrastructures and lack of government investment in areas where it matters most. In 2007, education expenditure only accounted for 1.6% of Cambodia’s total GDP putting it amongst the ranks of other poorer nations.3 As a result, only 78% of adults above the age of 15 are literate.1
Rampant corruption amongst the political elites and government bureaucrats is a key factor that has been hindering improvements in poverty levels. In 2010, Cambodia was ranked 154th out of 178 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) with a given score of 2.1 out of 10 indicating just how perverse corruption is at every level of the Cambodian society. 4 Yet, this is already considered an improvement from previous years. This is a deterrent for foreign investments and foreign aids that are very much needed for Cambodia to sustain its economic growth and alleviate the poor out of poverty.
Even though growth in GDP per capita in the past decade has led to decreasing poverty rates, it is not happening at a rate that equals to economic growth rates. Additionally, the economic growth is increasing the gap in inequality between the very poor and the rich.
World Vision Cambodia (WVC) is part of the World Vision International partnership that seeks to help every poor in Cambodia realize their fullest potential in life. World Vision (WV) is established by Reverend Bob Pierce in 1947 and is a Christian relief organisation that is committed to help children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.1
WV was involved in providing various relief and development programmes since 1970. 2 In year 1989 to 1990, WVC aimed at meeting the needs of 3 million 6 Cambodia children who were suffering from a lack of basic health care services. Following after, in 1991 to 1998, WVC began its child sponsorship programs and implemented projects that seek to address several issues such as the HIV and AIDS diseases. 6
On a non-profit basis, WVC aimed to improve the lives of the poorest Cambodians regardless of the background they come from. 4 Today WVC has a group of over 800 dedicated staff and volunteers that help serve the country in the development process. 3 27 districts in 7 provinces and Phnom Penh are all part of World Vision’s ministry. 4 Today, over 60,300 Cambodia children6 are under the WV sponsorship program. Many have WV sponsors in various countries and 12,125 children have donors sponsor in U.S. 6 WV also has 38 development programs and 5 of them are supported by the U.S. donors. 6 Some of these development programs are, “The Street Children Transformation Project (SCTP)”, “The Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labour Project”, “Trauma Recovery Project (TRP)” and” Aftercare for Trafficked and Sexually Abused Children (ATSAC)”. 6 Over the next five years, WV aims to develop strategies that would empower the vulnerable children and communities as well as to look into issues such as food and water security, education, health, peace and justice and HIV and AIDS. 4 All these efforts that have been carried out and planned, are done under the common goal of addressing poverty in Cambodia.
Another platform which WVC use to fulfil their vision is through the funding of VisionFund Cambodia. It is a microfinance institution supported by VisionFund. VisionFund International is a microfinance subsidiary of World Vision and it has a network of microfinance institutions in 47 other nations. 4 VisionFund Cambodia aims to assist entrepreneurial poor who have the potential to start a business by giving them micro loans. 5 Through these funding, the poor have the opportunities to overcome their poverty and improve their standards of living.
Over the years, World Vision Cambodia has established several programs and schemes that aimed to improve the quality of life of the poor in Cambodia. These programmes are always changing and evolving, to meet the changing needs of the Cambodians today.
1. World Bank Cambodia Data (2007). Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population). Retrieved 24, February 2011, from http://data.worldbank.org/country/cambodia
2. Asian Development Bank (2009, December 31). Fact Sheet. Retrieved 24, February 2011, from http://www.adb.org/Documents/Fact_Sheets/CAM.pdf
3. Central Intelligence Agency (2011, February 11). The World Factbook, Cambodia. Retrieved 25, February 2011, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html
4. Transparency International. (2010, October). Corruption Perception Index 2010 Results. Retrieved 24, February 2011, from http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results
5. Rural poverty in Cambodia. (n.d.). Rural Poverty In Cambodia. Retrieved 27, February 2011, from http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/cambodia
1. World Vision International. (2009, February 10). History. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.wvi.org/wvi/wviweb.nsf/maindocs/E7809E562722923A88257375007659B0?opendocument
2. World Vision. (n.d.). World Vision in Cambodia (WVC). Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.nepcambodia.org/memberprofile/wvc-_education_ngo_directory.pdf
3. World Vision Cambodia. (2006). Who We Are. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.worldvision.org.kh/whoweare.html
4. World Vision Asia Pacific. (2011). Cambodia: VisionFund Cambodia Celebrates Growth. Retrieved February 18, 2011, from http://wvasiapacific.org/economicdevelopment/cambodia-visionfund-cambodia-celebrates-growth.html
5. World Vision VisionFund Cambodia. (2011). About Us. Retrieved February 18, 2011, from http://www.visionfund.com.kh/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16&Itemid=2
6. World Vision. (2009, March). Cambodia. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/learn/world-vision-cambodia