Cambodia

Cambodia became a pathfinding country in April of 2019. Cambodias many efforts to end violence include initiating the first Violence Against Children Survey in the region in 2013. The results of this survey have since provided the foundation for Cambodia's violence prevention portfolio, including the development of the inter-ministerial Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Children 2017-21.

2013

In 2013, Cambodia conducted Cambodia Violence against children survey, which was published in 2014.

2014

In response to the violence against children survey, the Government of Cambodia published "Core Commitments to Prevent and Respond to Violence against Children," which specified each of the 13 ministries' commitments.

2015

In December 2015, Cambodia conducted and launched the Economic Burden of Health Consequences of Violence against Children.

2017

In December 2017, Cambodia launched the Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Children (2017-2021). New data on VACS was collected by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS) in five provinces in 2017, which showed a decrease in physical violence experienced by children.

2018

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation co-hosted the first Regional Conference towards the Implementation of INSPIRE where key recommendations and opportunities were identified to accelerate action to end violence against children, and post-conference declaration “Phnom Penh Declaration” was adopted.

AN INSPIRING PATHFINDER

In September of 2019, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation co-hosted a launch event with End Violence and UNICEF to celebrate becoming Pathfinding. At this event, which was attended by more than 320 high-level participants, Cambodia reinforced its dedication to fully implementing their national action plan. The event was followed by a donor roundtable.

Before becoming Pathfinding, Cambodia hosted the first INSPIRE Regional Workshop in 2018, bringing together participants from 21 countries to discuss the many forms of violence children face throughout the region. Cambodia is also a participant in the End Violence Lab's Leadership Development Programme, and the government continues to report measured success implementing parenting, education and social norms efforts, three key INSPIRE strategies.

Children in Cambodia smile.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation leads an Inter-ministerial Steering Committee to coordinate the Action Plan to Prevent and Respond Violence against Children implementation along with other ministries, UN agencies, NGOs/IOs and academia as members.

The Steering Committee is chaired by H.E. Vong Sauth, Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation to coordinate the whole of government approach to end violence against children. Partnership Program for the Protection of Children (3PC): A tripartite partnership between UNICEF, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and ‹Friends International› coordinating with nine other NGOs and 40 community-based organizations and covering seven provinces, was officially launched in 2012 to support systematic child protection system strengthening efforts. It entails promoting family and community-based solutions and emphasizes a collaborative approach recognizing the different roles NGOs, government and development partners play in protecting the most vulnerable children from violence, abuse and exploitation.

A Children’s Conference was organized by World Vision with support from UNICEF in May 2019. At the Conference, 45 adolescents and youths from 13 provinces discussed and identified key recommendations to facilitate the implementation of the Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Violence against Children. These recommendations will be compiled as a Children’s Statement and be handed over to decisionmakers at the launch of a Pathfinding Country to be held in September 2019.

In 2013, Cambodia conducted Cambodia Violence Against Children Survey, which was published in 2014 (CVACS).

The CVACS highlighted violence against children as a significant issue with over half of children
experiencing at least one form of violence before the age of 18: More than half of children are physically abused and this kind of violence occurs in family, school and community settings.

One-quarter of Cambodian children are emotionally abused by a parent, caregiver or other adult relatives; One in 20 children experience sexual abuse prior to the age of 18.

The Economic Burden of the Health Consequences of Violence Against Children study launched in
2015 showed that Cambodia lost at least US 168 million in 2013 or 1.1 per cent of its GDP as a result of the negative impact of some of the health consequences caused by violence against children New data on VACS was collected in 2017, which showed a decrease in physical violence experienced by children.

A new study will be conducted in 2020-2021 to better understand the scope of sexual violence.
The End Violence Fund will be supporting a baseline assessment of online violence in 2019-2020;
accelerate action around online/offline synergies.

In 2018, the Regional Conference on INSPIRE’s implementation was held in Phnom Penh hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) of Cambodia with support from UNICEF and WHO at country and regional levels. The conference brought together 21 countries and over 160 participants to address the many issues children face in the form of violence throughout the East Asia and Pacific Region as well as the West Pacific Region. Cambodia announced its interest to become pathfinding country at the Regional Conference demonstrating its commitment to the issue.

In 2020, EVAC will be supporting learning around the reinforcement of a Cambodian academic community network to support the scale-up of key programme interventions ending violence against children by applying the INSPIRE Strategies.

In 2020, UNICEF will be supporting Cambodia to strengthen the national capacity, governmental and non-governmental, to apply the INSPIRE Strategies by rolling out training at national and sub-national levels

Cambodia expressed its commitment to prohibiting all corporal punishment of children when it became a Pathfinder country in September 2019, as a senior representative from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation confirmed that law reform prohibiting corporal punishment in all settings was a priority. Law reform is also included in the Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Children 2017-2021.