Over the past decade or so, armed conflict has not only killed and injured more and more people; it has also let t a dramatic increase in the number of children separated from their families. This growing phenomenon of separation has been a product both of the nature of armed conflict and of the number of wars. The genocide and war in Pol Pot regime in 1975 is thought to have caused more then 100,000 children to be separated, while the civil conflicts in Cambodia have exposed children to multiple displacements and sometimes to multiple separations. Both armed conflict and the consequent displacement of people, often on a huge scale, create circumstances under which it is extremely difficult to provide children with the security and continuity which are important for their on-going development and well-being and also their right under the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC 1989).
Enraged by five years of relentless U.S. bombing the Khmer Rouge took out their pent up hatred upon the Cambodian population. From 1.5 to 3 million people died out of a total population of 9 million under the Pol Pot reign of terror. Pol Pot sought to set up a communistic agrarian utopia. All modern development was considered counter revolutionary and eliminated. Cities were evacuated and schools, hospitals, water and sewer systems, libraries, factories, bridges, hydroelectric dams and irrigation systems were systematically destroyed. Cambodia went from being one of the most developed countries in S.E. Asia to the least in 5 years. The Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979 to stop the genocide. This led to continual fighting with the Khmer Rouge, with Vietnamese dominance of the population centers, for the next ten years, ending only when the Vietnamese benefactor, the Soviet Union, disintegrated in 1989.
Various factions fought for control of Cambodia until the United Nations intervened in 1992. A UN supervised election in1993 placed the Royalists under King Sihanouk's son Ranariddh in power but Communist leader Hun Sen refused to yield to the election results. As a compromise a three-headed coalition government was established only to be overthrown in a Coup de'tat in July of 1997 that placed Hun Sen in absolute control. Presently, Prime Minister, Hun Sen is moving the country toward democracy. The greatest obstacle to this is the established corruption and cronyism of the existing leaders and the absence of the "rule of law". At the present time in Cambodia, the rich and the powerful rule, although steps toward democracy are occurring on an increasing basis.
All these issues pushed the Children Right non pay much attention and care day to day. Not only the children in the city but also in remote areas are all don’t understand well with their own right to be participated and voiced to the communities bases. By seeing these, we, the youths for the right of the child, were administered a committee for Children’s rights called Children’s Committee (CC) through an election of children at all levels in different provinces at a workshop on the right of children on September 20, 1995.
Children's Committee is a non-governmental orgainisation, non-profitable, and no tendency to politic waters. CC has selected four children to lead projects to promote the rights of children and educational programme and vocational training. All project leaders are volunteers between the ages of 13 and 18 years and the management committee are over 18 years and CC operates as a non profit NGO. CC provides assistance and support to all children regardless of any political affiliation and completely without prejudice.
All programme chairpersons and programme leaders are Cambodian nationals who dedicate their time and energy to perform these tasks on a volunteer basis. There is no shortage of volunteer labour; therefore, our only constraints are a lack of technical support and financial assistance to develop our organization
Job & Volunteer Opportunities
We get many offers from wonderful people hoping to volunteer. We really appreciate your enthusiasm and support. For staff positions, the CC always tries to employ Cambodian nationals. We do at times take on international volunteers; however these always fit very specific criteria.
Sometimes positions become available in our Cambodian facilities for international volunteers willing to stay at least 4-6 months and offering particular skills and experience relevant to our operations and our program needs.
Criteria for volunteering in Cambodia
- We have worked and concentrated on the children right, helping directly the children in the difficulties circumstances in the remote areas mainly in the present time so we only accept volunteers who bring particular skills or expertise
- Areas in which volunteers may help are:
- Health/medical - particularly paediatric care and community health
- Education - experienced English teachers, pedagogical specialists, early childhood development, remedial education, human rights education, leadership training, career orientation, vocational training
- Fundraising, grant writing, reporting or marketing/communications
- Other areas relevant to our program or needs
- All volunteers must commit to 4-6 months at least depending on the project area. Occasionally we accept shorter term volunteer except under very exceptional circumstances or in the case of volunteers with skills required for specific project.
- Also, please understand that we tend to recruit volunteers who are already in Cambodia so that we can meet in person.
- In keeping with our Child Protection Policy the CC will ask any successful candidates for background checks, a current police check and two character/professional references with contact details. All staff and volunteers are asked to sign our Code of Conduct and declare any prior investigations or convictions with regard to allegations of child abuse or suggesting unsuitability for working with children.
If you can meet these criteria please send a CV and a short cover letter (or simply the body of an email) explaining your skills, motivations and expectations: what you can offer, why you are doing this, and what you would expect to achieve or receive from the experience.
Send your application to info@childrencommittee.org
Someone from our Phnom Penh facility will contact you if there are any possibilities.
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