Cambodia
In Cambodia, Oxfam's focus is on livelihoods, gender equality, disaster preparedness, and campaigning for controls on arms and for fairer trade rules.
Weapons for sale
- Population: 12 million
- Up to one million small arms and light weapons in circulation
- Cost of an automatic rifle? As little as US$25
The legacy of 30 years of suffering and violence caused by the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime has left weapons dangerously easy to obtain in Cambodia. Widespread gun ownership has meant settling petty disputes can often turn into a game of life and death.
How Oxfam is helping
Oxfam's Control Arms campaign has been active in highlighting the situation in Cambodia and lobbying for stricter arms controls. In 2006, we successfully campaigned for the UN to start drafting an international Arms Trade Treaty.
Protecting rural livelihoods
Seventy five per cent of Cambodians depend on the land to make a living. Yet the Land Law introduced in 2001 has put many farmers' land rights in jeopardy. Without guaranteed access to natural resources their livelihoods are at risk.
Farming and growing vegetables are things that I do best and that's the main source of income for my family. I can't afford to lose the place where I make a living.
Roeung Ran, Battamban
How Oxfam is helping
Oxfam has been working with farmers like Roeung to secure their access to land and maximise their food production and income-earning potential. We promote special farming techniques that help cut costs and to maximise crop yields. We also provide agricultural training and help ensure there are legal frameworks to protect the interests and needs of poor people.
At first I didn't believe that a single stem [of rice] could split into so many shoots, but we tried it anyway. The result is astonishing! We made enough profit to pay off our debt.
Teack Voeut, Battambang
Other development work
- Helping communities to be prepared in the event of flooding
- Helping poor people to have a say in the decisions that affect them
- Promoting gender equality
Taking a stand against exploitation
The lure of better wages draws many Cambodians to the capital, Phnom Penh. Yet workers in the country's rapidly-growing garment industry are subject to long hours and poor working conditions. Many are hired on short-term contracts, or with no contracts at all.
- Cambodia's garment industry generates more than 90 per cent of the country's exports
- One-in-five Cambodian women aged between 18-25 now work in a garment factory
Abusive labour practices are common in the industry and job insecurity is rife. Absence because of sickness is penalised by fines, and protracted illness can lead to dismissal.
How Oxfam is helping
We have been helping women’s groups and garment workers in particular, to speak out for their own interests.
Through our Make Trade Fair campaign we lobby governments and institutions so that trade can become part of the solution to poverty, rather than part of the problem.
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