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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

The Kingdom of Cambodia became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 January 2000. Since then, Cambodia has requested two extensions to its Article 5 clearance deadline. It submitted a 10-year extension request in April 2009 with a deadline of 31 December 2019, and a six-year extension request in March 2019 with a deadline of 31 December 2025.

Cambodia is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Cambodia remains one of the world’s worst-affected states from contamination by mines, cluster munition remnants, and other explosive remnants of war (ERW), due to conflicts from the 1960s to the 1990s. Cambodia has struggled to determine the full extent of contamination, although the implementation of a baseline survey in 2009 and subsequent re-survey has helped to better define the extent of the problem.

Cambodia has tied its commitment to become free of mines/ERW to national-level strategies and government plans. Cambodia also adopted a Cambodia-specific Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to end the negative impact of mines/ERW and to promote victim assistance.[1]

Risk education is conducted in the northwest and northeast of Cambodia, addressing the risk from landmines in the northwest and cluster munition contamination in the northeast. Cambodia trains the Cambodian National Police to implement risk education and raise awareness of its mine action legislation as part of the Ministry of Interior’s Policy on Village and Commune Safety, launched in 2010. A retrospective review of risk education in Cambodia was conducted in 2020.[2]

Cambodia is responsible for significant numbers of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other ERW, all in need of support. Cambodia has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty, and also ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2012.

In 2019, annual casualties increased for the first time since 2014, with 77 people injured or killed. In 2020, casualties declined to 65, but remained higher than the 58 casualties recorded in 2018. However, since the 286 casualties recorded in 2010, there has been an overall downward trend in the annual number of mine/ERW casualties recorded in Cambodia.

A draft law on the rights of persons with disabilities was still being revised in 2020, amid criticism that it was not in full compliance with international human rights laws and standards.[3] The services provided by several provincial rehabilitation centers were greatly reduced in 2020, partly due to the impact of COVID-19, with hospitals and health centers requiring additional space.

Treaty Status

Treaty status overview

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request

Following its first 10-year Article 5 deadline extension request (2010–2019), submitted in April 2009, Cambodia submitted a second extension request in March 2019 for six years (2020–2025).

Challenges to meeting the 2025 deadline include un-demarcated border areas; available resources; inaccessible areas; competing development priorities and demands; and data discrepancies.[4]

Cambodia has reported that meeting the deadline will require an additional 2,000 deminers,[5] along with US$165.3 million from 1 January 2020 until 31 December 2025.[6] In 2020, Cambodia reported that it had undertaken negotiations with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) to deploy 2,100 army deminers to support demining efforts, and was lobbying the international donor community for financial support.[7] Three years into implementation of the National Mine Action Strategy 2018–2025, Cambodia estimated that only 60% of the required annual funding had been secured.[8]

Management and Coordination

Mine action

Mine action management and coordination overview

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) was established in 2000, with Prime Minister Hun Sen as its President. The CMAA undertakes the regulation, planning, coordination, and monitoring of the sector. Accreditation of humanitarian mine action operators began in 2006.[9]

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has partnered with the CMAA since 2006 through the Clearing for Results project. The first two phases, from 2006–2010 and 2011–2015, focused on capacity-building of the national authority to manage the mine action program, while thethird phase (2016–2019) focused on performance monitoring and ensuring the contribution of mine action to development.[10] A fourth phase, Mine Action for Human Development (2020–2025), began in January 2020. The project provides funding for clearance and capacity-building, to enable the CMAA to regulate, coordinate, and monitor the sector.

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) also provides capacity-building support to the CMAA.[11]

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has committed $10 million to Cambodia’s mine action sector for the period 2021–2025, through the fourth phase of the UNDP’s Clearing for Results project. This will include support to clearance, risk education and victim assistance.[12]

Strategies and policies

Cambodia’s National Mine Action Strategy 2018–2025 highlights its commitment to a mine-free Cambodia by 2025. The strategy seeks to ensure effective targeting of clearance assets, stipulating that at least 75% of mine action funding should be allocated to communes selected by the CMAA as priorities for clearance. The sector projects that it will need around $406 million to implement the strategy to release all areas known to be contaminated by mines, cluster munition remnants, and ERW during the 2018–2025 period.[13]

In 2020, the CMAA was developing a three-year Implementation Plan covering 2021–2023. It was expected that the plan would be finalized in early 2021.[14]

National standards

Cambodia has 16 national mine action standards, in Khmer and English, that are consistent with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[15] These include standards for mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), baseline survey, cluster munition remnants survey, land release, accreditation, and reporting of incidents.[16]

In 2020, several of the Cambodian Mine Action Standards (CMAS) for clearance were revised and updated. These included CMAS Chapter 2 on Accreditation and Certification, Chapter 15 on Land Release, Chapter 17 on Information Management, and Chapter 19 on Quality Management.[17]

The CMAA plans to implement a national mine action standard on environmental management.[18]

Information management

All operators submit clearance reports to CMAA via a virtual private network (VPN) connection. Operators have been reporting clearance data to CMAA using a standard reporting format since 2008.[19] The CMAA has been using Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) Next Generation since 2014 but is in the process of moving to IMSMA Core.[20]

National and global goals

The National Mine Action Strategy is harmonized with Cambodia’s national planning documents, the Rectangular Strategy[21] and National Strategic Development Plan 2019–2023.[22] In 2000, the Cambodian government set a ninth MDG on demining and victim assistance; and has since adopted a specific SDG, Goal 18, which aims to end the negative impact of mines/ERW and promote victim assistance.[23]

Gender and diversity

Goal 8 of the national strategy includes the mainstreaming of gender and environmental protection in mine action.[24] Cambodia’s Gender Mainstreaming in Mine Action Plan (GMAP) for 2018–2022 includes activities and indicators to promote gender equality throughout the sector.[25] The UNDP’s Clearing for Results Phase 4 project planned continued support for CMAA gender mainstreaming, based on the 2019 gender and diversity baseline assessment of the Geneva International Centre for Human Demining (GICHD), and the GMAP. In June 2020, the UNDP Clearing for Results project was engaging a national gender specialist to revise GMAP for the period 2021–2025.[26]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[27]

The CMAA is responsible for planning, monitoring, coordinating, and overseeing risk education activities in Cambodia. This includes organizing an annual National Mine Awareness Day on 24 February; ensuring risk education messages are consistent; organizing events to share experience, lessons learned, and best practices; and monitoring activities to ensure they are in line with the 2018–2025 national strategy.[28]

The CMAA convenes a Risk Education Technical Reference Group (RE-TRG), which meets on a quarterly basis, and is attended by representatives of the national authority and all risk education operators in Cambodia.[29] CMAA reported that four RE-TRG meetings were held in 2020 to discuss risk education materials, the organization of the National Mine Awareness Day, and the evaluation of risk education activities.[30] However, international operators reported that in 2020 the RE-TRG meetings were affected by COVID-19, and that only one meeting took place.[31] UNICEF provides technical and financial support to the CMAA for risk education coordination.

The CMAA cooperates with ARMAC to strengthen risk education across ASEAN member states.

The CMAA also manages the Cambodian Mine/ERW Victim Information System (CMVIS) which maintains updated information on casualties and incidents. This information is publicly available and is used by operators to plan the targeting of risk education activities.[32]

National standards and guidelines

Goal 4, Objective 1, within the 2018–2025 national strategy, aims to “provide effective mine/ERW risk education to people in current and emerging high-risk areas, appropriate for gender and age and strengthen local initiative network,” to reduce the occurrence of casualties from mines, cluster munition remnants, and ERW.[33] This includes strengthening operator capacity to provide effective risk education; coordinating the provision of risk education in emerging high-risk areas; ensuring the mainstreaming of risk education in the school curriculum; reinforcing community-based risk education; and strengthening risk education within the Village/Commune Safety Policy.[34]

The Cambodian Mine Risk Education Standards (CMRES) were revised and updated in 2020 and were finalized on 25 March 2021. The process was led by CMAA with NPA support and involved the input of all risk education operators in Cambodia.[35]

The quality, effectiveness, and impact of risk education activities in Cambodia is measured against the indicators set out in the action plan for 2018–2020, which is in line with the 2018–2025 national strategy. The CMAA conducts monitoring missions to risk education operations in the field.[36]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[37]

Laws and policies

Following a National Plan of Action for Persons with Disabilities 2008–2011, and the subsequent National Disability Strategic Plan 2014–2018, Cambodia developed a National Disability Strategic Plan for 2019–2023 for policy, reform of disability services, institutional capacity strengthening, poverty reduction, and job opportunities.[38] Objectives relevant to the support and reintegration of mine/ERW survivors are included within the strategic plan,[39] and within the National Mine Action Strategy 2018–2025.[40]

Cambodia’s additional SDG, Goal 18, includes the objective to “Promote the rights and improve the quality of life of persons who have disabilities due to landmine/ERW accidents,” which falls under the responsibility of the CMAA.[41]

The 2009 Law on the Protection and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that people with disabilities should make up at least 2% of the overall public sector workforce, but the actual proportion remains much lower.[42] The law was still in the process of being revised in 2020.[43] Despite Cambodia reporting that the draft law had been developed over two years of consultations with stakeholders, including civil society and advocacy groups, human rights observers have raised concerns that the law was not in full compliance with international human rights laws and standards, including the CRPD.[44]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination (as of December 2020)[45]

*This figure differs from that of 379km² given in the National Mine Action Strategy 2018–2025. The figure in the table includes new data from the baseline survey.

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; SHA=suspected hazardous area; and ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

Cambodia has extensive mine/ERW contamination from 30 years of conflict, from the 1960s until 1998. The northwest region bordering Thailand is heavily affected; while other parts of the country in the east and northeast, primarily affected by ERW, are considered moderate- to low-impact.

Since 2009, Cambodia has implemented a baseline survey which has led to the reduction of known antipersonnel mine-affected areas from 1,377.17km², to 801.64km² at the end of December 2020.[46]

The national baseline survey of 73 districts was completed in 2020, with survey conducted in 25 districts during the year.[47] Previously, 25 districts were surveyed in 2019, and 23 in 2018.[48]

As a result of non-technical and technical survey, 176.07km² of new contamination was recorded in 2020 across the provinces of Prey Veng, Preah Vihear, Pailin, Battambang, Kratie, Ratanakiri, Oddar Meanchey, Pursat, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri, Kamong Cham, Banteay Menachey and Siem Reap.[49] Out that total, 75km² of new contamination was antipersonnel mine contamination.[50]

Cluster munition remnants contamination

Cambodia has extensive cluster munition remnants contamination, although the full extent is not known. Contamination results from intensive bombing raids by the United States (US) during the Vietnam War, and is concentrated in northeastern provinces along Cambodia’s borders with Lao PDR and Vietnam. The US Air Force (USAF) dropped at least 26 million explosive submunitions on Cambodia; between 1.9 million and 5.8 million of which did not explode.[51]

The CMAA reported 658km² of cluster munition remnants contamination in Cambodia as of the end of December 2020.[52] The National Mine Action Strategy 2018–2025 had reported that known cluster munition remnant contamination was 645km², although stated that the figure would rise as a result of future survey.[53]

ERW contamination

As of the end of December 2020, Cambodia estimated ERW contamination at 566km².[54] This is an increase of almost 30% from the 379km² estimated in 2017, due to new contamination recorded through the baseline survey.[55]

Casualties

Casualties overview[56]

Note: ERW=explosive remnant of war.

Casualties in 2020: details

CMVIS recorded 65 casualties in 2020; down from 77 in 2019. Landmines were responsible for 28 of the casualties, while ERW caused 37 (representing 57% of the total). In 2020, 18 of the ERW casualties resulted from handling ordnance, while 11 resulted from bystanding, four from making a fire, three from construction activities, and one from informal clearance. Casualties caused by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines occurred mainly while the victims were conducting livelihood activities such as land clearance, farming, and collecting food or wood. One casualty resulted from handling and one from military activity.

While there has been a general downward trend in annual casualties since 2004, both 2019 and 2020 saw a higher number of casualties than 2017 and 2018, when 58 casualties were recorded each year.

For the period from 1979 to October 2020, a total of 64,920mine/ERW casualties were recorded by CMVIS data gatherers. The figure includes 19,797 people killed and 45,123 injured, of whom 9,061 had to have amputations due to their injuries.[57]

Cluster munition remnant casualties

One cluster munition remnant casualty occurred in 2020, in Stung Treng province in February. No cluster munition remnant casualties were recorded in Cambodia in 2019 or 2018. A total of 17 cluster munition remnant casualties have been recorded since 2010.[58] Data collection on cluster munition remnant casualties is limited, meaning the total number of casualties is thought to be far higher than reported. Cambodia is considered among the states “worst affected” by cluster munitions, with responsibility for significant numbers of cluster munition victims.[59]

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Clearance operators

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; NGO=non-governmental organization.

Clearance

Land release overview[60]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Land release

Landmines

Determining the full extent of contamination in Cambodia has long been problematic. A survey conducted in 2000–2002 estimated that 4,544 km² was suspected to be contaminated by landmines, representing 46% of all villages. This figure is believed by the sector to have largely overestimated the extent of the problem.

In August 2009, a baseline survey was initiated with the aim of defining the extent of remaining contamination and allowing clearance assets to be targeted toward the most heavily contaminated areas.[61] A national standard for land release was developed, along with a land classification system, categorizing contamination by type and density. The survey was completed in 2013, but operators continue to re-survey baseline survey polygons to better identify the most densely contaminated areas. Analysis of data from 2014–2016, from the CMAA national database, showed that 40% of land was released through non-technical survey and 60% through technical survey and clearance.[62]

Cambodia has aligned mine action planning with government systems at the national, provincial, and commune levels. Since 2004, Mine Action Planning Units (MAPU) at provincial level have been responsible for identifying clearance needs in local communities, which feed into provincial workplans reviewed and approved by Provincial Mine Action Committees (PMAC). Using the baseline survey and casualty data, CMAA now identifies priority communes for clearance, and the MAPUs are responsible for preparing annual clearance task lists along with local authorities and operators. Task lists are reviewed and approved by PMAC and the CMAA.

In 2020, baseline survey in 73 previously unsurveyed or partially surveyed districts was completed. The CMAA, through the UNDP Clearing for Results project, contracted NPA to deploy a team of four people from April 2021 to February 2022, to conduct future non-technical survey. There are plans to deploy another three non-technical survey teams.[63]

In 2020, mine clearance output in Cambodia more than doubled from 2019; with 46.42km² cleared; up from 20.93km² in 2019. The amount of land reduced through technical survey also increased to 17.45km² in 2020; up from 7.51km² in 2019. Cancellation of land through non-technical survey decreased in 2020, with 13.45km² cancelled, compared to 26.92km² in 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic did not impact significantly on mine clearance in Cambodia in 2020, as most of the clearance sites were in remote areas in the northwest.[64]

Cluster munition remnants

Since 2018, Cambodia has implemented Cluster Munition Remnants Survey (CMRS) methodology, which was adopted as a national standard in November 2018. The CMAA’s ”Three-year Implementation Plan 2018-2020” calls for meetings with key stakeholders to develop cluster munition survey and land release standards and prioritization guidelines, build the CMRS capacity of survey teams and implement CMRS methodology.[65]

Cambodia cleared 30.98km² of land contaminated by cluster munition remnants in 2020; up from 25.46km² cleared in 2019. A total of 7.5km² was released through technical survey, and 0.07km² was reduced through non-technical survey.[66]

ERW

In 2020, underwater clearance teams found up to 15,282kg of ERW, weapons, and human remains in a warship that sunk in the Mekong River, near Veal village in Kampong Cham province, in the 1970s. It was thought that more ERW would be found as other sections of the ship were searched. Four other locations of sunken warships are known: two in Kandal province, and two at the Neak Leung crossing of the Mekong River connecting Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces.[67]

Clearance of border areas

Un-demarcated border areas and ongoing border disputes have been cited by Cambodia as obstacles to meeting its Article 5 clearance deadline. Disputes between Cambodia and Thailand led to serious allegations of new use of antipersonnel mines by Cambodia along their border in October 2008. Cambodia plans to use the RCAF to demine border areas, as outlined in Section 6 of the General Border Commission and Circular 2 of March 2017.[68] The CMAA cooperates with the National Committee for Border Affairs to verify mine/ERW affected areas along the border.[69]

It was reported in September 2019 that an agreement was signed between CMAC and the Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC), regarding the areas along the border to clear. CMAC agreed to clear 1.26km² in 14 locations, around 300–500 meters from the border in Banteay Meanchey province.[70]

Residual hazards

Goal 7 of the National Mine Action Strategy 2018–2025 aims to establish a sustainable national capacity to address residual mine/ERW threats after 2025. This includes building the capacity of the RCAF, CMAC, and the police; and enhancing and sharing mine action knowledge within the sector and beyond.[71] The strategy also states that the government will take greater responsibility in addressing the mine/ERW problem after 2025, as it shifts from external to domestic funding.[72]

In 2020, the CMAA reported that in 2022 it plans to address the legal, institutional, and operational framework and capacity needed to address residual threats after 2025.[73]

Risk education

Risk education operators[74]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; EOD=explosive ordnance disposal.

Beneficiaries

Beneficiary numbers 2020[75]

N/R=not reported.

*CMAC also provided risk education to 130,856 children in school, and to another 71,075 children in non-school settings. Data was not disaggregated by sex.

During 2020, the CMAA recorded that in total, 1,096,354 men, 212,748 boys, 1,077,871 women, and 137,542 girls in Cambodia received mine/ERW risk education.[76]

MAG and the HALO Trust used the standard beneficiary guidelines to calculate beneficiaries, all of which were reached through interpersonal risk education methods. Both MAG and the HALO Trust reported reaching persons with disabilities, though participant numbers were not available.[77]

CMVIS data gatherers delivered risk education to 6,959 people, but the data was not disaggregated by age and sex.[78] UNICEF also provided risk education to 14,482 children in 2020, including 52 children with disabilities, and trained 128 professionals to deliver risk education.[79]

Implementation

Target groups

Communities have been living with the threat of mines/ERW for over 30 years in Cambodia, and a key challenge for risk education is that people are often complacent about the risks and engage in unsafe behavior.[80] Poverty, and a lack of alternative viable livelihood opportunities, encourages people to take risks on contaminated land as they believe they have no other choice.

Cambodia’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the region (growing at around 7% annually prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), due to rising foreign investment and expansion of the tourism sector.[81] Economic development and in-migration to the northwest and northeast has increased the demand for land and increased the threat from mines/ERW in these formerly remote areas.[82] The mechanization of farming has also led to an increase in accidents caused by antivehicle mines.[83]

Risk education in Cambodia is almost exclusively conducted in remote, rural areas. Risk education is conducted for antipersonnel mines and antivehicle mines particularly in the west, and for cluster munition remnants in the east. Risk education throughout Cambodia includes the threat posed by ERW.

In 2020, CMAA prioritized villages for risk education based on casualty data. Key target groups include in-school and out-of-school children; people entering forested areas to forage; agricultural machinery operators; and people who tamper with ERW for scrap metal or other purposes.[84]

Men are viewed as the primary risk group, accounting for the majority of casualties nationwide.[85] They are more likely to engage in high-risk activities such as agriculture, fishing, and hunting, that take them away from the village; or to knowingly participate in unsafe activities such as accessing vacant or forest land, or moving or tampering with items found. Men are also the most difficult to reach for risk education as they are often out of the village.[86] Other hard-to-reach groups include itinerant workers such as construction workers, farm laborers, and former combatants.[87] Women and children are often easier to reach than men. MAG has noted that women are an important target group because they can promote safer behavior among men.[88] Boys are seen to be at higher risk than girls.

Risk education is also targeted at operators of heavy farm machinery, who are at risk of antivehicle mines, particularly in areas where accidents have previously occurred.[89]

MAG and the HALO Trust both reported that efforts were made in 2020 to include people with disabilities in risk education sessions. The CMAA reported that risk education was provided to mine/ERW survivors and their families.[90]

Delivery methods

Risk education is provided as an integrated part of survey, clearance, and EOD. Emergency risk education is provided in areas where accidents have occurred.

Risk education is included within the school curriculum at primary and secondary schools, while out-of-school children are reached through community presentations. The school program covers 637 schools, across 17 districts in seven provinces.[91]

In areas home to indigenous ethnic groups, risk education is provided by facilitators from the local communities and in local languages.[92]

The HALO Trust reported undertaking “responsive” risk education, to provide information at work sites, on lunch breaks, or when encountering people collecting the harvest.[93] The HALO Trust also provided risk education to staff from NGOs including GIZ, Palladium, and Habitat for Humanity, working on construction or infrastructure projects.

CMAC works with commune police posts to implement risk education in line with the Village and Commune Safety policy. Police post representatives are trained by CMAC risk education teams.[94]

UNICEF and the CMAA have erected several billboards providing risk education messages.[95]

Major developments in 2020

COVID-19 affected operations to some extent in 2020. Risk education sessions were suspended at the start of the outbreak while health protocols were developed. These included ensuring that only small numbers of people attended sessions, and the implementation of physical distancing.[96]

In 2020, a UNICEF-funded, country-led retrospective review of the mine risk education program in Cambodia was coordinated by the CMAA, covering the period 2013–2019.[97] The study found that risk education was cost-effective, relevant, and impactful in terms of knowledge provision. Behavior change was seen to be a more challenging aspect because of the needs of the rural poor. Recommendations included developing a theory of change to inform the design and monitoring of risk education.

In September and October 2020, the HALO Trust provided risk education to people displaced by flooding.[98]

The CMAA, with support from NPA, conducted a field monitoring visit of risk education activities by MAG, the HALO Trust, and CMAC in August 2020.[99]

MAG Cambodia launched a new Facebook page in 2020 to share key safety messages, while MAG community liaison staff received training on disability awareness inclusion and on the Washington Group Short Set of Questions on Disability.[100]

In 2020, 80 teachers graduated from the Spirit of Soccer risk education program, allowing them to continue teaching without further assistance.[101]

ARMAC held a Regional Webinar, “Explosive Ordnance Risk Education in ASEAN in a Time of Pandemic,” in May 2020, and a side event discussion on the same topic in July 2020, during the intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty.[102]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; NGO=non-governmental organization.

Needs assessment

In August 2020, ARMAC and the CMAA carried out a “Rapid Assessment on Health and Social-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 to Victims of Mines/ERW in Cambodia.”[103] The assessment found that the mine/ERW victims interviewed had received information about COVID-19 through television or via their village chief, but had concerns regarding their health and socio-economic situation. The respondents lacked medical supplies and personal protective equipment, and 69% of respondents had suffered an extreme reduction in their income. The report provided a number of recommendations for ARMAC and the CMAA victim assistance programs.

The CMAA provided training on data collection related to persons with disabilities, using CMAA forms, to 112 village and commune chiefs in Romdul district, in Svay Rieng province.[104]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Since the handing over the running of physical rehabilitation centers from international NGOs to PWDF began in early 2011, there has been a decrease in the number of people accessing rehabilitation services in Cambodia. This is attributed to the absence of a clear handover plan and limited technical and financial capacity, especially in the manufacturing of components, leading to a decrease in the quantity of components supplied to the 11 provincial rehabilitation centers.

In addition, international organizations and NGOs paid for these components instead of receiving them free of charge, as they had done in the past. The former ICRC orthopedic components factory and the provincial rehabilitation centers experienced long delays in receiving the materials needed for production purchased with the government budget.

The Australia-Cambodia Cooperation for Equitable Sustainable Services (ACCESS) program, a three-year Australian Government initiative from 2018–2021, works in partnership with the Cambodian government to implement the National Disability Strategic Plan (NDSP) through improvement of disability sector coordination at the national and sub-national levels; effective management of physical rehabilitation centres handed over to PWDF; and increased provision of economic opportunities for persons with disabilities.[105] ACCESS includes support to actors from government bodies, NGOs, and the private sector.[106] It involves the MoSAVYR, DAC, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF), to plan resources for disability-related services.[107] Six ACCESS partners support the rights of persons with disabilities to access rehabilitation services and economic opportunities: Agile Development Group, CDPO, Chamroeun Microfinance, HI, Light for the World, and UNDP.

ACCESS worked with MoSAVYR, PWDF, HI, and other rehabilitation stakeholders to strengthen management and “ensure that essential services remain available for the most vulnerable groups.”

In 2021, Australian government funding supported six of the 11 physical rehabilitation centers in Cambodia through ACCESS, including the development of policies and guidelines, and capacity-building initiatives at the centers in Kampong Cham, Kien Khleang, Kratie, Prey Veng, Siem Reap, and Takeo. Australia noted that PWDF was “taking ownership to coordinate the development of a Financial Strategy” for physical rehabilitation centers, to ensure their financial sustainability.[108]

ICRC reported that efforts to ensure long-term sustainability of rehabilitation centers were making progress, as the MoSAVYR took over a third of the running costs of the Battambang and Kampong Speu centers in 2019.[109] In 2020, the center in Siem Reap moved to a new location, but was unable to function due to a lack of electricity.[110]

HI continued to manage the center in Kampong Cham in 2020, and started to implement “remote rehabilitation” services through making telephone calls to patients, providing advice on exercises due to the temporary closure of the center in April 2020 and again in April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[111] HI training on remote rehabilitation was provided to the center in Khien Khleang in December 2020; whilst HI coordinated with PWDF to provide remote rehabilitation training to the centers in Kratie, Prey Veng, Siem Reap, and Takeo in May 2021.[112]

The Ministry of Health started to develop its own physical therapy services in hospitals and health centers, recruiting physiotherapists, which resulted in a lack physiotherapists in the humanitarian rehabilitation sector.[113]

In 2020, COVID-19 impacted the provision of physical rehabilitation services. The center in Siem Reap was relocated from the provincial hospital in November 2020 to enable staff to prepare to receive COVID-19 patients. In 2021, the center reopened at a new location, a former orphanage, but was only able to provide minor repairs. The center in Kratie also stopped operations, as extra space was needed by the hospital. People were referred to bicycle repair shops for minor repairs, and the center provided remote advice by telephone, while staff coached parents and others to give physical therapy. The Khien Klang center, in Phnom Penh, was to transfer to Banteay Prieb center, a vocational training center run by Jesuit Service Cambodia; however, no water or electricity was provided at the new premises built to house the rehabilitation services and wheelchair production by AAR-WCD and VIC. The center in Prey Veng stopped providing community follow-up and outreach due to COVID-19 and the center in Takeo reported fewer people coming to use the services.[114]

In 2020, the CMAA reported that 16,925 persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, received physiotherapy and surgery; and that 18,198 people received physical rehabilitation from the centers, including prosthetics, orthotics, wheelchairs, tricycles, and walking aids. The physical rehabilitation centers produced and repaired more than 17,000 products in 2020, including 2,099 prosthetics, 1,999 orthotics, 13 seating systems, 848 wheelchairs, 52 tricycles, 673 non-orthopedic procedures, 1,340 walking aids, and 9,993 repairs.[115] Community-based rehabilitation services were available in 25 provinces and 9,147 people received support, including mobile repair services and referral.[116]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

Although some persons with disabilities have benefited from improvements to the social security system, many do not receive adequate state assistance.[117] In 2019, a disability identification card pilot was implemented in eight provinces, making recipients eligible for government benefits. By February 2021, over 14,000 persons with disabilities had registered.[118] However, implementation progress was reported to be slow, with inadequate information provision to eligible people.[119]

There is limited coverage by social services in Cambodia. The Identification of Poor Households program had not yet achieved a single system for management of information on the needs of poor and vulnerable persons.[120] Lack of capacity to assess disability issues has resulted in some persons with disabilities not being recognized, but reforms to the social protection system could potentially widen the safety net for persons with disabilities and increase their economic participation.[121]

Public streets and roads have multiple obstacles, and no facilities for persons with disabilities.[122]

In 2020, CMAA reported that clients of community-based rehabilitation services were supported to receive gender training, job placements, small business management training courses, and small grants. During the year, 1,092 self-help groups were also set up. It was reported that 113 children with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, attended primary school; while 126 people with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, were trained at vocational training centers. In total, 29 persons with disabilities received training on setting up small businesses directly from physical rehabilitation centers, while 21 people received grants to set up small businesses.[123]

One of the last remaining vocational training centers, the long-established Banteay Prieb center near Phnom Penh, run by Jesuit Service Cambodia (JSC), serves an increasing range of persons with disabilities, and includes a wheelchair production facility and a farm project for training and income-generation.[124] Without communicating in advance with the center, the MoSAVYR and the DAC announced a plan in July 2019 to use the land on which the center is located to house several departments and NGOs, by demolishing the existing infrastructure and constructing new premises. The construction work was being undertaken without providing an alternative temporary location for the center, forcing it to temporarily halt student intake for 2020, and take time to plan to restart the program in 2021.[125]

The CDPO, civil society organizations, and government representatives expressed concern about limited opportunities for job seekers with disabilities, who often had limited skills and education and regularly faced discrimination from employers.[126] In 2019, the CDPO began work on a nationwide database to connect disabled job seekers with private employers.[127]

The Disability Development Services Program (DDSP) Inclusive Training Center was supported by contributions from the Avast Foundation and Light for the World. Construction of the training center was supported by the Sir Bobby Charlton Foundation.[128] By early 2021, the ground floor of the building was completed, but DDSP was looking for support to fully equip and resource the training services, and to build an additional floor for accommodation. The project will support youth with disabilities to find work, including providing job coaching skills, and engaging with local businesses and local government to support job placements.[129]

National Accessibility Guidelines were launched in November 2018. With financial support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, through the ACCESS program, HI and the DAC developed a training toolkit in 2020 to train people to implement the guidelines. A total of 36 master trainers were trained.[130]

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lockdown was implemented in Cambodia in early 2021, impacting the availability of economic support and opportunities for persons with disabilities.[131]

Gender

ACCESS continued to support the Cambodian government to implement the National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women (NAPPVAW), which aims to ensure that women affected by gender-based violence had access to quality healthcare and survivor-centered legal protection. In 2020, COVID-19 caused delays in some activities, including training, meetings with sub-national departments, and dissemination of gender-based violence information at the community level.

In 2020, ACCESS commissioned Research Consulting to implement a baseline study on Service Access Quality Uptake, to provide data and information on the state of service delivery for gender-based violence survivors in supported provinces.[132]

Cross-cutting

ARMAC received approval in 2020 for the commencement of a three-year program, “Enhance Victim Assistance Programmes in the ASEAN member states,” from the ASEAN Committee of Permanent Representatives and South Korea, through the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund.[133] Around US$2 million has been provided by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for the victim assistance project.[134]

In April 2021, ACCESS announced a two-year extension of its program in Cambodia, until 2023, enabled by the provision of additional Australian government funding.[135]