Cambodia - Overview 

Capital: Phnom Penh
Area: 181,040 km²
Population: 13.6 million (July 2005)
Ethnic groups: Khmer, Thai, Chinese, others
Official language(s): Khmer
Religion(s): Theravada Buddhists, Muslims, others
Currency: 1 riel = 100 sen

SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country

Following a succession of colonial wars and civil strife under the terror regime of the Khmer Rouge, it was at the end of the 1990's that the political situation stabilized somewhat and the unfortunate population of Cambodia began to experience a feeling of peace. In 1999 SOS-Kinderdorf International started negotiations with the Cambodian government with a view to helping the numerous orphaned children in the country. A government agreement was signed for the initial construction of two SOS Children's Villages and thus for Hermann Gmeiner's idea to be brought into the country. The Cambodian National SOS Children's Village Association was founded in 2000. Already by the beginning of 2001 the first children and their SOS mothers were able to move into the SOS Children's Village in the capital city Phnom Penh.

The attached SOS Kindergarten is also open to children from the neighbourhood. The second SOS Children's Village was built in Siem Reap, on the main road to the famous temples of Angkor Wat. It was completed in October 2002 and the first children moved into their new homes shortly after. The need for suitable facilities for Cambodia's orphaned and abandoned children is still great, and the SOS Children's Village work in the country has only just begun.

At present there are in Cambodia three SOS Children's Villages, one SOS Social Centre, one SOS Youth Facility, two SOS Kindergarten, one SOS Hermann Gmeiner School and one SOS Training Centre.

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