Five provinces - almost four million people

It is estimated that more than half a million people in Cambodia (nearly 5% of the total population) have disabilities. Very few have access to appropriate medical treatment, rehabilitation services, or skills and vocational training.  This lack of access further ‘disables’ them from participating fully and equally in community life. 

CDMD is active in five provinces: Phnom Penh, Kandal, Takeo, Kampot, and Kampong Speu. With our CBR program we cover a total population of almost four million people, including more than 180.000 who are (Cambodia Inter-Censal Population Survey 2004)

Poverty and disability

In Cambodia, 30% of the population lives on less than 5.000 Riel (US $1.25) per day. (Worldbank, 2008). There is a strong cyclical link between disability and poverty: poverty leads to increased disability and disability, in turn, leads to increased poverty. 

 

 

challenges

Despite great geographic diversity across mountains, plains and coastal regions, nearly all transport in the provinces is road based, most of the time only by motorbike or bicycle. This places limits on access for people with disabilities to essential destinations including schools and hospitals.

 

Cambodian culture

People with disabilities are often marginalised by their own community and excluded from community development. Physical or mental disabilities are considered by some to be the result of faults accumulated in previous lives, resulting in widespread social stigma and an undue sense of guilt for people with disabilities. 

Additionally, due to lower cost and traditional cultural roles, many Cambodians avoid going to a hospital or clinic, and instead seek treatment from traditional healers.

 

Education for disabled children

Although a national policy exists to achieve education for all before 2015, schools and teachers are not equipped to teach children with disabilities, and the limited number of accessible schools and classrooms are often implemented by NGOs.  Unfortunately, these services are only available to a very small minority of children with disabilities, principally in urban areas, leaving out those in rural areas.

These are just a few of the factors that influence our work, however, the issues people with disabilities and their families are dealing with are overwhelming. They are the most vulnerable and poorest groups in Cambodian society. Being the poorest of the poor they live in desperate conditions: lack of nutrition, no access to clean water, poor hygiene and sanitation, illnesses and so on.