Cambodia makes progress on tackling violence against children: report

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 16– Cambodia’s progress on tackling violence against children was recognized by an independent evaluation report released on Friday, according to a joint press statement. The report was issued at an event co-hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) — Cambodia’s progress on tackling violence against children was recognized by an independent evaluation report released on Friday, according to a joint press statement.

The report was issued at an event co-hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

It examined the government’s action plan to prevent and respond to violence against children, which ran between 2017 and 2021.

Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation Vong Sauth said this evaluation of the action plan is very encouraging for the government.

“It shows that we are on the right track to ending violence against Cambodian children and demonstrates why all sectors of the government need to continue working in a coordinated way to accelerate results,” he said.

Foroogh Foyouzat, UNICEF’s representative in Cambodia, said that finalization of the upcoming child protection bill, and increased investment in the social welfare workforce and prevention programs, are crucial to keeping children safe and breaking the vicious cycle of violence that afflicts too many families.

The latest figures from the Cambodia Health and Demographic Survey 2022 revealed that 43 percent of children report that they are disciplined in the home using physical violence, the statement said.

“A key recommendation of the evaluation was therefore to build robust results monitoring into all activities so that improvements can be measured more accurately in the years ahead, and best practice established. It is only then that we can achieve our common goal of keeping every Cambodian child safe and protected from any kind of violence,” it added. Enditem