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Land area: 181,035Km2 Population inter-censal population survey 2004: 13,091,000 Population growth rate 2004: 1.81% Life expectancy at birth year 2001: 57.4 It is estimated that there are 123,100 people living with HIV/AIDS, while the official adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 1.9% (19 of every 1,000 people) |
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About Cambodia Children represent 46% of Cambodia's total population Almost 5 million Cambodians live in poverty, on less than US$1 per day 85% of the population lives in rural areas, but urban migration is also increasing 40% of people living in rural areas are poor compared with 10% in Phnom Penh and 25% in other urban areas. More than 74% are employed in agricultural activities |
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Maternal Health Around five women die every day due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth Out of 100 pregnant women, 69 do not have antenatal care and 68 do not have a skilled attendant present at delivery |
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Child mortality and malnutrition More than 40,000 children die each year before their fifth birthday - about 110 children a day - mostly from preventable causes. The great majority of these children die in their first year of life Around 600,000 children under five years of age are underweight |
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Water, environment and sanitation Over 62% of households are using unsafe water sources, with households in rural areas worse off than households in urban areas Over 78% of households do not have access to sanitation facilities, with households in rural areas worse off than households in urban areas |
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Education Over 180,000 children of primary school age are not enrolled Over 47% of children who go to primary school do not reach grade six Only 11% of children aged 3 to 5 attend some form of preschool (public, community or private) Only 26% of children of the appropriate age are enrolled in lower secondary school |
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WOMEN IN CAMBODIA
In Cambodia, women account for approximately 53% of the
population. In rural areas an estimated one in four households are headed
by a woman, and in Phnom Penh one in three. Cambodia's women are often
held mainly responsible for family survival; they run the bulk of small
businesses in Cambodia, they find and prepare food, and they care for
sick and older relatives. But society offers women a huge burden of family
responsibility with very little access to education and, correspondingly,
severely limited economic opportunities outside of small-scale trading,
sex work, laboring or paid housework.
Cambodian women are:
· Often denied education - if families are forced to choose which
of their children they can afford to send to school, they usually choose
to send the boys. The common perception is that it is more important for
the boys to learn than the girls, anecdotally because
a) income inequality
means that boys with an education are more likely to be able to earn a
high salary than their female peers; and
b) they will be the titular heads
of households, and are therefore viewed as more important. 50% of women
over the age of 15 are estimated to be illiterate (the figure for men
is 22%; both figures from ADB Cambodia Study, 1996).
· Bought and sold - Families will sell their daughters into prostitution
in return for a lump-sum payment, or a loan which the young girl sells
sex to repay. She herself often remains unpaid.
· Not encouraged to concentrate on work skills. Women are seen
as being in charge of the private setting of the household, whereas the
man is seen as being in charge of making money outside the house - although
the reality is often greatly different.
· At increasing risk of becoming HIV+, or of having to care for
someone who is HIV+ or has AIDS. The HIV prevalence rate among household
females in the 1999 HIV Sentinel Surveillance Survey (HSS; National Center
for HIV/AIDS and STDs) is 1.2% and rising. The disease is moving via general
population men and sex workers to general population women and their children.
Currently, the estimated cumulative number of adults and children with
AIDS is about 20,000. The 1999 estimate for new AIDS cases annually was
8,000; it is predicted that this will reach 25,000 in 2005. The burden
of care for people with AIDS tends to fall on Cambodia's women.
HIV+ women in Cambodia are, therefore, multiply disadvantaged when it
comes to trying to support themselves and their families, and to paying
for medical treatment linked to HIV/AIDS. Medical costs are identified
as the highest cause of poverty in Cambodia (Medicam, 2000).
Conclusion
· Women in Cambodia are economically disadvantaged, and HIV+ women
are doubly disadvantaged because of discrimination and because of the
high costs of medical care in Cambodia
· Education and training is core to assisting women in improving
their situation, and the situation of their children
· Realistic employment/business opportunities need to be offered
· Training in itself isn't enough. Women who set up their own businesses
following training should be offered ongoing support and advice in developing
those businesses.
· HIV+ women working together in cooperatives can provide psycho-social
support as well as providing a stronger base on which to build a successful
business
