While Cambodia’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, the country remains among the least developed. Poverty is widespread, with nearly 300 informal settlements in the capital, Phnom Penh. These often consist of precarious, makeshift housing, lack of land security and services, high unemployment and poor sanitation.
Because of such challenges, Planète Enfants & Développment (PE&D) initiated its project Habitat and living conditions improvement in poor communities in Phnom Penh in 2018, building on previous work with local partner Samatapheap Khnom Organization (SKO). The project supports residents in informal settlements by improving homes and making them safer, developing community action and delivering family support and training. Working with local partners, NGOs and local authorities, the project involves eight large informal settlements, home to around 10,000 people. Priority is given to vulnerable families living in particularly unsafe housing, with a strong focus on women who are experiencing, or at risk of, domestic violence.
To date, the project has improved 88 homes to become structurally safe, trained 297 people (including 190 women) in sustainable construction techniques, provided social support to 206 families, including domestic violence-related support, and trained 152 people (124 women) in PASSA (Participatory Approach for Safe Shelter Awareness) – a participatory method of disaster risk reduction related to shelter safety. Training has also been provided in financial education and gender issues (to 140 people, including 100 women), savings and credit groups (34 women) and family support (58 people, 50 of them women).
