DCOF-UNICEF ASSESSMENT OF “STRENGTHENING SYSTEMS TO PROTECT VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN CAMBODIA”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report describes the outcomes of the joint DCOF/UNICEF visit to Cambodia to assess the three-year, DCOF-funded project on Strengthening Systems to Protect Vulnerable Children and Families in Cambodia. The assessment visit was carried out in May 2012, toward the end of the project (September 2012).
Overall, the team found that much progress had been made in terms of legislative developments, such as the Prakas on Alternative Care; the development of minimum standards for residential care, now being used in regular inspections; and the development of a database for residential care facilities and the children resident within them. Other activities benefiting children directly have also taken place, such as working with the Buddhist Leadership Initiative on supporting vulnerable children and families, and the Partnership Program for the Protection of Children (3PC) that UNICEF has initiated with Friends International, which involves a collaboration of nine nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) providing services for children in a number of provinces in Cambodia.
The work in Cambodia seems to have proven somewhat challenging, but government capacity is now developing and attitudes toward alternative care are showing greater understanding of those issues. However, the systems put into place still appear to require external support (much like the health and education system) in order to embed themselves firmly in governmental practice at all levels and to be useful in the development of a wider child protection system.
