Ravaged by decades of war, political instability and civil strife, Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in Asia.

More than 40 per cent of its population live below the official poverty line, and unemployment is high. Muslims are a minority in Cambodia, constituting only one percent of its total population. However Muslim Aid feels that they have an important role to play in the development of this South-East Asian country.

"Cambodia's critical situation undoubtedly falls under Muslim Aid's mission of 'serving humanity'," said Hamid Azad, Head of Overseas Programmes at Muslim Aid. "Muslim Aid has provided help and assistance to the poor and needy regardless of their race and creed."

Muslim Aid's work in Cambodia has included providing orphans with food during the month of Ramadan, providing livestock to poor communities for the festival of Eid-ul-Adha, and more recently, the building of a community road for the village of Kradas in the Kampong Cham Province.

However Muslim Aid recently decided that the situation there warranted the establishment of a dedicated field office in the country.

"Muslim Aid is committed to alleviating the root causes of poverty through its sustainable humanitarian activities," said Hamid Azad. "Through opening a field office in Cambodia, Muslim Aid has managed to expand another wing of our operations in South East Asia."

An agreement was subsequently signed on January 19th with the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation for the use of their premises. The ceremony included the attendance of Cambodian Secretary of State Ouch Borith. At the ceremony the former Ambassador of Cambodia to the United Nations praised Muslim Aid for their work. Muslim Aid currently works in over 60 countries and has field offices in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, and Indonesia.

"Over the coming years, Muslim Aid Cambodia will conduct a series of skills enhancement training for young people in Cambodia," said Hamid Azad. "In particular, we will help young graduates to upgrade their skills and provide them with appropriate skills to contribute to the process of the development of Cambodia."

Muslim Aid has also supplied the Muslim Development Foundation with computers for computer skills training, and funded English classes in Phnom Phen. Muslim Aid intends to implement vocational training programmes for young people to help them obtain the skills needed by the market.

Another important way that Muslim Aid has identified of overcoming unemployment is to encourage entrepreneurship, with Muslim Aid planning to implement programmes to develop entrepreneurial skills among young people.

"We also intend to extend our micro-credit and livelihood programmes in a bid to develop economic activities to provide an income which will enable families to improve their health and enable their children to continue their education," added Hamid Azad. "Orphan care and healthcare projects are also in the pipeline for a 2008-2009 start."

(ENDS)

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit                                                                                  Permalink