Cambodia

• Our office: Phnom Penh
• Our areas of focus: Climate action and resilience, youth empowerment and skills-building
• Our partners: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

About our work

We’ve delivered creative communication projects in Cambodia since 2003 in areas including health, sexual and reproductive rights, and youth participation. In recent years, we’ve focused strongly on perhaps the most pressing issue facing the country: climate change and extreme weather.

We conducted research in 2018 to understand how Cambodians are experiencing these weather changes and found they reported perceived impacts on their health, food security, and livelihoods. The findings informed our 2019 television series, Don’t Wait For Rain, which improved knowledge of climate risks and encouraged audiences to make easy, affordable changes to cope with extreme weather.

We have worked with UN Women on research  examining the different impacts of climate change and extreme weather on women and girls – who are more vulnerable due to structural and social barriers, including increased care burdens and workloads, and poverty. And we have conducted further research for the Cambodian Ministry of Environment into knowledge, attitudes and practices around climate change, to inform our future programming and the wider sector.

Beyond climate, our vibrant, energetic and digitally savvy team have been delivering Klahan9 since 2014. An innovative multimedia project, Klahan9 (which means ‘brave’) is helping to empower young Cambodians.

Between 2014 and 2021, our initial Klahan9 work focused on livelihoods. Through a popular youth-led TV show, Klahan9 House, outreach events and popular social media content, we provided young people with informative and entertaining content that reached millions – 47% of all 15-24 year olds. Our research showed Klahan9 equipped them with knowledge around jobs and livelihoods, provided inspiring role models and motivated young people to take practical actions towards their futures.

Since 2021, Klahan9 has been supporting youth civic engagement, equipping young people with the networks, knowledge and skills they need, and enhancing the conditions for them to use them. Informed by a comprehensive research study and working with partners across the country, our multiplatform SPACE project uses media production and community outreach to support youth participation and discussion with decision-makers and parents. We are also strengthening the provision of public interest media in Cambodia, and increasing its representation of young people.