Our Work

Reaching all 25 Cambodian provinces, USAID works with Cambodian and international partners to make the country a more open, prosperous, resilient, and inclusive partner in the Indo-Pacific region. Our work focuses on advancing government accountability and human rights; improving health and nutrition; supporting education and child development; increasing agricultural production and food security; conserving forests and watersheds; helping farmers and households adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural hazards; and assisting Cambodia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE

For example, in 2021 USAID trained over 1,600 human rights defenders and 485 union leaders and labor activists to carry out outreach and advocacy activities protecting basic human rights and promoting core labor standards. USAID also supported citizen demands for increased local services, resulting in authorities taking action to respond to 107 formal citizen requests and building a culture of transparency and accountability in target districts and municipalities. USAID also supported 11 NGO partners in eight of Cambodia’s most populous cities to inform and empower citizens to engage in local planning processes and prioritize their demands for improved local services. Local authorities in 64 communes are taking action to respond to these priorities.

HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND CHILD PROTECTION

With USAID’s support, Cambodia is reducing the burden of infectious diseases while increasing access to quality health services and is improving the way Cambodian children learn. As an example of Cambodia’s increasing sustainable development, USAID transferred management of the Health Equity Fund, which provides health care to 2.5 million Cambodians. Cambodia has not experienced a single malaria fatality since 2018 with USAID support through the President’s Malaria Initiative.  USAID resources have supported the basic education curriculum for all Khmer-speaking children nationwide in grades 1 and 2, as well as for those with learning disabilities or who speak one of Cambodia's other five languages. To combat the COVID pandemic, the Agency has provided more than $16 million to provide personal protective equipment, improve laboratory infrastructure, support risk communication, and deliver more than one million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

USAID implements a market-based, private sector-led approach to promote broad-based economic growth in Cambodia supporting agriculture, natural resource and biodiversity conservation, and workforce development sectors.  USAID also works with indigenous communities on biodiversity conservation and livelihood development. This includes the sale of carbon credits which provides a sustainable financing mechanism to benefit communities. In 2021, USAID programs facilitated almost $40 million in carbon credit sales, attracted nearly $17 million in investment in the agriculture sector, and created more than 1,600 jobs. USAID programs also assisted over 2500 agriculture businesses to increase their sales by $70 million and develop over 140 products.