Pursat Province

Pursat province is characterized by serious poverty in Cambodia. Pursat province relies heavily on fresh water fishing and subsistence agriculture and is highly vulnerable to human trafficking for sexual or labor exploitation. A lack of community-based support mechanisms and a limited understanding of the consequences of child labor are prevalent in this province. Uninformed migration due to poverty is prevalent as well. Many children and women migrate to seek employment in the cities or neighboring countries.  A further consequence of this trend is that younger children who remain in the villages are in high demand as child laborers.

In terms of education, while there is a steady increase in the numbers of enrolments at the primary level, many children still leave school at the completion of their primary school education.  There are many reasons to explain this such as poverty, unavailability of schools in the area, excessive distances, no high schools. Many of those who are enrolled in primary school are also at risk of dropping out of school due to the high demand for their services at home. It is reported anecdotally that almost every child in each house is involved directly in the agriculture sector such as in harvesting, ploughing, or is indirectly involved in carrying out duties such as child care, or other household activities. While there is no reliable statistic or data on how many children are actually involved in agriculture, it is believed that these observations reflect the real situation of child labor in the provinces.

Krakor District in Pursat province holds some particular challenges with a number of at risk children living in floating villages.  These villages are transient by nature, being subject to water levels and travel to school presents difficulties for many small children because of the need to cross water.   As a further difficulty, one village is comprised entirely of people of Vietnamese origin whose knowledge of the Khmer language is extremely limited. Whatnakpheap will incorporate activities into its project to address these specific issues.