Background

UNICEF estimates that nearly half of all Cambodian children are malnourished. One in eight dies before their fifth birthday. Underfunded and insufficient, Cambodia's child welfare system continually struggles with high rates of HIV/AIDs, large numbers of street children and increased child labor, trafficking and prostitution. As chronic poverty leads many families to seek alternative care for their children, the state's institutional system continues to grow as well. Recent estimates suggest the number of children in care most likely exceeds 10,000. Holt has intermittently served children and families in Cambodia since the late 1990s – and consistently since 2005. With international adoption to the U.S. closed since 2001, Holt concentrates efforts in Cambodia on keeping children in families, and out of institutions. Through ongoing partnership local organization Pathways to Development, Holt supports family preservation services ranging from nutrition, health and medical aid to school materials for children and income-generating opportunities for parents. For a handful of families, Pathways administers grants to cultivate small businesses such as raising livestock, growing vegetables or running a grocery. By generating their own income, families become increasingly self-sufficient and able to provide long-term stability for their children. Our partner also provides remedial and English language classes for over 200 children and maintains a community library on site. All together, these resources and services provide the fundamental support that keeps families together and prevents child abandonment. Although the efforts of our local partners have enabled hundreds of children to stay or reunite with their birth families, thousands remain in Cambodia's institutional system. To help these children join permanent families, the Cambodian Government has begun to take steps toward developing an ethical system of adoption.