Overview

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organisation which includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

Background

The AFSC Cambodia program began immediately after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. Throughout the 1980s, the work focused on rebuilding basic services – particularly animal health, education, and irrigation. The continuing civil war led to a huge number of mine victims and amputees. AFSC Cambodia, in conjunction with several other international NGOs, began to produce artificial limbs and train people in their use. This grew into a joint effort with Cambodia Trust to establish the Cambodia School for Prosthetics and Orthotics, internationally accredited in 1998. During the 1990s AFSC turned over irrigation and animal health programs to government partners. In 2002, the Cambodia program devolved two programs. Khmer Ahimsa, now a local NGO, continues to revive traditional conflict resolutions methods. AFSC’s remaining project in the disabilities sector — Community Work with Disabled People — was handed over to Cambodia Trust. In 1997, AFSC began the Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods Program in Sre Ambel district, Koh Kong, an insecure and underserved area of the country. In 2001, the ISL program’s focus shifted to community-based natural resource management in support of villagers struggling against environmental destruction and lost livelihoods. The ISL program has moved from reliance on expatriate leadership to a Cambodian program manager and management team. In 2009, the program will begin its transformation into a local NGO. In 2003, AFSC began its peace partnerships program with local organizations on nationalism, ethnicity and identity. This program focuses on Cambodian peacemakers — individuals and groups with a commitment to promote a more mature and peaceful society. These local partners have conducted research on attitudes and behavior, developed training materials on nationalism and ethnicity, held dialogues with youth from neighboring countries, sponsored youth camps to explore a multicultural Cambodia, and initiated development activities in Khmer/Vietnamese border communities.

Mission

The American Friends Service Committee is a practical expression of the faith of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Committed to the principles of nonviolence and justice, it seeks in its work and witness to draw on the transforming power of love, human and divine.

Vision

We nurture the faith that conflicts can be resolved nonviolently, that enmity can be transformed into friendship, strife into cooperation, poverty into well-being, and injustice into dignity and participation. We believe that ultimately goodness can prevail over evil, and oppression in all its many forms can give way.