More than 8,000 people benefit from Intervida’s Health and Education projects in Cambodia
Madrid (08/05/2008). INTERVIDA has recently begun working in Cambodia, where the organization benefits 6,396 school children in the schools where it works, providing them with educational projects and school materials.
Despite the efforts undertaken by the Cambodian Administration to date, it is not easy to access quality education. In some cases, the educational system cannot respond to the growing demand; in other cases, the families have scarce resources which do not enable them to support the costs of sending their children to school. Other obstacles include the lack of motivation and technical training of teachers; structural problems due to poor and often inexistent installations which result in a lacking teaching and learning environment; and the absence of resource, pedagogical and bibliographic materials which impedes proper educational practices.
Today, the illiteracy rate among young Cambodians is 16.6%, a figure which is higher among women, who present an illiteracy rate of 21.1%. If we look at the number of illiterate adult women, the figure increases to around 36%. And it is always the women, regardless of their age, who are most behind when it comes to education.
INTERVIDA’s efforts in Cambodia aim to improve universal access to quality formal and informal education. The organization provides school materials to each of the students in the schools where it works in the area, thereby helping to address the lack of resources which families have to support school expenses, while also increasing the rate of primary school enrolment and reducing the drop out rate among primary school students. INTERVIDA also provides the schools and the teacher with equipment and material, both didactic and pedagogical, to improve educational conditions.
In health field, INTERVIDA’s work is aimed at reducing the overall mortality rate through improving access to quality health services offering friendly treatment to the general population. The coverage and provision of public sanitary services is improved by putting professional action teams in place to help address common illnesses and medical problems of primary school children and their teachers.
It cannot be ignored that in Cambodia 45% of children under 5 years old have a height and weight which are below average for their age, precisely the most vulnerable age group. Diseases such as HIV and AIDS, diarrhea, measles or pneumonia account for 41.5% of deaths among children under five.
At the same time, actions are undertaken to increase the beneficiaries’ awareness on the importance of good sanitary practices and to strengthen health promotion and the disease prevention. Actions are also carried out to offer technical training to personnel and improve their skills, as well as to update medical equipment, which contributes to improving services and guaranteeing the sustainability of the intervention while encouraging beneficiaries to take advantage of the public services offered them.
About INTERVIDA
FUNDACIÓN INTERVIDA is a nonpartisan, nondenominational and independent development NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Its objective is to contribute to sustainable human development towards improving the living conditions of the most disadvantaged communities around the world. Currently, INTERVIDA is active in various countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, offering its support to nearly five million people.
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