IN BRIEF: CAMBODIAN SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND RELIGIOUS SITUATION

Posted: 29th July 2004

Children of Neak Loeung's town

1. Cambodia is a country in process of post-war and genocide reconstruction.

2. There are high levels of poverty with an income of less than 2 dollars a day per capita.

3. It is predominantly an oral culture, 1/3 illiterate.

4. Increasing number of AIDS victims and child prostitution.

5. It is a culture of gambling and rampant alcoholism in the youth.

6. Increasing number of drugs (narcotics) consumption among the youth.

7. About 61% of the population is under 24 years of age and younger.

8. Young Cambodians tend to marry at a much younger age than their contemporaries in a neighbouring society like Thailand.

9. About 15 percent of Khmer children never even attend primary school, and only 18 percent of seven to nine year olds go on to lower-secondary school.

10. Most young women in Cambodia, rural or urban, are more disadvantaged educationally than young men. Nevertheless, few young people, whether male or female, are in higher education beyond the age of 19.

11. High unemployment among the youth due to lack of education and economic development.

12. High influence of world MEDIA, especially among young people.

13. High speed in increasing number of internet users, especially young people.

14. Cambodia has been traditionally a Buddhist country. There are some minority religious groups such as Islamism, Hinduism and different Christian denominations, among them the Catholic Church.

15. The Catholic Church is a tiny minority, though with a good dynamism. Catholics live dispersed throughout the country, lacking good means for contacting each other.

Article Source: CSC CENTRE