The Catholic Church in Cambodia - L'Eglise Catholique au Cambodge

Catholic Relief Service

Philosophy (Top)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and disadvantaged outside the country. CRS works towards the alleviation of human suffering, the development of people and the fostering of charity and justice. A fundamental principle of the agency is to assist persons on the basic of need, not creed, race or nationality. In Cambodia, CRS strives to alleviate injustice through complementary programmatic initiatives that the agency has developed with its local partners. The objective is to strengthen capacity and build local institutions at all levels, implementing high quality sustainable programming while improving the quality of life for Cambodians.

History of involvement in Cambodia (Top)

CRS began working in Cambodia more than 25 years ago. During 1973-1975 CRS provided humanitarian assistance to refugees fleeing conflict areas, serving half a million people before shutting its doors in 1975. In 1979, several CRS staff opened some of the first refugee camps in Thailand to aid Cambodian refugees.

During the refugee crisis from 1979-1990, CRS allocated over US$15 million for assistance to Indochinese refugees in camps along the Thai border. In 1980, CRS visited Cambodia and provided relief to victims of famine, and in 1986, began to provide relief and rehabilitation support in Cambodia on regular basic through its membership in the CIDSE ( Cooperation International pour le Developpement et la Solidarite ) network.

CRS officially reopened its doors in Phnom Penh in 1991. Field offices were established in Battambang in1992, Takeo in1994, and Svay Rieng 1996. Today CRS works in over 700 villages throughout the country, focusing on community-based programs for the rural population. Areas of focus include primary health care, small enterprise development, sustainable agriculture and peace building.

In all of these project activities CRS promotes the meeting of basic needs, capacity building, empowerment, and, ultimately, a more just and equitable Cambodian society. CRS also remains committed to its fundamental role as a relief agency. During the unusually heavy floods beginning in September 2000, CRS and its implementing partners participated in emergency relief efforts in six affected provinces, and initiated post-flood rehabilitation project.

Programs: (Top)

Project	Sector	Location	Budget, duration	Cambodia partners
Battambang Community- based Health Care Program	Health	Battambang Province	$664,407 5 years	Provincial Department of Health, Operational District and Health Center staff, village-level health institutions, and local communities.
Intensive Homestead Production for Food Security Program	Agriculture	Svay Rieng province	$234,335 3 Year	Provincial Department of Agriculture, Sante Sena and other local community-based NGOs,and localfarm communities
Thaneakea Phum (ambodia).TPC is a fully-licensed Microfinance Institution and CRS Subsidiary.	Microfinance	Banteay Meanchey, Battambang Kompong Speu,Kampot, kandal,Kratie, Svay Rieng, Phnom Penh and Takeo Provinces	$809,947 Operating from a five year business plan.	Local branch offices.
Seeding of hope HIV/AIDS project	Health	Phnom Penh	$100,000 3 year	Mariknoll
Peacebuilding	Peace and justice	various	$56,402 3 year	The Working Group for Weapons Reduction, YFP and other local NGOs
Small regional Projects	Peace and justice	various	$5,000 1 year	Local NGO

Contact (Top)

If you would like to reach us, you can contact us in the following ways:
Office Address: #14, Street 278, Boeung Keng Kang, Chamcar Mon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Postal Address: CCC Mailbox: 25
Telephone: (+855) 23 211 165/216 960
Fax: (+855) 23 216 960
Email: Click here to contact by email.
Website: www.crs.org