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A Brief History
At least 7 million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardships, or starvation during the Khmer Rouge regime and the 13 years of civil war that followed. UN sponsored elections in 1993 brought some stability to the region, however, Cambodia is still burdened by decades of conflict through damage to infrastructure and unexploded landmines which continue to kill and maim civilians, despite an ongoing de-mining drive.
In terms of climate, Cambodia is particularly prone to annual river flooding during the monsoon-raining season while tropical storms, droughts and forest fires are also common. In September 1996, the flooding reached catastrophic proportions when heavy rains in China, Laos and Vietnam caused the Mekong River to rise causing serious floods. 1.3 million people in Cambodia were affected with over half requiring emergency aid.
The 2000 floods were seen as the worst in over 70 years and Cambodia continued to feel the effects well into 2001. The rivers caused damage to surrounding settlements; destroying structures, crops and livestock and damaging homes, temples, schools, clinics, roads, and other community infrastructure.
While vast numbers of areas were flooded in 2001, some areas in Cambodia were also affected by drought; some areas had insufficient rainfall from early months of the year until the end of 2001. At the start of 2002, Cambodia was affected by a long dry spell severely affecting crop production. In 2002, 2,047,340 people were affected.
The extreme weather conditions have contributed to food shortages, a loss of economic output, health contamination and consequently hunger and poverty.
Muslim Aid Field office in Cambodia
Muslim Aid established its field office in Cambodia in January 2007, and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Royal Government of Cambodia and also The Ministry of Rural Development. Muslim Aid is helping vulnerable communities through its education, health, economic empowerment, housing & shelter, specialist and seasonal programmes along with emergency and relief operations. It has already implemented various projects such as Microfinance, livelihood improvement, skills development, water and sanitation along with sponsoring education for orphans at various locations in Cambodia. Our focus is to work with the destitute and most vulnerable women: the programmes are designed to improve their socio-economic conditions by providing an interest-free loan and skills training, and creating awareness among them regarding their rights.
We are also implementing a emergency relief programme in Vietnam