OEC with its first name as Operations Enfants du Cambodge took its birth on 1st March 1996, authorized by paper no 198 sjn, dated 14 March 1997 of Ministry of Interior, focusing its activities on serving children of father or mother wounded by mine explosion, or parents member infected by HIV/AIDS, hospitalized in reference hospital of Battambang.
Step by step the activities of Operations Enfants de Battambang, supported by international organizations and foundation, extended its operational scope to support orphans of AIDS parents, disabled children, children of poor families, children living in areas facing difficulties and to empower poor children and young people not attending formal school by organizing non-formal education and health care for them. These supporting activities spread out to other nearby provinces, Banteay Meanchey, Pursat, and Pailin that caused the organization to raise its function to “Operations Enfants du Cambodge” (OEC), approved by paper no 1564 sjn on 5 December 2006 of Ministry of Interior. For information concerning supporting resources and working train of OEC, please see our page of OEC profile.
General Evaluation
OEC organized a general assembly on 25 August 2010 in Kampong Som city evaluating its 15 yea-work from 1996 to 2010 in paying serious attention to the real cultural, social and political environment. As result, the assembly decided to amplify the past activities with effective and strong commitment to develop rights, freedom and liberty of children through access to education, in preventing and fighting physical abuse, sexual exploitation of women and their children throughout operational fields. The participants entrusted OEC to adjust its mission in adding support for formal and informal human rights education based on World Program for Human Rights, first phase 2005-2009 and second phase 2010-2014 which have been supported by Cambodian Education Ministry stated in its initiatives, received by Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 24 July 2009.
The assembly suggested grouping all projects in three main programs: child’s rights affairs, rural women empowerment and disability affairs in keeping drug prevention as special project (see our strategic plan for 2011-2015)
Additionally the participants asked OEC to prepare documents and conduct training for OEC staff on human rights, women rights and children rights of human rights; inter-relation between Human Rights and Democracy; Human Rights and Good Governance; human rights and development; human rights and the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) so that all OEC staffs can commonly with a same effort integrate human rights, children rights and women rights in all projects through all activities to strengthen individual integrity and national harmony.
Opening General Assembly of OEC to evaluate the result
of the 15-year work and identify new alternative ogectives
Executive director in quality of strategic plan committee member
Summarizes the achievement and asks the attendees to study the issues
Small group studies the strategic issues and the strategic goals proposed by the planning committee
Serious study and intense discussion before finalizing the general
plan and new orgaizational structure for year 2011-2015
Where we do
OEC concentrated its activities in five provinces: Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Pursat, Pailin and Uddor Meanchey , because these provinces supported a long suffering since 1974, year the Khmer Rouge launched their first offensive against Cambodian government and exercised later their purge during their reign.
This western part of the country continued to be a battlefield throughout the 1980s, and millions of landmines were sown across the r Rouge resumed fighting, boycotted the election of 1993 sponsored by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and, in the following year, rejected its results. It then fought the new Cambodian coalition government coming from the election. Since 1990 Cambodia has gradually recovered, demographically and economically, from the Khmer Rouge regime, although the psychological scars affect many Cambodian families and émigré communities, especially people in remote areas of the five targeted provinces which need presently moral, educational, psychological and economical support, with preventive measure to get oneself out of mine-danger.
Cambodia has a great opportunity to test a long modern influences of French colonialism, and a five-year of radical change from constitutional monarchy, to a presidential regime under Lon Nol, a radical Marxism-Leninism under the Khmer Rouge, a Vietnamese occupation under the communist party People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), to finally the restoration of constitutional monarchy under a United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), a result of the Paris Agreement signed in 1991, but spiritually Cambodian people in the countryside seemed to learn not much from these successive changes. This requires continuous education of human rights, child’s rights, women’s rights and democracy, principally development of criticizing, analyzing power to promote community participation and stimulate community self-assessment and self-development.
Why we do? Because:
Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 31 of the Cambodian Constitution says:
The Kingdom of Cambodia shall recognize and respect human rights as stipulated in the United Nations Charter, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the covenants and conventions related to human rights, women’s and children’s rights.
Paragraph 392 of the National Strategic Development Plan Update 2009 – 2013 says:
The Royal Government considers partnerships with all development partners an important policy priority critical for the
successful implementation of the Rectangular Strategy Phase II, and is committed to an inclusive, robust and results-
focused dialogue.
Cambodia Millennium Development Goal (MDG) has added a ninth activity which is de-mining and victims assistance, because landmines and UXOs have victimized more than 50 000 people so far and still endanger hundred's of lives each year.
The Indicators and Targets mentioned in the Strategic Framework of the Education Strategic Plan 2009 – 2013 are as follows:
Net admission ratio (NAR) increased from 91.9% in SY2008-2009 to 100% in SY 2013-2014
Primary net enrolment ratio (NER) increased from 94.4% in SY2008 -2009 to 98% in SY2013-2014
Primary completion rate increased from 85.5% in SY2008-2009 to 100% in SY 2013-2014
Repetition rate decreased from 8.3% in SY2008-2009 go 5% in SY 2013-2014
At least 75% of primary schools are child-friendly schools by SY2013-2014.
We know our role as independent societal organization to primarily promote, in cooperation with the Cambodian government, common goals at the local and international level, mainly to deliver social services which are not yet able to be provided by the government.
By acknowledgement of the above factors, with the support of international donors, governments, agencies and foundations, we are then committed to:
Strengthen children rights through development of equal access, for children in remote areas and facing difficulties, to good quality of education, to development and to receive equal liberty of outcome by eliminating discrimination in education.
Empower children with disabilities, persons with disabilities and landmine victim survivors by developing access to cultural, economical and social improvement for sustainable livelihood, rid of any forms of discrimination that allows them to live together in active participation for national harmony.
Build smiling families in military positions.
Empower rural women through cultural, economical and social development to promote gender equality and introduce women in their community decision making.
Realize human rights education in formal and informal education system to develop culture of human rights which is a ground base for all developments in supporting Cambodian Education Ministry which has confirmed that the national action plan for integrating human rights in the school curriculum has commenced; the Ministry also aims to put in place a number of teacher trainers on integrating human rights into the Cambodian school curriculum and, to this end, the publication Human Rights Lesson Plans for Southeast Asian Schools has been translated into Khmer to serve as training and resource material for teachers (information received by OHCHR on July 24 2009)
Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: