Between 1975 and 1979, more than 1.5 million Cambodians, or one third of Cambodia’s total population were massacred by Pol Pot and his communist Khmer Rouge. The enforced hardships and starvation drew the country’s economic, manufacturing, education and healthcare systems to a standstill. The effects of that era are still felt in present-day Cambodia.
It remains one of the poorest nations in Asia, with 34% of its people surviving on less than US $1 a day. One in 8 children dies before their fifth birthday, while 50% of all Cambodian children are malnourished. To increase family income, there is an estimated 600,000 children aged 5-17 years and 2,000 street children working in Phnom Penh. Another 15,000 spend more than 6 hours a day scavenging and begging.
The lack of education is a grave concern of Cambodia where more than half of its 13 million people are under the age of 18. 65% of Cambodian children are enrolled in primary schools, only 24% are enrolled in secondary schools.
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