Youth Network for Change

Nearly sixteen years since the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, Cambodia still suffers from the effects of two decades of genocide, famine, and civil strife. While the economy has progressed somewhat with a growth rate of 13 percent in 2006, over 30 percent of Cambodians are still living under the poverty line.

With development projects traditionally focusing on urbanization and industrialization, Cambodia’s rural provinces have especially been prone to a lack of social infrastructure.

Children have little access to education as they support their families’ agricultural livelihoods; similarly, teachers and school administrators are often woefully unequipped—both in educational training and resources—for their professional duties. Studies have continually shown that dropouts contribute most to the average household’s economic output, implying a distinct economic advantage to foregoing education.

The Youth Network for Change (YNC) was established in 2006 to counteract these trends by facilitating dynamic social development in Cambodia’s poorest regions. Through outreach programs, cultural exchanges, and educational initiatives, we hope to lift rural Cambodian youth out of poverty and into sustainable careers.

Contact Name:	Ms. Sam Pagna
Phone Number:	(855) 16 400 095
Email:	sampagna@youthforchange.net
	info@youthforchange.net
Homepage:	http://youthforchange.net

Rational

Almost 16 years after the Paris Peace Agreement, Cambodia is still suffering from the effects of two decades of Khmer Rouge dictatorship, genocide and civil war. While parts of the economy are making considerable progress – with an official growth rate of over 13 percent last year – more than 30 per cent of the population are living under the line of extreme poverty.

The gap of poverty is even severe for rural community while the development projects focus more for urban area. The impact of poverty makes the accessibility of rural kids to education is difficult while they are needed for family income generation. There are studies shows that school dropouts are contributed from the labor needs for household’s economic production. At the mean time, the educational system has not been equipped with enough modern methodologies (refer to Student-Center Approach) and social trend’s awareness.

Due to these facts, a voluntary team—Youth Network for Change (YNC) — comprising 7 members have worked together with the purpose to alleviate these matters through its community event and camping where the team accompany with other youths coming from different academic and work institutions explore journey in order distribute study materials and create a space for dialogues and information/knowledge sharing to the kids at grassroots level. Between that, we also aim to expand the youth networks to experiment the rural livelihood, so that it will inspire them to determine their ability and contribution to social development. The subsequent impacts are that we expect to help envision the kids toward their future and have a nation-wide youth network that cares its society.

Mission & Vision

In working closely with rural communities, we equip disadvantaged Cambodian children and youth with the practical knowledge, skills, and goals to make empowering life decisions.

We envision a Cambodian society fueled by knowledge and compassion, wherein all Cambodians have access to life-enhancing opportunities.

Objectives

Our project involving the social development; especially, the remote areas throughout the country in order to:
• foster educational outreach by procuring study materials to underprivileged kids and youths, and by educating them in the prominent social and ethical issues of our time.
• strengthen communication between teenagers, young children, and their communities.
• encourage young people to reflect on their ability to facilitate positive social change.