Daughters of Cambodia

This is a  painting done by an employee of DOC

Daughters of Cambodia (DOC) was created by a British psychologist in 2007. She was studying the effects of the sex-industry on young women in Cambodia at the time and wanted to offer an alternative employment option that women could choose instead of working on the street, thus Daughters of Cambodia was born. Nine years later, DOC runs a cafe and a hotel, along with many production businesses. These businesses offer employment to those who have been working in the sex trade as alternatives. Though it was clear in speaking to some of the women working at the cafe that they will never make as much money at these businesses as they did on the street, DOC offers an option for those who choose to leave the sex trade. 

DOC also has expanded to working with male sex workers in a partner program called Sons of Cambodia. They offer many amenities including medical care, counseling and day care to all their employees and made it clear that taking part in any of their programs is voluntary. They are not a shelter and do not require their participants to live outside of their community in order to take advantage of what DOC can offer. They provide education opportunities and creative classes. The photo here is one that an employee painted herself. I have chosen not to picture an employee on this post due to the sensitive nature of this work and to respect their privacy. DOC is also a faith-based organization and offers religious classes based on Christianity to their employees. It was unclear if the people working at DOC’s establishments are required to attend these classes. It was also not obvious if the resources and classes are run and managed by Cambodians or foreigners. 

 DOC works directly with the Cambodian community and is offering an alternative lifestyle to those who do not want to take part in the sex trade any longer. This is particularly important for children who are trafficked or pressured to work on the streets in order to help support their families. DOC cannot provide the same financial compensation that women or men may find as sex workers, but this may not matter to those who are abused and/or mistreated in this line of work. Though DOC’s mission to spread Christianity may not be culturally comparable to this area of Asia, it is important that these people are being given other options for employment. 

Better Factories Cambodia

This is Chea

Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) was created within an agreement with the US and Cambodia. The work with local factories to cut down on unfair labor practices. They currently work with 40 local staff members and have over 48 buyers and 381 factories that partner with BFC. They have expanded the Better Factories model to Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar to help support factory workers. Some of the issues that are at the forefront of their work are forced labor, child labor (defined as between 0 - 15 years old), and freedom of association. 

In 2013, there was a surge of issues around factory labor practices which led to the beginning of BFC. They now go to governments to intervene in factories that have not complied with the outlined regulations. They also often make recommendations to the government on how to handle factories that are accused on these sanctions. However, BFC does not become directly involved. BFC focusing on working directly with government officials to increase their capacity to monitor factories. This explains part of their challenge as an organization, which is the enforcement of laws and regulars within the factories themselves. If they had more support for government to punish people for not complying, their mission may be more attainable. 

Chea, who is the Senior Program Officer and Team Leader in Monitoring, spoke of his own background in human rights work in East Africa. Eventually, he was brought back to Cambodia. He enjoyed engaging with people and he is motivated by his coworkers as they enforce the culture of human rights in labor. His passion for human rights work is inspiring and it is apparent that he and his staff are innovative and excited about changing the status quo of factory work in their country. Though their funding comes from all over the world, including the International Labor Organization, they are working hard on the ground for their fellow countrymen as Cambodians in development. 

GERES

This is Bunthoeun

GERES stands for “Groupe Energies Renouvelables, Environnement et Solidarity”. Founded in France in 1976 after the world food crisis, they have been working in Southeast Asia since 1994. Their main focus is biomass energy opportunity worldwide, working with over 200 employees that are both locals and expats. GERES manages about 70 projects globally and has 10 prominent offices. In Southeast Asia, they have an office in both Cambodia and Myanmar. 

As a French organization, GERES is particularly interested in assuring their projects are culturally appropriate. Therefore they not only hire local staff but also implement a “buddy” program, where all foreign employees are accompanied by a local employee. They are very cognisant of the challenges they face as foreigners, which has pushed they to work harder at monitoring their work. They want to ensure that their projects are locally adapted and they continue to compile data to indicate the needs of various areas. 

GERES also work with local governments, providing recommendations and focusing on capacity building. They explained that NGOs in Cambodia have taken on what the government should be doing. GERES has brought the problems and the solutions to the government in order to serve as guides and work toward a sustainable development model. Bunthoeun is GERES Executive Director. He explained that some of their challenges include working with other NGOs because of the competitive nature of NGOs in Cambodia. He also expressed the issues with identifying the correct people in local government to talk to. Many times they felt it was convoluted on who has what power and how they can get things done efficiently. On the ground, he also felt that some of the implementation processes are difficult. This is due to lack of ownership on projects which will prevent them from being sustainable. 

In the future, GERES is looking to working more with industries, doing feasibility studies on food waste as biomass, and the using bamboo to create charcoal. They are also are spending a lot of time and resources with a local stove building company, to create efficient, low-smoke stoves for local communities. This work helps support a local company which is a great example of how GERES is focused on working with local companies and local staff, through their “buddy” program. However, it seems that most of their projects are thought of and outlined by their European staff.