Information
Where does Neary Khmer work:
Click map to enlarge
Neary Khmer
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Neary Khmer is a local Cambodian NGO established in 1998 and registered with the Ministry of Interior in 2002. Neary Khmer is non religious, non political and non racist.
Neary Khmer is a member of CCC - Cooperation Committee of Cambodia, an umbrella organisation for NGOs in Cambodia. In 2010, Neary Khmer became one of only 32 NGOs (of many thousands in Cambodia) certified by CCC and receiving a code of compliance certificate as part of the Governance and Professional Practice (GPP) voluntary certification process. Neary Khmer retains this status until 2014 when they will have to reapply for certification. As one of only 32 NGOs achieving this status, it shows the committment to transpareny and good governance.
. The organization strives to improve health and nutrition for women and children in some of the poorest areas of the country
Get Involved - click to contact this organization »
Current Projects
We work with the poorest villages in Siem Reap province - the province where the famous Angkor Wat stands. Despite the more than 2 million visitors that come each year to visit this wonderful site, much of the money does not filter down to the villagers of Siem Reap.
Neary Khmer currently has two projects (funded by Lotus Trust and AusAID) which include the following activities:
- Training of locally based Village Health Volunteers in rural and remote areas in Women’s & Children’s Health & Nutrition. This is to address the high malnutrition rates and other preventable childhood illnesses such as respiratory and diarrhoeal diseaseas as well as improving pre and postnatal maternal health
- Home gardening and animal raising to improve nutrition and where possible to increase income from excess produce/saving on disposable income through home production of foods
- Providing access to clean drinking water through water filter and water harvesting
- Installing pumps and wells and agricultural ponds in communities
- Rehabilitation and development of civil structures such as bridges, canals and irrigation systems using cash for work schemes (employing the ‘poorest of the poorest)
- Establishing and facilitating community rice banks
- Increasing opportunities for food and income security amongst the poorest community members in rural and remote areas and facilitation of education and training in agriculture and small business
Previous projects have included
- Training and support in good governance to Commune Councils and Village Leaders
- AIDS/HIV, disability and gender mainstreaming
- Microfinance and establishment of small businesses (pig raising, chicken raising, fish farming, prahok making and selling)
- Facilitating and mentoring Village Associations and Village Business Groups, linking them to Commune Councils and village leaders to have a say in community plans
- Facilitating Community Plans, Decentralisation and Deconcentration in line with Royal Government of Cambodia's policy
- Facilitating development of Women in Good Local Governance within communes
Partner Needs
Neary Khmer has institutional donors as the main donors for their projects however these donors usually focus on one sector rather than improving all aspects of the village. Neary Khmer often finds they are unable to achieve their goals unless they have additional funds e.g. a donor may provide funds for improving nutrition of children under 5 years which may include funds for weighing and monitoring children, training village health workers and parents about the correct foods to give to children, how often and how much and providing food for malnourished children until they are rehabilitated. However the families often have no access to safe water therefore all attempts at improving their nutritional status may be dashed when a child drinks unsafe water and gets diarrhoea. Sometimes funds are insufficient to keep Neary Khmer's office rent paid or the petrol costs of staff riding daily on their motorbikes to these villages, hence, private donations are always needed to provide those things a donor does not pay for.
Those things, in the past have included water filters, additional water jars, additional food for more than expected malnourished children, transportation costs for children not responding to nutritional input to be assessed at the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, transportation costs of water filters or other items required by the project, transportation costs for staff to carry out the activities and at times staff costs as the donor may expect more activities than the staff can manage and additional persons need to be employed to achieve the expected outcomes.
At times, funds are also required for administrative costs such as recruiting new staff, buying ink to print reports etc. Institutional donor funds will not always cover these costs or staff costs and therefore, Neary Khmer is always in need of additional funds to compliment the work they do in villages.
Mission Statement
The mission of the organisation is to 'coordinate community development activities in villages and cooperate with the Cambodian Government and other organisations to assist Cambodian people particularly women and children in rural areas'.
Communities are assisted regardless of their race, religion or political affiliation.
Our mission is to give local people the tools and knowledge they need to earn a living, stay healthy, and make a better future for themselves and their children. We aim to help communities prevent disaster — health or flooding or malnutrition — so they can focus on improving their everyday lives.