PREY VENG: The SOS Children's Village in Prey Veng province is one of the many SOS Children's Villages in Cambodia that raises orphans, abandoned children and children facing inappropriate care. The new village in Prey Veng covers a total area of more than 10,000 square meters and was officially inaugurated on Thursday morning, under the presidency of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the SOS Children's Village in in Village 1, Kampong Leav district, Prey Veng City, Prime Minister Hun Sem recalled the history of the SOS Children's Villages in Cambodia, since the organization began operating in the country in 1999. He thanked the Minister of Interior, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, for providing the land for the organization to build the new village in Prey Veng, and thanked the SOS Children's Villages organization for its long-term continued help to Cambodia, especially since after the war ended in the country, Cambodia became one of the countries in the world with the highest number of orphans, which was a huge burden for the government to address alone.
The Prime Minister said, "We are also proud that our children have received education and training from the orphanages, children living [in the SOS Children’s Villages] can get more education than children staying at home.”
The Minister of Social Affairs, Vong Sauth, also spoke at the ceremony and said that this is the seventh children's SOS Children’s Village to be built in Cambodia since 1999. The villages are located in the provinces of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang, Ratanakiri, Kratie, Kampot and now Prey Veng as well. He confirmed that the construction of this village began on 5 December 2018 and was completed on 7 February 2020, at a cost of more than US $1.5 million. The village began receiving children on 25 March 2020, with 27 children currently living under the care of five mothers and 10 staff.
Minister Vong Sauth added, "After Cambodia’s liberation on 7 January 1979, the Cambodian people were saved, revived and have seen development in all areas until today under the wise leadership of the Prime Minister. In this regard, the field of child welfare is considered one of the main priority areas, which has allowed Cambodia to achieve many of the main Millennium Development Goals related to the four basic rights of children, all of which SOS Children's Villages International has also contributed to.”
Since 1999, SOS Children's Village International has built seven children's villages in Cambodia and provided employment opportunities for a total 345 people as managers, staff, mothers and child care, teachers. The organization has also provided services to a total of 755 children and youths living in the villages, and provided study opportunities to 1496 students.
The President of SOS Children's Villages International, Dereje Wordofa, said during the inauguration ceremony that the installment of a new Children’s Village in Prey Veng province is a testament to the long-standing partnership between the Royal Government of Cambodia and SOS Children's Villages over the past two decades. He extended his thanks to the Royal Government of Cambodia for allowing SOS Children’s Villages to be involved in helping Cambodian children since peace was first restored in the country in the 1990s.
Addressing the crowd, the organization president said, "Believing in relationships will help [children] become strong enough to face life's challenges. As Samdech, Excellencies, Lady Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen already know, a strong child means a strong nation. When all children and young people are successful, the nation moves forward and through this, it will benefit the whole world."
He also called on the government to further improve policy measures and increase the national budget to reduce situations that pose a risk to children, and consider introducing family-based care in the national care policy and establishing a social safety net around the family to protect children from poverty, violence, and various hardships. He further added that mental health must also be an essential element of the program.
The SOS Children's Village in Prey Veng has a total of nine buildings, including an office, an arts building, four family houses, a village director and staff house, a nutrition house and a vocational training building. SOS Children's Villages plans to establish an eighth village in Tbong Khmum province in the near future.
