| Administrative History | Allocations: 1971, 1974-1976, 1980-1989, 1993; further programme spending in 1993/94, 1994/95; see later annual reports for subsequent allocations.
Cambodia became a French protectorate in 1863 and was granted independence within the French Union in 1949. Full independence was proclaimed in 1953. In 1970 a republic was declared and the name of the country changed to the Khmer Republic. From 1970-1975 a civil war was fought between the government and the Communist Khmer Rouge. In 1971 SCF gave a grant for refugees who had migrated from war-afflicted areas of Cambodia to the capital, Phnom Penh. In 1973 SCF was the first British agency to send a team to Cambodia. The first clinic providing food, medical care, and vaccinations was opened in February 1973, at Wat Botum, Phnom Penh. There were two mobile medical teams providing medical relief. In February 1974 two SCF nurses working at Phnom Penh had to be evacuated due to the proximity of airstrikes. By 1975 there were 22 Mother and Child Health clinics, aided by UNICEF. SCF launched a sewing project to help mothers to raise money to support their families. The SCF team withdrew from Cambodia when the Communist Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975; the name of the state was changed to Democratic Kampuchea in 1976.
In December 1978 Vietnamese troops invaded the country and in 1979 overthrew the Khmer Rouge and set up the People's Republic of Kampuchea which was later renamed the State of Cambodia. SCF was not allowed permanent representation in Cambodia, so relief work was implemented through British Red Cross, UNICEF, Oxfam and NGO Consortium Team. During the 1980s SCF gave aid to children's centres, nursery schools and orphanages in Cambodia. Between 1986 and 1988 a centre for physically disabled children was being supported; between 1986 and 1989 health training in a paediatric hospital was supported. At the same time SCF assisted Cambodian refugees in Thailand.
The Vietnamese withdrew from Cambodia in 1989. In 1991, SCF set up an office in Cambodia, with focus on a programme in Phnom Penh. SCF ran a Health Worker Training programme in co-operation with Redd Barna [Norwegian Save the Children] and the Cambodian government. SCF campaigned against the forced repatriation of refugees from camps in Thailand. SCF's projects in Cambodia have included support for the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Midwives' Association, and local NGOs; HIV/AIDS prevention and sexual health initiatives; a Child-Focused Development Initiative in Kratie Province; child rights and child protection work; and emergency flood relief. SCF-UK withdrew from Cambodia c 2003, with some projects being handed over to SCF Australia. |