IBSA Fund Annual Report- CAMBODIA

Partners

Ministry of Health; Chey Chumneas Hospital; Caritas Cambodia

Overview

This project supported the construction and equipping of a pavilion at the Chey Chumneas Hospital to provide quality services for children and adolescents with special needs. It also trained, through residency programmes, 17 health professionals in specialties serving children with special needs.

Key Achievements

• An estimated 2,000 children with special needs benefited from the hospital pavilion built and equipped to provide services for special education and physiotherapy as well as occupational, speech, art and drama therapy.
• Six physicians and 11 paramedical professionals received residency training in Cambodia and/or abroad. 
• Twenty villages and other community members were trained in inclusive practices, supporting and caring for children with special needs, and participated in a lively awareness and destigmatization campaign.
• Consultations for neuropsychiatric, developmental, psychological, physical and intellectual disabilities were supported.

• Delays occurred in obtaining a building permit, which took time to resolve to enable construction to begin.
• Capacity-building activities experienced some delays partly due to the challenge of having medical and paramedical staff achieve the necessary English-language proficiency level for training abroad.

Link of the Project to National Priorities

This project represented a new milestone in the disability policy and strategies of Cambodia since it helped to fulfil the unmet needs of the children with developmental disabilities.