The Girl Guides Association of Cambodia (Khmer:កាយប្ញទ្ធនារីកម្ពុជា, ''Kayarith Neary Kompuchea'') is the national
Guiding organization of
Cambodia. It was founded in 1996 and became an associate member of the
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 2002 and a full member in 2011.
Membership stood at 4,551 as of 2012.
History
Guiding was introduced to Cambodia before 1953, when the country was under the
French Protectorate.
In the 1950s, youth movements including the Guide and Scout Movements supported the country's religion, monarchy and community. Scouting and Guiding were banned in Cambodia during the
Khmer Republic
The Khmer Republic ( km, សាធារណរដ្ឋខ្មែរ, ; french: République khmère) was a pro-United States military-led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970. The Khmer Republic wa ...
, the
Democratic Kampuchea (
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
regime) and the
Vietnamese occupation.
In 1993 a reception was held in
Manila, Philippines in conjunction with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts' Asia Pacific Symposium of
NGOs for
Women in Development. The aim was to introduce or reintroduce the Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting movement and to explore possibilities of starting or restarting Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting in Cambodia, as well as
Tibet,
Iran,
Russia,
Uzbekistan and
Vietnam. Fifty women leaders from those nations attended the Asia Pacific Symposium, sharing their Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting experiences.
The reorganization of the association was initiated by
Leang Meng Ho in 1994, a former Girl Guide, who was at that time the Deputy Director of the Cambodian Institute of Human Rights.
In 1996 a group of sixteen young university students was given some exposure to Guiding by a staff member of the
WAGGGS-Asia Pacific Region, a volunteer from
France and trainers from
Thailand and the
Philippines.
However, it was not until 1998 that the first national executive committee of the ''Girl Guides Association of Cambodia'' was formed.
In August of that year, Cambodia received the WAGGGS Certificate of Country Working Towards Membership.
A quarterly newsletter is published in both the English and Khmer languages. The Girl Guides Association of Cambodia has a high profile in society and is well regarded, mainly due to the support of Queen mother
Monineath who became patron of the association in 1999.
have been working with and supporting the Association.
Beginning in 2003, the association received several grants of the
US Embassy in Phnom Penh amounting to 75,000 $ in 2006.
Program
The association serves girls aged from seven to 18 years. The association is dedicated to helping and providing livelihood opportunities to poor girls and women through community-based education and training, rather than formal education in institutions like schools.
See also
*
Scouting and Guiding in Cambodia
The Scout and Guide movement in Cambodia is served by two organizations:
* Girl Guides Association of Cambodia, member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
* National Association of Cambodian Scouts, member of the World Org ...
References
{{WAGGGS, asia
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts member organizations
Scouting and Guiding in Cambodia
Youth organizations established in 1996