Plan International (PI) Cambodia will host a four-day media tour of Stung Treng province. The trip will introduce journalists to four projects which the organisation is conducting to empower girls and young women, who it says face discrimination.

According to a PI press release, the trip will take place from January 3-6, and will present the positive aspects of the four projects on the community.

The four projects, which are ongoing, are a Lifelong Learning Project, the Healthy Start programme, a Girl Leadership Project, and a project which shares education on the prevention and control of Covid-19, it said.

Yi Kim Than, PI deputy country director, told The Post on December 26 that the trip will create opportunities for journalists to learn about issues that children, especially girls and their communities, are experiencing.

“We have been running our programmes there for more than five years. Many activities and interventions have been carried out. A lot of good experiences and outcomes have been gained by the beneficiaries and the children,” said Kim Than.

He cautioned that many problems still existed, saying that stunting among children under 5 remained as high as 29.1 per cent in Stung Treng and 39.1 per cent in Ratanakkiri, according to the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey 2021-2022. In addition, he said, only 16 per cent of children, of whom 43 per cent are girls, are enrolled in secondary schools in Stung Treng.

According to Yi Kim Than, the four projects that the journalists will observe are also being implemented in other provinces, including the Lifelong Learning Project, in Siem Reap and Ratanakkiri, and the Healthy Start programme which is underway in Siem Reap, Kratie and Ratanakkiri.

The Young Marriage Project of the Girl Leadership Programme is being implemented in Siem Reap and Ratanakkiri provinces, while the project that educates people on the prevention and control of Covid-19 has been rolled out in Ratanakkiri, Kratie, Preah Vihear and Mondulkiri provinces.