Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Somaly Mam Foundation 2.0

Somaly Mam Foundation 2.0

Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon and author and founder of the Somaly Mam Foundation, Somaly Mam
Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon and author and founder of the Somaly Mam Foundation, Somaly Mam, speak on stage at the celebration of The Visionaries at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in 2012. AFP

Somaly Mam Foundation 2.0

Disgraced anti-trafficking advocate Somaly Mam is back on the fundraising bandwagon following legal investigations into her credibility, months of negative publicity and a forced resignation from her own foundation.

In an email to her supporters this week, Mam sought donations to open a new US-based organisation next month called The New Somaly Mam Foundation: Voices of Change, Reuters reported yesterday.

The new organisation will combine with Agir Pour Les Femmes en Situation Precaire (Afesip), a local anti-trafficking NGO founded by Mam that lost most of its funding after the first Somaly Mam Foundation abruptly withdrew support in July.

The foundation edged Mam out after years of allegations that Mam fabricated her back-story and coached girls into telling false accounts of being trafficked culminated in a Newsweek article in May. The multimillion-dollar foundation was itself shuttered in October without accounting for outstanding donations.

“The future plan is to merge AFESIP Cambodia and the USA based organization as one,” wrote Stephanie Lorenzo, CEO of Project Futures, which helps fund Afesip, in a blog post earlier this month.

Afesip staff yesterday confirmed the merger, but said the organisations were not yet officially combined, before declining to provide further information. Lorenzo revealed in her post however, that as a result of fallout from the Newsweek story, half the local Afesip staff lost their jobs and one of the three Afesip shelters will have to close by the end of this year.

The website of Mam’s new fund says the nonprofit organisation “in formation” will not focus on rescuing women and girls, but instead work on post-rescue care and education.

While scant on details of how and when the new organisation will work, the site contains numerous defences of Mam, including letters from a former volunteer and a shelter resident who accuses the detractors of being inhuman and “like pimps and traffickers”.

Other local anti-trafficking NGOs yesterday said they would welcome Mam’s new fund.

“It would be a good thing if she started a new organisation,” said Chan Saron, a project manager at NGO Chabdai. “It was a personal problem and not about the good work of the NGO.”

MOST VIEWED

  • 12th Cambodia int’l film festival to see return of Hollywood star

    Phnom Penh is set to come alive with the magic of cinema as the highly anticipated 12th Cambodia International Film Festival (CIFF) takes centre stage. Boasting an impressive line-up of 188 films from 23 countries, including captivating shorts, feature films, documentaries and animation, the festival promises an

  • Bareknuckle champion wants Kun Khmer fighter

    Dave Leduc, who is the current openweight Lethwei boxing champion in Myanmar, has announced that he will travel to Cambodia this year to challenge SEA Games gold medallist Prum Samnang any time that is convenient, after their planned match later this month in Slovakia was

  • Struggling Battambang artist dreams of staging full-scale gallery exhibition

    Leav Kimchhoth, a 55-year-old artist from Battambang province, is a familiar face to locals and tourists alike on the streets of the riverside in Phnom Penh. The one-armed painter and illustrator often hawks his work near the night market on weekends and public holidays. He

  • Fresh Covid warnings as Thai hospital fills

    A senior health official reminds the public to remain vigilant, as neighbouring countries experience an increase in Covid-19 cases, with the latest surge appearing to be a result of the Omicron XBB.1.5 sub-variant. Or Vandine, secretary of state and spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health,

  • 1.4 billion dollar Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway due in four years

    The Government, through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, has officially signed a public-private partnership agreement with a private company for the construction of a Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway project that will connect the capital to Svay Rieng province. The budget for the project is

  • New Law on Taxation comes into effect

    Cambodia has enacted the eagerly-awaited new Law on Taxation, which aims to improve the national tax regime’s compliance with present and future international standards and economic conditions; encourage accountability, effectiveness and transparency in the collection process; and promote investment in the Kingdom. King Norodom