UNV CAMBODIA

Dear UN Volunteers, This second issue of the UNV Cambodia Newsletter touches upon many topics: how does it feel to be held hostage while serving as a UN Volunteer? What are the dreams and motivations of young talented Cambodian photographers? What does it entail to work on the Post-2015 agenda? What are the Cambodian businesses doing for the environment and what can you personally do to make the city of Phnom Penh cleaner? We have also decided to include some information about cultural activities in the city and some Khmer words let us know what you think! The main topic does remain Volunteerism and we are hoping to highlight examples of great work and recognize outstanding individuals for their impact.

Inspiration in Action Newsletter # 2

Phnom Penh, August 2013

In this issue:
2013 UNV Retreat Blood donation campaign Post-2015 Volunteer

Transforming from Good To Great

Have a good read! Your UNV Field Unit

Launch of VolCam website

Journey of former UN Volunteer

International Youth Day 2013

Read more:
2013 UNV Retreat Blood donation campaign Volcam website launched IVD 2013 Volunteering for Post 2015 agenda Story of former UN Volunteer UNIDO Green Awards Ceremony International Youth Day 2013 Lets Do It! Phnom Penh New UN Volunteer 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5
Lead Story Headline

2013 UNV Retreat

Blood donation campaign

Pick a shovel for sustainable environment!

Reduce, reuse and recycle is a mantra very
often cited by people promoting environmentally sustainable practices. A real example of this principle put into practice could be seen in Kampot, a small province in Southwest Cambodia, which was also selected as the destination for the annual UN Volunteers Retreat. Every day, 24 tons of waste is produced in Kampot, averaging 0,409 kg of waste per person. Conventional waste management raises many concerns for the environment and peoples UNV Annual Retreat, Photo: Veronika health and it also requires land for the creation of Jemelikova, UNV Cambodia 2013 landfills. This is why the waste management organization CSARO (Community Sanitation and Recycling Organization) decided to presentations, UN Volunteers had a chance to partner with Kampot municipality and do experience the everyday challenges of a waste things differently. By working with local Everyone management employee. Together with CSARO communities and promoting peoples should spend employees, UN Volunteers separated a huge pile of participation, they manage to minimize the rubbish into more than 1,5 tons of organic materials a little time negative impact of waste while creating suitable for composting and recyclable materials, employment opportunities, reducing gas with urban leaving only a small amount of non-recyclables to be emissions and producing valuable compost waste! transported to a landfill. and recycled merchandise. Because of the heat, the amount of flies and organic UNV decided to partner with CSARO to waste from durian fruit, known to be one of the most organize its 2013 Annual Retreat in order to learn foul smelling fruits in the world, separating waste was from the organizations experience on how a not an easy task. But all volunteers left that morning participatory approach can improve the environment with a sense of great accomplishment, having and living conditions within communities. This topic processed the amount of waste that would normally was chosen by UN Volunteers because a large variety take CSARO employees the entire working day. of development issues in Cambodia, especially in Separating the garbage was an eye-opening terms of the environment and waste management experience. At first the task seemed daunting the could be more effectively addressed through smell, heat, fliesbut we had a lot of hands and a increased community mobilization and participation. good amount of humour. It was an interesting insight into behaviour and the complexity of waste Apart from learning about CSAROs activities during management. Everyone should spend a little time with urban waste! says UN Volunteers Anya Thomas, who works as Coordination Specialist for UNDP Cambodia. Waste separation and other activities carried out by CSARO lead to the reduction of 80% of land required for landfills, which not only reduces the cost for solid waste management for the city, but also provides a new source of income for waste-pickers and employees working on recycling in addition to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and improved living conditions in a cleaner environment.
UNV Annual Retreat, Photo: Veronika Jemelikova, UNV Cambodia 2013

Big Challenge continues in everyday life

which represent a shared responsibility of communities to help not only in emergency situations, but in everyday live, when people need blood. We would like to thank to all the voluntary donors, doctors and nurses as well as volunteers, who made this campaign possible and worked hard to spread the word and encourage people to learn about the importance of donating blood.

Phnom Penh: On Monday 17 June, the nine The objective of National Blood Transfusion
days of Loy9 Big Challenge came to an end with a great success 1048 people donated blood all over Cambodia. The fact that the campaign reached even above the Big Challenge target of 999 donors showed how important the issue of blood donation is in Cambodia. All events held during the campaign were attended by hundreds of participants interested in the issue. Not everybody was able to donate blood due to restriction of weight and general health, but the high attendance contributed to general awareness about blood donations,

Center (NBTC) is to build the Bank of Life, which would have enough blood from unpaid donations for all patients, when it is needed. The NBTC currently delivers every month more than 3000 units of blood all over the country. The blood is needed for a treatment of victims of traffic accidents, surgeries, cancer patients, for complications during child birth and treatment of patient with dengue fever, among many others. Everybody can become a part of Big Challenge, which takes place every day, when people are fighting for their lives and need blood transfusion to survive.
Volunteers during celebrations of International Blood Donors Day and the Loy 9 Big Challenge at Sofitel Hotel and PSE, Phnom Penh.

Every day, 24 tons of waste are produced in Kampot, Cambodia averaging 0,409 kg of waste per person.

VolCam website launched

Volunteering for Post 2015 agenda

Volunteer network that works!

UNV in Cambodia facilitated the
launch of the new VolCam website: www.volcam.net in July 2013.

Volunteering is like Florentijn Hofmans Rubber Duck

Post-2015 consultations aim to identify key
development issues and their solutions globally as well as on a national level. Peter Prix is one of the global UN Youth Volunteers, who works on the Post-2015 development agenda and who gives a voice to groups, whose ideas and opinions are very often forgotten. Peter has previous experience from different volunteering activities in Indonesia, Ghana, Togo and Benin, which inspired him to apply for UN Volunteers position and to take on the assignment as Post-2015 Coordination Officer in Cambodia. future they want Working for the UN Volunteers is quite different and represents volunteering on a different level, says Peter: As a UN Volunteer, I am not based in a community or local organization, but at the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator. Part of my every day job is to collaborate with youth- and civil society organizations, encouraging and strengthening them in what they do. Having volunteered for so many years I know what is at stake for those volunteers I work with. Shaping the future developing agenda As Post-2015 Coordination Officer Peter has a chance to engage in various activities: Thanks to my work I feel like I have an opportunity to contribute to shape the future global development agenda. We are collecting unheard voices and empowering and involving people regardless of their background. Young people themselves form a vision for their future and the future of Cambodia; in order to make a difference and create a better world. Peter feels that the work he does work is meaningful and well acknowledged. As a Youth Volunteer I have a very fresh eye on certain topics, see things from a different perspective and can contribute to improve workflows and old patterns by changing entrenched structures. Volunteering without frontiers When asked about what volunteerism really means, Peter says that volunteering is like Florentijn Hofmans rubber duck: Such as the rubber duck, we UN Volunteers have a model role in our respective countries of assignment. We are young, friendly, contribute to development and peace and represent the values of United Nations. We are impartial, do not have any political connotation, we follow our vision as volunteers and work hard to make sure that no one is left behind.
Post 2015 Youth Consultations, Photo: Veronika Jemelikova, UNV Cambodia 2013

VolCam is connecting international and local Volunteer service agencies and volunteer involving organizations in Cambodia. VolCam believes in the transformational power of volunteering, not only for societies, but for the

volunteers themselves. VolCam members work together to promote sustainable practices in volunteerism and tackle important development challenges, which Cambodia is facing today. VolCam invites local and international volunteer agencies operating in Cambodia to join the network and to discuss joint initiatives, trainings and the sectors developments in order to promote volunteerism with one voice and strengthen its position in all sectors of Cambodian society.

Meeting of VolCam representatives; Photo by Veronika Jemelikova, UNV Cambodia 2013

IVD 2013

Preparation of International Volunteer Day

The 5th Meeting of the National Committee on Promoting Volunteerism took place on 4th July
2013 and gathered representatives of the Department of Youth, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and members of VolCam, a network of international and local Volunteer service agencies and volunteer involving organisations in Cambodia.

Peter spent a lot of time volunteering for nongovernmental and community organizations working with youth. I know the importance of these organizations, I spent several years and countless semester breaks working with disadvantaged youth and I could really see the impact of our work with them, says Peter and shares the story of 10 year old girl Ika, who he taught at a primary school in Ghana: Ika was one of the most problematic children. Because her family was very poor she had to work full day on the local market selling fruits and thus couldnt attend school regularly. I was afraid she will drop out of school. I All youth spoke to her parents and proposed should have the that I could give her evening classes twice a week to catch up same right to and to learn the most important participate and skills for her job, mental arithmetic and Basic English. I was so happy to contribute to see that Ika benefited largely from the society. the extra classes, learnt very fast and very soon was as good as her schoolmates, concludes Peter. Cambodia, where youth has the will, but lacks opportunities Community work has a big impact on Peter and shapes his life: Having this volunteering experience inspired me to become a UN Volunteer and eventually brought me to Cambodia, he says. Today, Peter works at the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Cambodia. Involving the youth in the Post-2015 consultations is very valuable, because in the end the youth of today will be working on these goals and living in the future we now envision. Already today, Cambodians youth is very active and willing to take action to shape their future so to say the

The Committee was established in 2011 during the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers +10 and its main role is to provide leadership and coordination for the promotion of the spirit of volunteerism at the national level. Committee members met to discuss new developments in relation to the implementation of the National Youth Policy, reviewed accomplishments in the area of promoting volunteerism and developed a work plan for the organization of the 2013 International Volunteer Day (IVD), which will take place on 5th and 6th December.

Meeting with MoEYS, Photo: Veronika Jemelikova, UNV Cambodia 2013

Story of former UN Volunteer

Making Cambodian businesses greener knowledge of the culture can add up the fear. Only after I returned to Cambodia I realized how serious the situation in Timor Leste was. Even though his first UNV position was tough, Mr. Narin sees it as a great opportunity: UNV work was enriching. I could see what is happening outside of Cambodia. It was hands on experience in the field and it helped in my professional development and gave me selfsatisfaction of contributing to UN field mission. Having a job as UNV gives person opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills. I would encourage all Cambodians to try to apply for UNV positions abroad or in our country, he recommends. After receiving a scholarship to study a Master Degree in the US, Mr. Narin returned to Cambodia and worked for UNDP and in the private sector prior to being selected as a Head of Operations of UNIDO. In UNIDO we work with public organizations and private sector helping them to improve their capacity and competitiveness. Building up on this previous experience he is now able to work efficiently with multiple stakeholders and contribute to development of sustainable industries in Cambodia. One of the activities of UNIDO is promoting is environmental sustainability. Companies in Cambodia are acknowledged for their environmental friendly policies through the Green Awards scheme.

From UN Volunteer to a Head of Agency

was in charge of investigating crime and human rights violations all around Cambodia. I really enjoyed my job, which allowed me to see many parts of my country as well as develop my interpretation and writing skills. Held hostage as UNV Electoral Observer Mr. Narin continued his efforts to help develop his country and worked for ILO and later at the USAID office of Democracy and Human Rights to promote good governance, human rights and free and fair electoral processes. During that time, in 1999, Timor Leste was preparing to hold national referendum on its independence and UNV was forming its largest mission ever to support this process. Mr. Narin applied for UNV position of Electoral Observer. He soon found himself on the way to his first international assignment, which was not an easy one. Our team was deployed on a top of a mountain. It was very cold in the night. It was hard to adjust since I wasnt prepared for such conditions. The political atmosphere of the time was tough and there was all kind of intimidation, harassment and frequent acts of violence, says Mr. Narin. Thanks to the efforts of thousands of observers the referendum ended up being successful despite many difficulties. However on the day of the planned departure from the district area, Mr. Narin and his colleagues were held hostage by a group opposed to the vote. UN intervened and after lengthy negotiation of UN, governmental officials and opposing group we were let go, but we witnessed more acts of violence before our departure, he remembers dangerous events of his deployment. Enriching experience of UN Volunteers Mr. Narin didnt realize the level of stress and fear this mission put him under until after he returned back to Cambodia. During the mission for those who never lived in difficult environment the experience was very rough. But we Cambodians have gone through genocide. We were scared, but not so scared. The level of fear is different. In your own country you know the language and the culture. But not knowing the country and limited

Cambodian businesses

UNIDO Green Awards Ceremony

On 20 June, UNIDO hosted a Green Awards Ceremony, which rewarded in total 11 companies for their environmentally friendly policies, green technological innovations and their positive social impact. There were two overall winners of the Green Award: Cambodia Beverage Company and LyLy Food Industry, which received the top prize. Lyly food industry was founded in May 2002 to give opportunity of employment to poor Cambodian people, illiterate persons, unqualified persons and orphans and to promote healthy food alternatives from local resources. The Green Awards is an incentive, it makes the companies proud and recognized by the government. Many companies see the winners as role models. They talk to each other and try to encourage each other to use their resources better and become more competitive, says Mr. Narin, Head of operations of UNIDO is promoting preventive environmental approaches, which include also Cleaner and Resource-Efficient Production (CREP):

Mr. Sok, Narin

Work in international development is a

challenging career choice. The professional path of Mr. Narin Sok, former UN Volunteer and current Head of Operations of UNIDO in Cambodia, took many unexpected turns which added up to a story worth telling. It was a year 1989, Cambodia started to seen an end to civil conflictand Mr. Narin finished high shool. He found himself in a similar situation as many young Cambodians in that period: jobless and without posibility to continue his studies. Long peace negotiations eventually led to signing of Paris Peace Agreements and deployment of the UN Advanced Mission to Cambodia. I was really excited for the change. UN mission brought us hope. says Mr. Narin, who saw many Cambodians working for the UN as interpreters and decided to work hard on his English to be able to apply for job with the UN. In 1991 I was often wandering in front of the UN offices, same as many other Cambodians, hoping that I could get a job. One day I approached one of the UN personnel. He took me in and gave me a written test. I was very nervous, Mr. Narin recounts his first experience with the UN. He got a job in the UN communication store as a clerk and thanks to his proactivity soon became translator for UN Special Task Force for civilian police. Our unit

UN Resident Coordinator Claire Van der Vaeren during UNIDO Green Awards Ceremony

International Youth Day 2013

Youth on the move

August in Metahouse, Phnom Penh. Over 100 people joined the celebration and ceremony, which awarded eight finalists of the photography competition. UN Resident Coordinator Claire Van der Vaeren opened the celebration and stressed the importance of youth in Cambodia. Engaging youth is key to the United Nations work in Cambodia, and it has been a real pleasure to see such artistic talent on show and to meet the young people who have contributed to raising awareness on the important topic of youth migration. In Cambodia, youth migration, particularly from rural to urban areas, is both a factor and a result of growth and development. It is providing new avenues for rising out of poverty and connecting young people with job opportunities; but it also exposes some young men and women to certain risks. However, by making services youth-friendly and through continued cooperation, Government, Development Partners, the private sector, youth groups, NGOs and civil society organizations can

August 12th, Phnom Penh: To celebrate International Youth Day and raise awareness on the international theme of Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward, the United Nations in Cambodia organized a photography competition for youth. An exhibition of winning photographs was launched on Monday 12th

mitigate the pitfalls of migration, helping the new generation play its part in Cambodias social and economic transformation. The exhibition was on display until Sunday 18 August and it is accompanied by informational banners and posters, which expose interesting facts and statistics about the phenomena of youth migration in Cambodian context.

The absolute winner of the competition was a picture called Behind The Green

Fence by 24 year old Ly Polen, who says: When I travel around Phnom Penh every day, my eyes caught by many things but what has inspired me the most, the lives of construction workers. Almost all of them are not the Phnom Penh habitants, and many of them are young people, aged between 14-18 years old. They stopped school and moved from their hometown to struggle to earn their livings in the city. Their livings are hard; however, they have contributed a lot to the country development. Their dedication should be rewarded. When the chance came, I sent my photo in the competition and was hoping that what I have presented in photo seen by the influential people and the country should have a good policy to address this issue. I wish for the better change in education and economy.

The runner up of the competition was a picture by YON Sakmay, who works for

the Cambodian Volunteers for Society specializing in IT. My photo portrays the life of a young migrant living in the border area, Poipet, Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia-Thailand. He is 16 years old and he should have been in school. However, his family could not afford him to have higher education. I, myself, had migrated from Takeo province to live in Phnom Penh since 2004. However, the reasons of migration between me and the boy in the photo were different. I migrated for the better education and the boy and his family migrated for the better economic condition. I am hoping that my photo could have some effects to build on the long -term perspectives in education system and quality in Cambodia. Finally I just believe that everyone accesses to school equally and equitably, regardless their economic status and that should be free for all.

The peoples choice prize winner was Mr. Serik Chanbouto, 21

years old, a university student in Phnom Penh. The photo depicts the real life of my neighbor, though, the person presenting in the photo is not my neighbor. He has moved from his hometown to look for a job to support his farming family. Though he is an unskilled person, he, first, worked as a salesperson and as a waiter. With support from his parents, he rent a shop to sell handicraft products made by his father. Then, he started studying English parttime and has become more sociable.

Upcoming

Culture

Lets Do It! Phnom Penh

planning to support the initiative, which aims to mobilize 10. 000 volunteers on October 20th in Phnom Penh. The campaign is dealing with the issue of littering and is trying to change the patterns of peoples behavior. According to their estimates, there is 100 million tons of garbage lying around the world which hasnt been properly disposed of. Lets Do It! campaign raises awareness about the extent of this problem and at the same time creates an opportunity for people to make a difference in their homes and neighborhoods. Lets Do It! also introduced an innovative free online tool: World Waste Map , which allows everyone to map the most troubling dumping areas around the world and raise awareness about the problems of waste dumping. On October 20th, everyone is invited to participate in the biggest clean-up of Phnom Penh streets so far.

Happening in Phnom Penh

Meta-house:
27.8. documentary Day in the Cambodian Garment Industry (4pm) 28.8 documentaries Women weavers from Kandal, Female politics, Disguise, Two Girls agains the rain 4pm) and The Ambassador (7pm) 29.8. Green quiz and environmental networking event (7pm), movie The Antarctica Challenge (8pm) 30.8. serie of Battambang Art documentaries (7pm) 31.8. Photo exhibition Amazing Cambodia images from 1960s (6pm); Republic Twitter movie from Indonesia (8pm)

Nerd night:
September 2nd, 16th and 30th, check place here.

Lets Do It! is a global campaign promoting

participation of thousands of volunteers to clean up their surroundings. It started in 2008 in Estonia, where 50.000 people joined their efforts and within just 5 hours got rid of 10.000 tons of illegal garbage from roadsides, forests and towns. News about this initiative spread out very fast and today around 5 million volunteers engage in more than 100 different inspired cleanup actions in many countries worldwide. In 2011 Cambodia joined this global movement and various actions have since been organized around the country. In 2012, around 6000 volunteers got involved. The organizers included a local NGO Small World, Cambodia Cares, AIESEC and Junior Chamber International of Cambodia. This year, UNV Cambodia together with members of the VolCam network are

The best pizza in town?

Every Monday and Thursday Katy Peri's Peri Peri Pizza cart is parked outside the gates of the Show Box on Street 330.

New publications

Across UN and other organizations

Welcome new UN Volunteer with UN Women

Newcomer

Read new relevant publications about Cambodia and development issues: FAO: Edible insects Future prospects for food and feed security and Food systems for better nutrition ILO: Skills for competitiveness: Cambodias case and Local edge: Decent work - Stories from the grassroots OCHA: Overview of Global Humanitarian Action at Mid-Year 2013 OECD-FAO: Agricultural Outlook 2013-2022 OECD: Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives: A Strategic Approach to Skills policies UNDP: The Millennium Development Goals Report 2013 UNICEF: The State of the World's Children - Children with disabilities UNCDF: A Year of Innovation UNDP: The Global Conversation Begins and The Millennium Development Goals Report 2013

In August Lynny Sor joined UN Women as Gender Equality Project Officer. Lynny obtained Master degree in Business Administration from Norton University. She previously worked with EFC Women's Department for over 5 years on strengthening womens capacity to facilitate social transformation and later with Youth Star Cambodia, where she supported volunteers during their one year placements with host communities in rural Cambodia.

Opportunities
Organizations operating in Cambodia, click for more: Agriconsulting Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development Development Alternatives Friends-International

Now recruiting in Cambodia

Groupe Energies
Renouvelables Medical Teams International New Humanity Plan SIDO Samaritan's Purse

UN Women Voluntary Service Overseas Workforce Humanity World Vision World Wide Fund For Nature

Khmer corner
Hour--moung Minutenatii day--tngai weekaa-dteut monthkai yearchnam

More on CAMHR AND Bong Thom.

Time expressions
Mondaytngai jahn Tuesdaytngai ong-gee-a Wednesdaytngai pbut Thursday-tngai bprah-hoas Friday--tngai soak Saturdaytngai saow Sundaytngai aa-dteut yesterdaymserl-meign tomorrowsa-aik last weekaa-dteut moohn next weekaa-dteut grao-ee

Your UNV FU:

Share your opinion and stories with us!

Isabelle Devylder

Markara Nuon

Veronika Jemelikova

jemelikova.veronika@undp.org unv.kh@undp.org United Nations Volunteers in Cambodia

Programme Officer 077 333 046 Programme Assistant 012 788 173 Comms, Youth & Outreach 017 262 110

@ http://www.un.org.kh/unv/