Urban poor communities
Life on the fringes of Cambodian society
Andong is one of the 516 urban poor communities in Phnom Penh, which account for about 25% of the capital’s population. Typically for urban poor communities, also commonly known as slums, Andong faces many challenges, including poor sanitation & hygiene and high rates of diarrhoea and malnutrition. Lack of toilets, proper drainage, garbage disposal system, as well as overcrowded shacks, are common problems. The situation is compounded by high rates of poverty and domestic violence.
To help face some of these challenges, UNICEF supports the Cambodian government in promoting access to healthcare for the vulnerable people of Andong and other urban slums in Phnom Penh. As a result, the spread of disease in the community has decreased, however a lot more remains to be done to ensure all children and mothers are healthy.
A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT
Children play in front of their homes, surrounded by piles of garbage. Andong’s 3,500 residents typically live in overcrowded shacks made of corrugated metal and wood planks. Many houses have no toilet.
A makeshift kitchen sink on an elevated wooden platform just outside one of the houses. Many of the shacks are built on stilts above a pool of sewage, drainage water and floating garbage.
Children play sitting on the wooden platform that cuts through the community and provides a bridge over stagnant contaminated water. Jars like the one in the picture are used to collect rainwater for drinking or cooking, which may get contaminated during floods. Drinking and coming into contact with contaminated water often causes diseases like diarrhoea and skin infections.
A “canal” of dirty water flows between houses. Children often play in or with this water, which results in disease. Stagnant water is also the breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry dengue fever. Given the living conditions, dengue fever is rampant among urban poor communities.
Children cross one of the many “sewage rivers” found in Andong. The community’s sanitation situation is particularly dire during the raining season, when floods are frequent.
MALNUTRITION AND LACK OF HYGIENE
Noun Sreimech is 19 years old.
“I have no breast milk so I feed my son sugar water. Six months ago I started feeding him some bobor [rice porridge] but then he got diarrhoea.”
Sreimech’s child weighs only 5 kg. He is one of the many malnourished children in urban poor communities, where children are not properly fed, hygiene conditions are challenging and water is often contaminated. UNICEF supports severe acute malnutrition screenings, food demonstrations and supplementary feeding in 179 urban poor communities in Phnom Penh.
NO BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Tra Koy, 33, is the mother of a baby girl and a 4-year-old boy.
“I want very much to send my son to pre-school but I can’t because he doesn’t have a birth certificate.”
Lack of birth certificates is a common problem in urban poor communities, which often consist of people who have relocated from other villages. There are two type of urban poor communities: regularized and non-regularized. The latter have a great disadvantage since the people living there lack official residence and land rights, and the authorities do not support investment in permanent structures. Lack of official residence results in a series of challenges in getting a birth certificate, school enrolment and employment.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Khun Ratha (name changed) is 53 years old.
“I earn money by selling vegetables and fruit. I make around $1.75 a day. My husband used to beat me with a wooden stick when he was drunk. He told me, ‘If you complain to the police I will kill you.’”
Ratha’s husband recently left her. Although she is free from violence now, the emotional and psychological scars remain. According to a rapid assessment carried out in Phnom Penh in 2013, 69% of people living in urban poor communities suffer from domestic violence. UNICEF and its partners work together to provide outreach services, such as counselling, to support the victims and their families.
LIFE-SAVING HEALTH TRAINING FOR MOTHERS AND CAREGIVERS
A village health volunteer explains to mothers of children under 5 some of the preventable causes of pneumonia in one of her education sessions with the community.
This is part of the National Communication Strategy for Behavioural Impact (COMBI) on appropriate care-seeking behavior for children’s pneumonia and sick newborns in Cambodia. Focused on raising awareness of life-saving neonatal and under-5 care, this strategy is implemented by the Cambodian government with support from UNICEF and development partners.
Khiev Deap, 21, is pregnant with her first child.
“I am eager to learn how to take care of my pregnancy. Even if I don’t have a baby yet, I know he will come soon. Now I know how to recognize when the baby is sick.”
Deap was advised by her village chief to attend a health education session so that she could learn how recognize the symptoms of life-threatening diseases and take action. Mothers like Deap who live in urban poor communities face many challenges, including low access to health services. UNICEF supports the Municipal Health Department to deliver training to provide health education to pregnant women and new mothers.
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Srey Thim, 14, lives in Andong with her younger brother, David, and her parents. Her mum works in a garment factory and her dad is a construction worker.
People who live in urban poor communities are typically construction and factory workers, street vendors, plastic and rubbish collectors and motorcycle taxi drivers. They can earn between $25 and $250 per month but they have to pay between $15 and $300 per month to support their families.
Srey Thim is in Grade 6 at Kork Roka Primary School. 90% of eligible children are enrolled in primary school, however many children who migrated to urban poor communities lack proper school transfer documents and cannot go to school as a result.
Written by Martina Tomassini
