Health Poverty Action : Better health services for indigenous communities in Mondulkiri, Cambodia

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Main Content: Better health services for indigenous communities in Mondulkiri, Cambodia

Indigenous communities in Cambodia find it difficult to access healthcare because of poverty, cultural barriers and a lack of knowledge about what they are entitled to.

Health Poverty Action is helping improve the health of 27,000 indigenous people in the mountainous region of Mondulkiri, particularly women and children, by strengthening local health facilities and educating people about their rights. The project:

village representatives in health rights and how to campaign for them
uses traditional folk media to promote health awareness in communities
uses community education events to inform people of health rights and available services
trains village volunteers to research the main barriers to healthcare
trains local health staff on communication skills, their responsibility to clients, and indigenous people’s rights

An indigenous people’s civil society group is also being established – the Indigenous People’s Health Association – which campaigns on behalf of communities for appropriate and affordable health care at local, national and international levels.

Mondulkiri is a remote and isolated province, located in the east of Cambodia. More than 60% of the population in Mondulkiri are indigenous people.

This project places great emphasis on enabling people at the community level to advocate for themselves and their own rights to health, rather than Health Poverty Action advocating on their behalf.

Kray Tet is a trained village representative and lives in Poutrou village with his family. He says, “My role is to provide health education in the village and attend meetings at the health centre to discuss health problems. I can learn new information to share with my family and neighbours. I can learn how to prevent malaria and diarrhoea.”

Page Last Modified: 10/03/2010