Many people have been killed or physically disabled during twenty-year internal conflict in Cambodia. People still get injured due to remained land mines and unexplosive ordnances, even a decade after the cease-fire. This paper aims to examine the situation of the physically disabled and assistance programs in Cambodia by analyzing published documents and visiting activity sites, and to discuss future challenges. In this paper, the physically disabled mainly implies adults and children with orthopedic impairments.
The major causes of physical disability are: land mines; unexplosive ordnances; traffic accidents; occupational accidents such as falling down from palm trees; infectious diseases, etc. Casualties of land mines and unexplosive ordnances were 50,915 (13,686 were dead) between 1979 and 2000. Recently, the number of land mine accidents has been declining, while that of traffic accidents has been increasing.
Since 1980s, many international NGOs have assisted land mine victims through providing with artificial limbs, prostheses and rehabilitation services. However, the assistance for the disabled people of other categories has been neglected. The international NGOs provide services based on their own interests, therefore, the participation of the disabled people and their family in the assistance programs has been limited. The government plays only limited roles to endorse the activities of the international NGOs, and has not had any specific strategies to prepare for the future withdrawal of the NGOs.
Disabled people require assistance not only for health, but also for education, employment, etc. On the other hand, it is also very important to empower and build capacity of them, so that they can contribute to the development of the Cambodian society. Additionally, means of prevention should be considered as one of the key perspectives. Sustainable supporting systems should be established by the government and domestic NGOs through participation of the disabled themselves.