Cambodia (2016-2021): USAID Cambodian Civil Society Strengthening (CCSS) – EWMI—Amplifying voices. Advancing justice. Inspiring progress.

The Cambodian Civil Society Strengthening (CCSS) project was a USAID project aimed at strengthening the organizational and technical capacity of Cambodian civil society organizations and grassroots networks. The project worked with CSOs to improve their management, planning, and analytical skills while enabling them to play a more active role in Cambodia’s economic and political development. The five-year project included a grants program that offered small grants for important work such as monitoring land rights cases, assisting victims of gender-based violence, and supporting the legal protection of Cambodia’s rich natural resources. The grants also funded research activities such as public opinion polls and social-economic assessments that can help civil society organizations better target their services. The CCSS project emphasized the value of local solutions to Cambodia’s development challenges while putting civil society organizations on a path towards sustainability.

Impact Stories

Supporting Community Forest Protection Advocacy in Cambodia

In 2016, Mrs. Meas Phon and her family were living below the poverty line. Meas, aged 40, previously had been supporting herself and her six children successfully by selling Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) in the Siem Reap province. However, informal and illegal logging was extremely prevalent in her commune, ...

June 6, 2020 / Cambodia, Cambodia CCSS, Impact Stories

Supporting Grassroots Advocacy in Cambodia

As Cambodia continues its rapid economic growth, the steady increase in economic land concessions, and particularly mining concessions, has often created tensions between companies that hold these concessions and local communities. This is especially true in the remote northeastern areas of the country, where most of the villages comprise indigenous ...

March 12, 2020 / Cambodia, Cambodia CCSS, Impact Stories