The Svay Rieng Shelter has been in operation since 1997, though had to temporarily close its doors during 2003 and 2004 due to lack of funding. Today the shelter is a very special place and we hope to be able to continue providing for girls in our care for many years. Many donors have made this possible throughout the years, we thank them for this.

Svay Rieng is an especially important area of work due to its proximity to Vietnam. Read more about this below.

The Svay Rieng Province, which serves as a strategic crossing route between the Cambodia/Vietnam border, is widely regarded as one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia. Several factors contribute to this situation such as lack of access to basic services, illiteracy and low education, inadequate marker for finished produces and poor infrastructure. Most of the families suffer food shortage for about five months a year. In this critical period most of the villagers fall in debt to address food shortage or to cover the cost of a trip to Vietnam. With 55.6% of the total population below 24 years of age, most of the people who cross the border are illegal migrants who travel in search of work. It is common that among those who cross the border many are tricked or sold to work as beggars, sellers, domestic workers, commercial sex workers and agricultural laborers etc. (Reports from Department of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation of Svay Rieng supported by the International Organization for Migration - Statistics on Return and Reintegration of Cambodians from Vietnam 1st January – 30th June 2007, and preceding).

Although the situation of returnees from Vietnam is partially documented and the Provincial Department of Ministry of Social Affairs is in charge of managing the process of repatriation, there is still a clear need to intervene in many areas related to child trafficking prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration as well as to assist victims of abuse and violence and/or those at risk in Svay Rieng province. At present (2010), CCPCR is the only shelter in the Svey Rieng province to offer services for these victims and through its actions, promote a change in the behavior and the widespread community acceptance of labor migration. In combating sexual abuse and exploitation, CCPCR has identified two key approaches which this project aims to continue. The first is to prevent the abuse before it begins. This is done through the training and capacity building of community networks, which will be more specifically documented below. These networks learn to recognize situations that foster abuse, how to prevent abuse and what to do should abuse be identified. The second approach is more reactive, providing shelter and assistance to those who have already been victimized. These children, often identified by the community networks, are brought to CCPCR by local authorities and/or other NGOs and placed in the shelter to be given comprehensive assistance. Working alongside the Department of Social Affairs and international organizations such as IOM and UNICEF, CCPCR's work and dedication to recovery and rehabilitation does not just locate the problem but combats it successfully.