UN Joint Programme on Youth Employment

01.01.2024 - 31.12.2028

Cambodia is the most youthful country in South East Asia with more than 50% of the population below 25 years. The key challenge of Cambodia is to create decent and productive employment opportunities for new entrants to the labour market. With its contribution, SDC addresses the challenge by enabling young people to have access to skills and quality education and employment whilst promoting rightful and decent working conditions.

Hospitality Skills Development Laos

01.11.2021 - 31.12.2025

In Laos, tourism is the sector with the highest potential to create jobs for the poor. SDC’s support will allow 20’000 youth to acquire the skills needed to work in hotels and restaurants. Dual Cooperative Training (apprenticeships) will provide for work place orientation of skills and facilitate an easy transition of trainees into full employment. Financial incentives will ensure that youth from poor families and SME hotels and restaurants profit from the project. Affirmative action mechanisms are applied so that at least 70% of trainees supported are women, mostly from ethnic minorities.

Skills Development Program Cambodia

01.07.2020 - 31.12.2027

Skills development is a key driver for inclusive growth in Cambodia, but delivery is poor. Through the Skills Development Program, SDC supports the rural poor and disadvantaged youth in northern provinces to have better access to more gainful and decent employment through vocational and life skills and contributes to strengthening the TVET national regulatory framework for better inclusion, more effective delivery and higher relevance of vocational skills to labor market needs.

Mine Action for Human Development in Cambodia 2017- 2025

01.01.2020 - 31.12.2025

Over the past 20 years Cambodia has made significant progress in clearing landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Nevertheless 1,640 km² of land remain contaminated as suspected minefields at this moment. SDC plans supporting national and regional mine action initiatives to ensure that development of poor rural communities is no longer impeded by disablement and restricted access to land, forests and water resources due to landmines and ERW.

Vocational training and employment support services (VTESS)

01.08.2019 - 31.07.2023

The Vocational Training and Employment Support Services (VTESS) Project supports the government of Laos in institutionalizing a national inclusive system for the integration of early school leavers into technical training courses and further education. In the current phase, 3000 disadvantaged young men and women will benefit from improved, labour market relevant training courses. At the same time, the establishment of employment support services to help graduates find employment or self-employment will be piloted. 

Support to SNDD Cambodia

01.04.2019 - 31.12.2022

SDC supports the third phase National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development (NP-SNDD) with a specific focus on the Implementation of Social Accountability Framework (ISAF) through a World Bank Trust Fund. The objective is to improve the performance of public service providers (primary schools, health centers and communes) with improved transparency, strengthened citizen engagement and government’s responsive actions

RECOFTC – Center for People and Forests: Resilient landscapes for secured rights and prosperous communities

01.01.2019 - 31.12.2023

Regional Economic Development Program, Cambodia

01.01.2019 - 30.09.2021

The Regional Economic Development (RED IV) program, co-financed by Switzerland and Germany, will be implemented in three north-western provinces of Cambodia. It aims at strengthening the capacity of sub-national and local governments to tackle economic development measures and supporting rural poor, in particular women, to increase their income and actively participate in local economic development, thereby reducing poverty of the rural population.

Fondation Kantha Bopha – Dr med. Beat Richner

01.01.2019 - 31.12.2021

25 years of Dr Richner’s tireless efforts resulted in millions of children receiving free quality medical care at Kantha Bopha Hospitals. Despite his retirement early 2017, the five hospitals are operating smoothly with the management model he set up and the commitment of the Royal Government of Cambodia to maintain it. SDC’s financial support remains crucial until a sustainable Cambodian financing is found.

Remote sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging economies (RIICE) - Phase 3

01.08.2018 - 30.06.2021

Extreme weather events increasingly affect small-scale producers in Asia. Satellites and other information technologies present tremendous potential for improved country-wide monitoring of crop growth and insurance solutions for extreme weather events. With RIICE, SDC supports the integration of expertise from Swiss private actors and international public research centres toward modernizing public agricultural services and crop insurance programmes, offering performant solutions to Governments and producers to cope with production shortfalls.

Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) Phase 2

01.07.2018 - 31.12.2022

Land governance remains at the centre of development challenges in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV), and land expropriation is a key driver of new poverty and food insecurity. The governments in the region have begun to turn their attention to legal and policy issues on land governance. This creates an opportunity for MRLG and the Reform Actors it brings together, to contribute to improvements in policies and practices regarding land tenure security for family farmers.

Lao DECIDE Info

01.06.2018 - 30.06.2021

In Lao PDR, the lack of integrated information and data analysis across thematic sectors continues hindering sustainable planning and decision-making. Lao DECIDE Info has fostered the integration of information from different sectors, data analysis, and development of new policy knowledge for decision making. The final phase 4, will seek for strategic engagement with decision makers, involving them in the identification of key policy issues, development of knowledge products, and incorporation of the knowledge products into national policies.