What Young Cambodians Don't Know (Reprised)

Civics doesn't appear to be part of the
 curriculum of many Khmer schools

25% of young Cambodians* have never heard of the term ‘Parliament. ‘Of those who have, just one-third have an understanding of what it does.

Just 28 % of young Cambodians understand the term ‘democracy.’ 

When those who had heard of ‘human rights’ were asked what the term meant, 25% of them did not know. 

Only 25% of the respondents were aware of the term ‘transparency’ and 10% were aware of the term ‘accountability.’

A whopping 64% of males agreed with the statement that ‘The leader of the government is like the head of the family, so we should follow what they have decided.” A further 20% either had a neutral view of that statement or answered that they didn’t know. Just 16% disagreed.

57% of women agreed with the same statement while just 17% disagreed.

More than 90% of  young Cambodian adults have never told a public or NGO official what they think or want.

 Less than 6% read newspapers.

Nevertheless, 'Nearly all (95%) youth in Cambodia express pride in being Cambodian. The reasons identified by the young people were: abundance of natural resources, a rich cultural history, religion, democracy, strength of character of the Cambodian people and the country’s leadership.'

‘I am proud because I was born in a golden country. We have everything: culture, religion, freedom, 

democracy, and resources so that we live comfortably.’
FGD, urban male, 20-24 Battambang Province

*The UNDP Youth Civic Participation nationwide quantitative baseline study consisted of a national survey conducted in April 2010.

Stratified multistage sampling was used to collect data among 2000 young respondents, aged 15-24,

from five regions.