Child Advocacy Issue In Cambodia

Child Advocacy

Child advocacy has undergone major changes in the last 50 years. It stood as a troublesome, inconvenient idea associated with politics in its narrowest frame, rabble rousing or self-serving to its proponents. That is true whether it is in the United States, Brazil, India, South Africa, or countries with dictatorships. That makes it important to discuss what the future of child advocacy might hold. The changes have given child advocacy legitimacy, credibility, and authority as a way of dealing with orderly change. Child advocacy deals with the dynamics of power relationships.

Because social justice child advocacy in particular threatens the status quo, and sometimes succeeds, hard earned gains are at constant risk. That especially holds true when people who have faced oppression make significant gains of political power and resource allocation. We see this phenomenon occurring among racial and ethnic minorities in different countries. Guarding against regression is a given in social justice child advocacy (Lemma, 145-147).

Common Characteristics of Child Advocacy

Child Advocacy requires an action that either defends the status quo or requires its participants to develop a credible policy alternative.

Child advocacy policy has to be directed at those who have the power to make decisions.

Advocates use many tools and techniques to direct their efforts. Among the tools used are generating and interpreting information, building alliances and coalitions, engaging in media advocacy, and litigating and lobbying.

Advocates regularly ask something of others—within their group or those with the power to decide.

Actions by advocates create demands on political and policy systems. By doing so, conflicts are generated that otherwise might be avoided or buried (Lemma, 145-147).

Advocacy Problems of Children in Cambodia

The Cambodian street children are selling blood outside hospitals due to shortage of donor transfusions official, stated the Cambodin child watch. "Street children often sell blood, including some who use drugs," says Man Phally, coordinator of Mith Samlanh organization that works with these kids. "Most wanders near hospitals, and if people need blood, you buy it," he added. According Man Phally, many Cambodians believe that donating blood will weaken, so that the already poor Cambodian hospitals consistently have blood shortages.

To address the problem, some doctors, overwhelmed, encourage family members of patients to seek blood outside hospitals, where one of these street children can ask five to ten dollars per donation. A high added in a country where gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was $ 783 in 2010, according to the U.S. State Department (Sanderson, 190-197).

"The blood is worth more than money," Hun Sen said. "The money can be used to buy things, but the blood is to save lives," he added. According Meuk Samean, deputy director of blood transfusion center of the Ministry of Health, said the center is only 500 bags of blood reservation, but it takes about 100 a day. "We need more blood donors to eliminate the sale of blood," he said.

In dealing with internal issues of child advocacy in Cambodia, such as ending abuse of children, or ...