A visitor to Cambodia very quickly notices the NGOs. It seems barely possible to walk for 10 minutes in downtown Phnom Penh and not come across the logo of one humanitarian organization or another. According to the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC) today there are about 3500 registered NGOs in Cambodia. Admittedly fewer than half are currently active, but that is still about one active NGO for every 10,000 Cambodians. In fact, it has the second highest number of NGOs per capita in the world, after only Rwanda.

The NGO boom in Cambodia began in the early 1990s after the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements, marking the start of an era of development and democratic processes following more than fifty years of political turbulence. In fact, the very first NGOs – the International Rescue Committee, Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam GB – had been in Cambodia since as far back as the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Fearful of being drawn into the political struggle, however, other organizations stayed away. But once UN-sponsored elections took place, that hesitancy quickly disappeared. International NGOs flocked to Cambodia, while home-grown organizations also began to emerge.

As in many other developing countries, the scope of activities of both international and local NGOs is very broad and touches upon almost every sector of social development: the environment, civil and religious education, human rights, poverty alleviation, emergency relief and many others. Some NGOs specialize, others try to fulfill a very broad mission. In general, though, the NGOs seek to fill gaps in government social and economic policies...