Friends International is an international NGO that specializes in working with marginalised urban children and youth and their families and communities to become productive and independent citizens of their country. The organization was founded by Sebastien Marot and started its work in 1994 in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...

, Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, and ever since then it attracted the attention of international organizations (UNICEF, Inter-American Development Bank

Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean...

), Governments (Government of the Lao PDR) and local organizations. As a result Friends-International branched out across South East Asia and beyond. Today, Friends International reaches out for hundreds of thousands of marginalised children through its own programs and cooperating with many other organizations in many countries, including Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Programs

Among other groups of marginalised children, Friends-International works primarily with street children

Street children

A street child is a child who lives on the streets of a city, deprived of family care and protection. Most children on the streets are between the ages of about 5 and 17 years old.Street children live in junk boxes, parks or on the street itself...

. In addition to running day care centers, residential centers, providing educational, medical, and everyday life services, and training social workers on maintaining these services; the organization also provide specialized programs.

Drug programs

Friends-International was the first organization to develop drug services in Cambodia and has been working with drug using children and youth since 1998. It introduced the practice of harm reduction

Harm reduction

Harm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...

 into the country which resulted in it becoming an official national policy. Among the services that FI provides in this field are: drug use prevention and health education, detoxification and social rehabilitation, inclusive aftercare and case management systems to prevent relapse, ensure appropriate medical care and to support sustainable reintegration in society.

Migration and mobility

The Mobility project is designed to prevent unsafe migration, protect vulnerable migrants, reintegrate migrants and to promote migrant’s rights. In Cambodia, in 2008, 1933 young people received information on the risks of migration, and 164 young migrants were supported to return home, join vocational training, or find employment at destination.

Home based production

Friends-International developed the Home-Based production project, where families are supported to produce (at home or in a specific production center) and sell their production through the Friends-International dynamic network. In exchange parents must sign an agreement stating that children/youth must go to school or vocational training. Regular follow-up is ensured making sure that the contract is respected.

Alternative Care project

Friends-International has initiated an Alternative Care project, which aims at preventing the abandonment of children and their systematic placement in orphanages. The project provides support and help to strengthen family structures; improve the work of institutions such as orphanages and NGO shelters by implementing standards on alternative care; promote parental care and influence a behavior change among Cambodian communities, and raise awareness among foreign visitors about the risks of “orphanage tourism”.

Awards

In recognition of its work, Friends-International has been awarded:

* Order of Australia for Service to Humanity
* Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship
* Gold Medal of the Cambodian Government
* Silver Medal, "Société d’Encouragement au Progrès"
* 2008 Espiritu Award from the Isabelle Allende Foundation
* The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneur of the Year, East Asia, 2009

External links

• Friends International website
• Friends International on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.