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PNHOM PENH, 20 November 2019 – The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) turns 30 today, and to celebrate this monumental occasion, key stakeholders came together in a massive event at The Factory warehouse in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This event marked the launch of a three-month national, joint campaign on child rights by European Union, UNICEF, Save the Children, USAID and Child Rights Now. The campaign aims to accelerate progress towards fulfilling CRC and translating rights into realities for Cambodian children.

It is Monday morning, and Channy, a 7-year-old girl, wears her school uniform and a bright smile as she walks to Kab Kralanh Primary School with her friends and classmates. However, Channy was not always so happy to attend school.

When Thida* hears the loud, male voice of her teacher in the classroom, she cannot help but imagine her father hurting her family. Thida, now a 17-year-old girl studying in tenth grade at the Cambodia-Japan Friendship High School in her village, used to be a victim of domestic violence in her family.

Ly Leakhena is a 14-year-old girl who is currently studying in ninth grade at Khael Chey Secondary School. She and her family live in Ou Svay Commune, Kampong Siem District, Kampong Cham Province close to the Mekong River in eastern Cambodia. While eating breakfast with her friends, Leakhena told us that she and her friends do not skip their morning meals anymore after attending a workshop with Save the Children.

Cheng Sreykhouch, 6, is a young student in first grade at Prongel Primary School in Cambodia’s western Pursat Province. Sreykhouch is the second child in her family, which consists of her parents and her older brother. Sreykhouch’s mother is a farmer and her farther is carpenter. Every day, Sreykhouch’s mother gets her ready for school and then takes her one kilometer to school on her motorbike.