Hope and Fear amid US Aid Budget Freeze: Cambodia Starts Seeing its Effect

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By:
- Teng Yalirozy
- Lay Sopheavotey
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February 1, 2025, 6:40 PM
PHNOM PENH — The Cambodian government has assured that the United States unprecedented freeze on nearly all foreign assistance will not disrupt the country’s development policies and the 2050 high-income country goal. In the meantime, many organizations and projects supported through U.S. funding have temporarily ceased operations, plunging thousands of people into job despair.
Cambodia is one of the beneficiaries of aid programs funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has provided $3 billion over the past three decades.
In October 2024, Samantha Power, the then USAID administrator, promised $12 million in new funding to support demining and $5 million to help enhance health security in the country.
The first government’s organizations to announce the major effects of forcing more than 1,000 staff members into unemployment were the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), which was created in 1992 under the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). Since then, the United States has been significantly involved in demining and funding activities.
According to Ly Thuch, first vice president of CMAA, the U.S. funding freeze could potentially affect 93 demining teams and eliminate the jobs of more than 1,000 demining personnel as the U.S. has provided around $10 million annually for mine clearance operations.
“The effects, however, are smaller or greater depending on different demining teams,” he said. “I have advised mine clearance teams to consider the livelihood of the personnel and seek other partners from various countries so that we can carry out our work normally. We don’t want this problem to affect our goal of becoming a mine-free country.”

The target year to have the whole country demined has been extended to 2030 as new areas of unexploded ordnance and landmines have been found in seven provinces bordering Thailand.
On Jan. 31, CMAC Director-General Heng Ratana announced that demining operations had halted temporarily in eight provinces after the U.S. had frozen foreign aid. An 85-day aid suspension is affecting operations in numerous provinces, including Kampong Cham, Kratie, Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, Tboung Khmum, Svay Rieng, and Prey Veng provinces.
Ratana urged the local authorities and volunteers to cooperate with over 1,000 police officers to enable CMAC to deploy a demining team to clear war remnants and ensure community safety.
Besides the U.S., Cambodia’s demining operations are supported by some countries in Europe, such as Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, France and Luxembourg. Australia, Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea are also assisting in the demining efforts.
In other sectors, the Cambodian Journalists and Alliance Association (CamboJa) has halted USAID-funded projects in journalist capacity training, story grants and research on the media situation in the country.
Nop Vy, executive director of CamboJa, said that the aid suspension directly affects the organization and its journalists, and also indirectly impacts the communities as well as the government since CamboJa will lack the budget to perform free and fair reporting.
“We all have social responsibility,” he said. “NGOs play a vital role in helping the government push for social responsibility and bring the voiceless to the surface. When we have enough funds, we can at ease carry out our activities and contribute to solving social issues.”
Pa TongChen, who had obtained a job in the Communication and Media Promotion Organization, has failed to become a full member of the staff as the organization is affected by the U.S. aid suspension.
Selected by the organization, TongChen has been freelancing but was given hope that his new job would give him a sustainable income. Now the aid suspension could affect his livelihood.
“U.S. fund suspension means some freelance work will be on hold,” he said. “I’m afraid I might not have any work to do. I hope that the U.S. continues the aid assistance, especially in the media and human rights sectors.”
San Daravit implemented a USAID-funded project on the environment for two years. He is well-known as the “garbage man” who led a mass garbage cleaning campaign in Phnom Penh, having gathered many youths to join and keep the city clean.
Daravit is now running a school to help poor children receive additional education. His garbage campaign ended in late 2024, and he intended to submit a request to USAID to obtain funding for his current initiative concerning out-of-school children whose parents are local migrants.
“USAID made my campaign possible not only through financial assistance but technical assistance, which I was enthusiastic [to receive while] implementing the campaign,” said Daravit. “I hope that the aid won’t be frozen forever.”

Other USAID-funded organizations, and especially those working on health and combating tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, were contacted for comments. However, they declined to comment at this point, saying that they were observing the situation and waiting for the final decisions.
The Ministry of Health and the National AIDS Authority could not be reached for comments.
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, which has worked in cooperation with the U.S. on several projects including digitalization projects and the improvement of primary school education, could not be reached for comments as well.
Ministry of Environment spokesperson Kvay Atitya said that the ministry has not received any official information from the U.S. but that he expects this superpower to continue working on the environment and combating climate change as the environment issue is a global problem needing all partnerships.
“Most affected by the USAID suspension are our partner organizations, which directly help the locals,” he said. “We are waiting for the final decisions.”
Im Rachna, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said that the ministry has indirect collaborations with USAID, but that these supports do not impact the ministry's work process. “The ministry is committed to collaborating with various development partner organizations, ensuring high-quality support for farmers and the nation,” she said.
Cambodian government spokesperson Pen Bona said that the United States’ aid suspension affects the countries that receive financial and technical support from the United States. Cambodia is no different, he said, as the U.S. has undeniably been helping to improve various sectors such as agriculture, education, health, the environment, and demining in Cambodia.
Bona, however, assured that the government’s development policies will be carried out normally and that the aid suspension will not have a major effect on the government and the country.
“It’s not a novel problem,” he said. “In 46 years after the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodia has encountered greater problems than this current foreign aid issue. The country is at a favorable stage, [and] the issue won’t negatively impact the ambition to become a high-income country in 2050.”
Bona advised sectoral solutions, giving importance to demining and hoping that the U.S. will continue cooperation to clear unexploded ordnances and landmines, which are a result of decades of conflict.
“We expect that the U.S. will remain active in supporting mine clearance operations with Cambodia to remove the painful scars of decades of wars,” Bona said.
