Cambodia
HAPPY FOOTBALL CAMBODIA AUSTRALIA
HFCA was founded in 2005 to work with underprivileged young people in Cambodia through football. On a regular basis they work with some 400 young people in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the northern city of Siem Reap.
Their three partner organisations in Cambodia work with young people who come from families who are living in extreme poverty, children who have been orphaned, lived on dumps or rescued from brothels or other forms of slavery.
HFCA’s weekly training sessions and competitions are attended by male and female players aged 12 to 30. Most of their coaching staff are former Homeless World Cup players.
Country statistics
148 out of 189 in Human Development Index rankings (UNDP, 2022)
Average annual salary per person $2,390 (World Bank, 2023)
More than 16% of the population lives below the poverty line (Habitat for Humanity, 2025)
Cambodia is a South-East Asian country of more than 17 million people. Approximately 1/4 of its population lives in urban areas, and 95% of the country’s residents identify as Khmer and speak the Khmer language (CIA Factbook, 2025). Cambodia also has one of the youngest populations of the region, with 1/3 of the country’s citizens aged under 15 (UNICEF, 2025). At 84%, literacy rates register below the global average of 86.3% (World Population Review, 2025), and more than half of the population ceases schooling before turning 17 (UNICEF, 2025). The country is ranked 148th in the world for access to education and standard of living (UNDP, 2025).
While the country’s economy is rapidly growing due to tourism and clothing manufacturing, the economic uplift is concentrated in urban areas; rural areas remain significantly poorer (CIA Factbook, 2025). Nearly 3/4 of the population exists on less than US$3 per day (Habitat for Humanity, 2025); most Cambodian families exist on US$1.25 per day—an amount equivalent to the poverty line (Habitat for Humanity, 2025).
Inadequate housing and sanitation as well as poverty are some of the most pressing challenges Cambodians face (Habitat for Humanity, 2025). Approximately 1/4 of Cambodians live in urban slums (Habitat for Humanity, 2025) and between 20% and 40% of Cambodian children experience the physical effects of poor nutrition (World Vision, 2015; WFP, 2025).
The country is also affected by disasters such as flooding and landslides that occur during rainy seasons. Such disasters caused the internal displacement of over 900,000 people between 2008 and 2023 (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2025). Unexploded landmines, a legacy of decades of civil war, have also resulted in Cambodia having more than 40,000 amputees—one of the highest rates in the world (Habitat for Humanity, 2025).
STORIES From the region
