Friends-International Blog

This week has seen Friends Board Members, Program Directors, International Coordinators, managers and staff from across the world gathering together in Phnom Penh at the FI HQ building for our annual sharing meeting. This is a rare opportunity for us all to get together, to share our achievement from the previous year and to look [...]

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The World Economic Forum (WEF) is held in the tiny Swiss town of Davos in chilly January each year. The movers and shakers of the economic world meet there, along with Heads of State, cultural ambassadors and others to discuss the economic state of the globe and look for innovative approaches to tackling the most [...]

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As Friends turns 18 years old today, we join our longest serving staff members who share their memories of joining and working with us over the years… living examples of the truth behind our tagline, ‘Together, Building Futures’, we thank them for their hard work and commitment over the years. Of course thanks also to [...]

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A blog post from Friends-International Executive Director and Founder Sebastien Marot, in Phnom Penh. ‘Today I went with Phally (Mith Samlanh’s Program Coordinator) to visit a few of our Drop-In Centers in Phnom Penh which I had not visited in a while. It is always a great pleasure to jump on a moto with Phally [...]

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The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Bangkok is certainly in the news at the moment, and amongst the many issues that delegates will be discussing and debating is the impact of the massive expansion of tourism in Asia, and South East Asia in particular. During the WEF  a debate on this subject ( ‘What is [...]

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To paraphrase the great Sam Cooke, ‘it’s been a long time coming, but a change is gonna come…’ On Wednesday 8th February in Phnom Penh the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSAVY), with support from UNICEF,  launched a highly significant and frank report on Cambodian orphanages ‘With the Best Intentions – [...]

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We are absolutely delighted to announce that Friends-International been selected as one of the Top 100 NGO’s in the World by prestigious international publication The Global Journal! This accolade is a truly tremendous achievement for us – with estimates placing the number of international NGO’s at well over 40,000, this is the first ranking of [...]

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On August 18, 2011 the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSAVY), renewed its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Friends-International, allowing us to work in Cambodia for the next three years. In his speech, Executive Director Sebastien Marot said “for the last 17 years Friends-International has operated in Cambodia. Mith Samlanh, our first [...]

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I have recently returned from a quick trip to Siem Reap and our project on the dump site in the city. With the support of SK Dreams and Hina Foundation, the project is now in full swing. The center in the nearby village is totally operational, offering a safe place for babies while their mothers [...]

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Friends-International founder Sebastien Marot has recently returned from Davos. The attached article, originally in French, introduces many Social Entrepreneurs including Sebastien. It explains in some detail how Davos allows “Alter-Entrepreneurs” direct access to multinationals, top level government representatives, international organisations and philanthropic organisations drawn to the forum. An invaluable opportunity for the 20 or so [...]

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