Cambodian Internet-Based Employment Solution Wins ASEAN Award

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                                               Friday December 1, 2017


Cambodian Internet-Based Employment Solution Wins ASEAN Award

The 2017 ASEAN ICT Awards recognized Bong Pheak, a USAID-funded employment service for low-skilled workers, as the year’s most important technology-for-development initiative in ASEAN, on November 30, 2017. Winners were selected by a panel of regional business and innovation specialists.

Bong Pheak is an internet-based employment service for unskilled factory, construction, and hospitality workers, among others. It works by combining different technologies like Web, Facebook and automatic phone calls so that Bong Pheak can also reach potential workers who do not have access to the Internet.

“Bong Pheak is yet another example of technology solving a development challenge,” noted Veena Reddy, USAID Cambodia Acting Mission Director. “Bringing workers and jobs together will help stem unsafe migration and we are glad that the ASEAN ICT Awards recognized its potential.”

Launched in October 2016, Bong Pheak already has over 145,000 followers on Facebook, with 20,000 potential workers visiting the service each month. A minimum of 2,000 employment opportunities are posted by employers in Bong Pheak at any time, including low-skilled and unskilled positions, providing work to anybody who is interested, regardless of their qualifications.

“USAID’s Countering Trafficking in Persons Program believes that the best way to prevent human trafficking is to provide people at risk of being trafficked with livelihood opportunities and with improved access to local jobs,” says Sara Piazzano, the program’s Chief of Party. “Bong Pheak is growing fast and Winrock International is planning to replicate the same model in other countries along with our partner Open Institute.”

“Our mission is to turn Bong Pheak into a sustainable professional service that effectively provides employment information, permanently reducing vulnerability to human trafficking,” said Federico Barreras, Bong Pheak’s Project Manager (Open Institute).

Bong Pheak was developed with the financial support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Cambodia Countering Trafficking-in-Persons program (CTIP).  CTIP is implemented by Winrock International and works with several partners including Open Institute, which designed and implements the service.

USAID was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and serves as the lead agency of the U.S.
government for foreign assistance. Since 1992, USAID has invested approximately $1 billion towards
Cambodia’s development.

Open Institute is Cambodia's leading non-profit organization working on technology for Development. It envisions Cambodia as a country where widespread access to high quality education, information, communications and technology lead to a more developed and just society. www.open.org.kh.

Winrock International is a recognized leader in U.S. and international development with a focus on social, agricultural and environmental issues. Winrock’s mission is to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources across the globe. For more information about Winrock International, please visit www.winrock.org
    
For more information (English or Khmer): Federico Barreras – 087 764 321 - Federico@open.org.kh