In Cambodia’s rural communities, thousands of older people struggle each day to access the healthcare they need. Poverty, long distances, and under‑resourced clinics mean many elders go without medicine or treatment, leaving them vulnerable to preventable suffering. Your support can change this reality—bringing essential healthcare, medicine, and dignity to those who need it most.

Nearly one in ten Cambodians is now aged 60 or above, and this number is rising quickly. Yet elders remain among the most disadvantaged. With no social pension or free medical care, many rely on small plots of land or informal work, leaving them unable to afford medicine or transport to health centers. Rural clinics often lack staff, supplies, and facilities suitable for older patients. Chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and joint pain are widespread, and over 40% of rural elders report difficulty accessing healthcare due to cost and distance. Beyond these physical challenges, isolation and limited social protection deepen their vulnerability, eroding both dignity and hope.

HelpAge Cambodia has worked for decades to bridge these gaps. Through community outreach, we bring medicine, health checks, and education directly to villages, reducing the burden of travel. We have piloted innovative models such as WHO’s ICOPE (Integrated Care for Older People), training caregivers and health workers to provide age‑sensitive treatment. Older people’s associations are empowered to voice their needs, while policy advocacy strengthens social protection and health systems nationwide. These efforts have already enabled thousands of elders across Battambang and beyond to regain access to medicine and care, restoring dignity and hope.

But the need remains vast. With your support, HelpAge Cambodia can reach more elders, more villages, and more lives—ensuring that ageing in Cambodia is not a burden, but a stage of life lived with respect, care, and healing. Your gift today means an elder tomorrow can hold medicine with joy, visit a health center with dignity, and live with hope.

Healing with Dignity: Support rural elders in Cambodia today

HelpAge Cambodia supports and protects older people’s rights and well-being through community health, economic, & social programs.

HelpAge Cambodia is Cambodia's only organization dedicated to expanding and protecting the rights, health, and well-being of older people. Founded in 1991, HelpAge Cambodia has worked for over three decades to ensure that older people live with dignity, security, and purpose. Our vision is a society where older people are valued, respected, and supported to live healthy and fulfilling lives, empowered as active members of their communities rather than passive recipients of aid. We believe that every older person has the right to good health, social connection, and financial stability, and that communities are stronger when people of all generations care for one another. 

HelpAge Cambodia grew from a long-standing collaboration with the global HelpAge International network. We became an independent organization in 2015 with the support of Cambodia's Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. Our approach is built on participation, inclusion, and sustainability. We train local volunteers, strengthen community leadership, and build partnerships with government agencies, civil society, and international donors to create long-term change. Over the years, we have pioneered Cambodia’s first Older People’s Associations (OPAs): community-led groups that empower older adults to organize, identify local challenges, and implement collective solutions. Today, more than 300 OPAs across 13 provinces form the backbone of our work, reaching over 35,000 older people and their families.

HelpAge Cambodia’s work focuses on key areas of development: 

Healthy Ageing and Care: We support community-based health programs that bring care closer to home. Through our partnerships with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, we pilot and implement the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) framework to promote healthy ageing, chronic disease management, and caregiver support. As a pilot site for the implementation of the ICOPE program, HelpAge Cambodia leads program and training development with our in-country experts, ensuring these public health materials are tailored to the needs of our population. 

Economic Empowerment: We promote financial independence through self-help groups, savings schemes, and small livelihood projects that help older people and their families build resilience against poverty. Previous projects include providing farmers with resilient crops to promote their livelihood and financial stability, as well as Cow Bank projects to train older people in animal husbandry. Today, these projects continue to create a stable and sustainable source of income for older people and their families. Laey Baitong, our organic grocery store, is a social enterprise supporting older farmers by sourcing high quality and fresh produce and providing farmers with a place to sell their goods. 

Social Inclusion and Rights: We work to end age discrimination and elder abuse by raising awareness, strengthening intergenerational relationships, and ensuring that older people have a voice in community decision-making. We advocate for the inclusion of older people through regular trainings, workshops, and courses throughout the country. 

Disaster Preparedness and Climate Resilience: We ensure older people are included in emergency planning and supported to adapt to climate-related risks through training, advocacy, and local response mechanisms.

Our Impact

Across Cambodia, older people play essential roles in caring for grandchildren, maintaining social cohesion, and preserving community traditions. Yet many face poverty, limited access to healthcare, and social isolation. HelpAge Cambodia’s programs address these challenges directly by improving quality of life for older adults while strengthening the communities they support.

Since 2015, we have established and supported over 300 community-based OPAs in 13 provinces. To ensure the smooth operation of these OPAs, community centers, and social enterprises, we have trained more than 3,000 community volunteers to provide home-based health and social care throughout Cambodia. Our work reaches the rural provinces where many older people live. These regions often lack the resources and exposure that urban parts of Cambodia have access to. We have supported tens of thousands of older people and their families to access care, income, and social inclusion while partnering with organizations such as UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO, and the European Union to scale evidence-based healthy ageing programs nationwide.

HelpAge Cambodia’s future vision is to build an inclusive, age-friendly society in which all generations thrive together. As Cambodia's population is projected to continue aging in the coming decades, our work becomes particularly salient in ensuring the coming generations can thrive. Our priorities for the coming years include expanding OPAs to additional provinces, digitizing community care data systems, and piloting new models of integrated health and social care for older adults in partnership with the Cambodian government. By supporting HelpAge Cambodia, you are investing in a future where older people but with dignity, connection, and hope. Together, we can ensure that ageing in Cambodia (and around the world) means living well.

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Healing with Dignity: Support rural elders in Cambodia today

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