Our Mission

The Ponheary Ly Foundation is a US-registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Our mission is to promote access to quality education for children and young people  in Siem Reap and Preah Vihear provinces in northern Cambodia. Guided by a UN human rights based approach, our work stems from the basic premise that access to schooling is fundamental to rebuilding the country’s civil society after the genocide of the 1970s.

Education plays a central role in the development of future democratic leaders, the eradication of poverty, the promotion of gender equality, and improving the overall health and well-being of rural and urban communities.

Recognizing that educational access is interlinked with a number of social issues, the holistic scope of our work addresses nutritional standards, transportation, basic health care, housing, and infrastructure projects focused on providing electricity and clean water.  We believe that in order for children to learn, they must have food security, a stable place to live, a mode of transit to get to school, and the access to medical care when required—the same everyday supports that should be afforded to children throughout the world.