Youth Pathways

Young people from disadvantaged rural backgrounds struggle to navigate this maze of opportunities and demands. It is still true for most of Cambodia, that the social mobility of young people from poor families is minimal. One of the key barriers to their progress and success is their lack of soft skills and life skills, that will help them to be resilient during difficult periods, and yet aspirational at the same time. 

Young people from poor disadvantaged communities have further hurdles to overcome as they are faced with the harsh realities of progressing from education to employment:

• A lack of parental role models; as most of their families are either unemployed or work in the informal sector
• A lack of understanding of the job market and opportunities available to them
• The lack of soft skills
• The lack of financial means to seek “meaningful” employment and therefore being often forced to accept employment in companies with exploitative practices and without any worker’s rights.