Watching a country change

Richard Bridle (Photo: Men Kimlong)

Thursday, 22 March 2012
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

“The other crucial issue for Cambodia is to tackle the alarming inequality that is growing here,” Bridle said.

“The gap between those who are very rich and those who are very poor is worrying and it is a gap that is widening.”

It never used to be this fancy,” Richard Bridle said as he sat down yesterday to a double espresso in Phnom Penh’s Raffles Le Royal Hotel lobby.

When the UNICEF country director was first in Cambodia in 1983, he and his agency were sequestered in the hotel and could only leave under the watchful eye of a government-appointed “guide”.

But things are different now, and Bridle, who has spent nearly 30 years working here, is packing his bags for the bright lights of New York to a posting at UN Headquarters.

“When we first got to Cambodia, everything needed to be reestablished,” Bridle recounted.

"Neak Mean See Reuss - Neak Kror Reuss See" - The rich are picky eaters, the poor pick [from the trash] to eat: Cambodia Today

បច្ចុប្បន្នពួក អ្នកមាន «ស៊ីរើស»

 ប៉ុន្តែ ពួក ខ្ញុំដើរ «រើសស៊ី»!

Two girls can be seen picking up food from trash along the park near the Naga Casino in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Due to hunger these children have to pick up food thrown away in the trash can to fill their stomach. Cambodia is noted for its development in the past few years, but the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider with the development (Photo: Heng Chivoan, The Phnom Penh Post)

UN official urges Cambodia to address rich-poor divide

Tuesday, December 09, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - The top UN official in Cambodia on the government Tuesday to step up efforts to halt what he described as a "widening gap" between the rich and the poor.

UN resident coordinator Douglas Broderick said recent economic growth had brought "much hope and optimism" to all Cambodians, but added that prosperity was "not evenly spread."

"Turning Cambodia's sense of hope and optimism into tangible results like better education, quality health services, the freedom to be heard and to feel safe are among the most significant human rights challenges facing Cambodia today," Broderick, said at an event marking the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Broderick said narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor was crucial to upholding human rights in Cambodia.

"As legislators you carry the hopes of your constituents. You have the power to ensure that their rights are preserved and respected. And, you have the power to intervene on their behalf when human rights are violated," he said.