Enhancing Flood Inundation Simulation Under Rapid Urbanisation and Data Scarcity: The Case of the Lower Prek Thnot River Basin, Cambodia
Flooding poses a major hazard to rapidly urbanising cities in Southeast Asia, and risks are projected to intensify under climate change. Accurate risk assessment, however, is hindered by scarcity of hydrological and topographic data. Focusing on the Lower Prek Thnot River Basin, a peri-urban catchment of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the study applied...
Economic Impacts of the United States Tariff on Cambodia
Due to the April 2025 announcement of new, country-specific United States (US) import tariffs, bilateral trade relationships with the US have taken center stage in developing countries, especially small, export-oriented economies like Cambodia. Exports to the US are about 33% of total Cambodian exports and worth 25% of gross domestic product (G...
Aid and Development in South-East Asia
Southeast Asia exhibits varied developmental progress, meaning Official Development Finance (ODF) remains essential for closing key infrastructure and development gaps.The focus of development aid has evolved from its historical geopolitical origins to a modern emphasis on poverty reduction, governance, and inclusive economic growth.Today's develop...
STEM Teacher Capacity Building in Cambodia: Towards Future Policy Interventions
Among many continuous professional development (CPD) pursuits, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-focused activities mainly involve workshops and in-school training. Nearly 80 percent of the teachers sampled (n=401) attended at least one workshop throughout their teaching career, yet only half of them participated in at least...
Building Resilience in the Geoeconomic Fragmentation: The Role of Transitioning MFIs to Banks in Cambodia’s Financial Development
In a geoeconomic fragmentation, Cambodia’s financial sector faces the urgent challenge of enhancing inclusion while safeguarding stability. The transition of microfinance institutions (MFIs) into banks marks a potential pivotal step toward resilience, offering opportunities to expand financial inclusion and absorb external shocks. This study an...
Tracing Genetic Divergence and Phylogeographic Patterns of Gekko gecko Linnaeus, 1758 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) Across Southeast Asia Using RAG1 Sequence
The tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) is a widely distributed lizard species in Southeast Asia, with significant importance in traditional medicine and the pet trade. Previous studies using mitochondrial DNA sequences revealed extensive genetic variation across its range, indicating the presence of distinct evolutionary lineages. In this study, we asse...
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: A Programme of Intervention for Cambodian Returnees
Following the 2025 border conflict with Thailand, nearly one million Cambodian migrant workers have returned home, threatening rural livelihoods and national stability. This policy brief outlines a comprehensive intervention program developed by CDRI and ERIA to address the crisis. It proposes immediate relief through cash transfers, job creation,...
Proposed Programme of Intervention to Integrate Cambodian Returnees into the Cambodian Economy
In response to the mass return of over 910,000 Cambodian migrant workers from Thailand in 2025, this report by CDRI and ERIA outlines a comprehensive intervention programme to address the resulting economic and social challenges. The programme proposes short-term measures such as emergency cash transfers, debt relief, public works employment, and s...
From Loss to Transformation? Towards Pluralistic and Politicised Agrarian-Climate Futures
Understanding how actors perceive and anticipate future states of the world is gaining traction in climate change governance scholarship and related calls for sustainability transformations. However, smallholder farmers, indigenous groups, and local communities, who are expected to bear disproportionate burdens of loss and damage from climate c...
From Guidelines to Action: Strengthening Climate-Resilient Water Safety Planning for Inclusive Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services in Cambodia
In 2023, over 90 percent of Cambodia’s urban population had access to at least basic drinking water services; however safely managed sanitation reaches only 56 percent of urban communities, and around 10 percent of rural ones still practice open defecation. Alarmingly, about 15 percent of rural residents still relied on untreated water.Climate...