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SMD has started a new project entitled “Kicking Democracy into Action: Mobilizing Youth through Soccer” to turn drug users into athletes and activists. By turning young Cambodians off drugs and onto sports, at-risk youth are introduced to team-building activities, responsibility for self and others, and to courses organized by SMD on human rights, democracy and drug abuse.
Drugs
Drug abuse is a global phenomenon. It affects almost every country, although its extent and characteristics differ from region to region. Drug abuse trends around the world, especially among youth, have started to converge over the few decades.
Drug abuse-related problems include increased rates of crime and violence, susceptibility to HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, demand for treatment and emergency room visits and a breakdown in social behavior. Drug abusing cuts across age, class, ethnic and gender lines.
In Cambodia, drugs have become a major concern among youth, particularly in the 12+ age group among males. Substance use in females has increased in all age ranges below 19 years old and overall from 2002 (14.7% in 2002).
The number of youth using multiple substances continues to climb, reflecting the chaotic nature of the drug user culture on the streets. Females are more and more becoming users, jumping from an average two percent in 2002 to 10.4 percent in 2004. Multiple used continues to be among age groups above 12 years only. (Reported by Friend Organization)
Substance use issues are particularly problematic among youth living alone on the street. Regular substance use is reported among 73.3 percent of this population. Children of families living on the street also have fallen into drug habits, as 25.3 percent have been found using substances. This highlights the effect parental, social, and economic controls within family and community networks have on substance use.
Forty percent of girls on the streets are regularly using substances, while just 6.7 percent of girls from families living on the streets were found using drugs.
The use of substances is consistently higher across all age ranges in lone street youth when compared with the children of street living families.
Multiple substance use is generally higher within the unsupported street living population and reflects higher levels of substance use when compared with other group. (Reported by Friend Organization).
AMPHETAMINE TYPE SUBSTANCES (YAMA). Use of ATS among street working youth has leapt from 22.7% in 2002 to 53.9% in 2004. Smoking is the strongest intake method by far, but 4.5% of ATS using youth injecting is also significant.
ATS has reached 74.6% use among substance users in the 16-23 age range. ATS use in females has also risen very significantly to 45.9% from 6.6% in 2002.
The types of drug that destroy Cambodian youth are: Glue, Amphetamine Type Substances (YAMA), Heroin, Ketamine (K, POWER-K), Cannabis, Alcohol, Pharmaceutical Sedative Use.ect…(Reported by Friend Organization).
Demand reduction strategies seek to prevent the onset of drug use, help drug users break the habit and provide treatment through rehabilitation such as encourage youth to join in the sport field and social reintegration.
Mission:
· To establish Democratic ideal and liberalism ideal to young people.
· To create network as volunteer to every provinces in
Cambodia.
· To demand for accountability, transparency, and good governance.
· To strengthen solidarity between youth in order to reduce the street violence.
· To raise social and political awareness and promote democracy values to youth.
· To educate human resource to youth for cutting down drugs abuses.
· To change youth from using drug into sport field.
· To train players to improve physical condition and soccer techniques to boost confidence and self-esteem.
PROPOSED PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Our sport training or youth meeting always do in three times a week especially on every Friday to Sunday.
Training
Beside the physical training SMD is also train the players or youth who are join the sport about the Human Rights and Democracy and drug abuse at the Students’ Movement for Democracy office or their community.
Our training are going to contact with NGOs that work the same project such as Friend Organization that work on drug and street children, LICADHO human rights organization, Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, etc…
Sports Replace Drugs
We are going to lobby other NGOs to create sport team such as soccer, in order to competition and it is also the way that NGOs are going to select youth or encourage youth from using drug into sport. Create the soccer committee for NGOs in order to have a competition for championship.
Our soccer team was created by the mobilizing youth and also lobby or encourage youth that use drug change them to sport and our team are divide into group A and group B when many youth will attend. The youth or the players are also come from high school students, junior high school student or university. We are going to build more youth network in every school and province youth.
The sport competition are going to do in two times a month in order to expose them to the NGOs or building more friendship between youth to NGOs or between NGOs to youth. That is the way to make solidarity between youth and youth and it also the opportunities for the students to have a good contact for their job in the future.
Peer Education on Drugs
We have friend help friend program, this program is encourage youth who has join the drug abuses training to teach to other youth in their community, from person to person. First we test 50 youths by training them about drug abuse and about the human rights and democracy.
Youth must tell the information about their activities from teaching or helping their friends or other youth who serious or just start using drug. Make evaluation after the teaching or helping activities from youth.
We are going to join the drug campaign with the partner NGOs such as a march campaign on drug abuse, seminar or the conference in order to strengthen youth into a good society, democracy and transparency.
Goal:
To prevent drug use among young people in Phnom Penh city by promoting education and social activities and by spreading liberal and democratic ideals from one person to another.
Objective:
- To develop a multimedia drugs abuse prevention campaign targeted to junior high school, high school, university students and none-school youth.
- To encourage youth-drugs-involved into sport field such as soccer and other sports.
- To create volunteer in every school and community
- To create NGOs’ soccer committee in order to compete for championship.
- To introduce youth/players to NGOs through games to expose players to work/volunteer opportunities.
- Organize community service activities.
- Create sports for girls, like volleyball and basketball, if funds are available.
- Network with provincial NGOs to form soccer teams in the rural areas.
Strategy:
· Recruit youth to soccer team by person to person contact in school and on the field.
· To persuade youth-drugs-involved to stop using drugs and turn to sport practice.
· To train players with soccer techniques by the coach.
· To invite human rights trainer to train them in democracy and citizen rights.
· To invite the trainer to train player about drugs abuse.
· To combine sports with democracy and human rights training.
