Central Programmes
The Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) is a non-governmental, non-profit, and non-political organization working on organizing and supporting Cambodian working people through legal aid and other appropriate means to demand transparent and accountable governance for labor and human rights.
CENTRAL achieves this by assisting independent trade unions to expand their membership and training them on Cambodian labor law. CENTRAL also provides legal aid, monitoring, and legal advocacy to better protect at-risk workers and trade union leaders in cases of dismissal, suspension, and other types of union discrimination. Over the past decade, CENTRAL staff have represented thousands of union leaders dismissed from work, more than 100 union leaders criminalized for their union activities, and 250 victims of fraud and human trafficking.
Organizing Unit
Organizing Unit is tasked with training independent labor activists, union leaders, and Cambodian working people in Cambodian labor law and the fundamental rights they are legally entitled to. Their overall strategic goal is to contribute to stronger
Protection Unit
Despite the development and growth of the labor sector in Cambodia, it is still characterized by low wages for workers compared to other countries in the region. The $204 minimum wage demonstrates the chronic problem of unparalleled minimum wages and further
Media ICT Unit
Unit Objective: The objective of this unit is to increase acknowledgement of labor, migration and human rights issues and the need for reform locally and internationally. Key Interventions: Promote Worker’s Messages and Voices to duty bearers by producing media talk shows, online campaigns, educational materials and other digital tools for public education. Capacity development on digital security training provided to cross-cutting workers and network on digital security and citizen journalism as well as builds solidarity networks to support and facilitate communication. The situation of freedom of expression in Cambodia is concerning. Lack of freedom of information and expression limits the capacity and means of citizens to raise their voices widely to duty bearers and stakeholders. The issues around the media, information, and the digital landscape in Cambodia have a multifaceted impact on the population, especially workers and civil society actors. With the rapid acceleration of global digital transformation and innovation, the number of Facebook users in Cambodia has risen to 13 863 800 users in May 2024, accounting for 77.3% of the entire population. Social media users now access news primarily via Facebook, the most popular platform in Cambodia. Most workers in Cambodia and abroad use it for daily communication. One of the main challenges facing Cambodian workers is digital literacy. Many pay an agent to set up their social media and email accounts. They lack the knowledge to secure their online communications and personal information, and to ward against online scams, leading to frequent loss of social media accounts and exposure to online threats. Additionally, workers often lack the courage to report violations when employers breach labor laws; they are uncertain about how to document and publicize such incidents. Therefore, they require more training on reporting procedures and how to capture quality photos and videos. The use of ICT here is invaluable, enabling them to promptly seek intervention with proper evidence to fall back on. Since 2017, CENTRAL has trained thousands of union leaders, key workers, grassroots community, and youth (~60% female) on ICT/digital security training, and citizen journalism skills. This training has been crucial in protecting unions, workers and their networks online.
Anti-Human Trafficking and Migration
There are no less than 3 million Cambodian migrant workers - documented and undocumented - currently working abroad in Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and other countries. The majority of Cambodian migrant workers work in 3D (“Difficult, Dirty, and Dangerous”) jobs