Sipar is a French NGO working towards the reconstruction of Cambodia through education of the youth. The NGO's mission is to fight illiteracy. The NGO employees 62 Cambodians in Phnom Penh, and French people with various volunteers and a Board in its French headquarters located in Versailles.
Sipar was created in 1982 with a goal of welcoming refugees victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. Sipar opened its first French classes at Phanat Nikhom camp in Thailand, where refugees were waiting for their departure for France. Sipar teachers taught the French language and culture to their students to better prepare them for their integration in France. In 1989, Sipar began working in sites on the Khmer-Thaï border to prepare the populations for their repatriation to Cambodia, after the Paris agreements.
From 1991, at the request of the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Sipar started to work in Cambodia. After 20 years of war, the country is shattered. Everything that had to do with knowledge has disappeared, the education system needs to be rebuilt.
Today, Sipar is committed to the most disadvantaged populations of Cambodia. Focused on the development of reading and education through access to books and the fight against illiteracy, the association operates in the 25 regions of Cambodia with a single objective: to make books a lever of education, to carry it and to make it accessible to the most underprivileged populations. With nearly 20% of cambodia's population unable to write, Sipar's programs help develop access to knowledge, education and help young people and adults progress on the path to knowledge.
Sipar has four main programs.
School libraries : To support the implementation of the national policy for school libraries at different levels of education. School libraries are complementary and indispensable resources to educational programs, strengthening students' learning and developing their curiosity and creativity.
Non formal education : To support the disadvantaged populationsto help them develop the habit of reading, and promote access to books, information and education, which are essential forsocio-economic development.
Youth empowerment : To support secondary school students and members ofCommunity-Based Organizations (CBOs) located invillages in remote rural areas; and to improve their jobprospects and help them become supportive actors for theeducation and social development of their communities.
Khmer book publishing : To contribute to the education of the Cambodianpopulation by publishing for children, teachers,educators, and the general public a wideselection of quality books corresponding totheir tastes and needs; by promoting readingto these populations; and by training in thevarious publishing professions.