LATEST

Statement | Indigenous Communities, CSOs Tell World Bank: Accept CAO Report, Address MFI Crisis

9 August 2026

We are Indigenous Peoples and communities, civil society groups working with Indigenous communities, and those standing in solidarity with Indigenous communities across Cambodia. Today, on International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we are calling on the World Bank Group to reverse its decision to grant itself and its client’s impunity for the harms caused by predatory microfinance loans in Cambodia. Instead, it must provide a meaningful remedy and stop the escalating harms of Cambodia's microfinance crisis in Indigenous communities.

The communities where we live and work are suffering harmful impacts of microloans every day. Children are unable to study. Families are torn apart as people are forced to migrate to look for work. Meals get smaller and less nutritious as people desperately save to repay debts, pressured and harassed by aggressive credit officers.

RESEARCH

Bound by Bricks: An Opportunity to End Debt Bondage and Child Labour in Cambodia

Debt Threats: A Quantitative Study of Microloan Borrowers in Cambodia

Status Update: Harassment on Social Media in Cambodia

Right to Relief: Indebted Land Communities in Cambodia Speak Out