The UK Government has awarded a $325,000 grant to Cambodian Children’s Fund’s Child Protection Unit (CPU) to help tackle online crimes against children in Cambodia.
The grant will strengthen Cambodia’s response to online child sexual exploitation by building the investigative skills of the Cambodian National Police (CNP).
The full grant of $325,517 (£242,923) is provided by the UK Government as Official Development Assistance (ODA), administered by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
British Ambassador to Cambodia Dominic Williams attended an official signing ceremony at the CPU’s Lotus Centre headquarters in Takhmao City, Kandal Province, with Scott Neeson, CCF Founder and Executive Director, and James McCabe, Director of the CPU.
I believe together, we can make the digital world safer for Cambodia’s young people.
The Lotus Centre is Cambodia’s first specialist facility for child victims of abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and is home to the CPU’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) team, formed in 2019 to combat the growing threat of online crimes against children.
British Ambassador to Cambodia Dominic Williams said: “Keeping children safe is one of the most important responsibilities we share as a society. Every child deserves to grow up free from exploitation and abuse, including online.
“The internet and digital connectivity offer young people unprecedented opportunities to access knowledge and education, but they are often at risk from unscrupulous predators, who exploit this same technology and harm our children.
“As both British Ambassador and as a parent, I’m proud that the UK is working alongside Cambodia to strengthen the skills and capabilities needed to protect children online, to identify those at risk and to bring offenders to justice. I believe together, we can make the digital world safer for Cambodia’s young people.”
Online child sexual exploitation and abuse is a growing global threat, with technology enabling offenders to groom children, coerce them into sexual activity, blackmail them and create or distribute child sexual abuse material.
In Cambodia, an estimated one in four internet-using children aged 12–17 has experienced at least one form of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse, according to a recent UNICEF report, Through Children’s Eyes, drawing on data across 21 countries.
Although referrals concerning Cambodia to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), a private, non-profit organisation in the United States dedicated to finding missing children, reducing child sexual exploitation, and preventing child victimisation, declined over the three years to 2025, approximately 48,000 reports were still referred in 2025. This underscores the continued need for specialist investigative and safeguarding capacity.
The CPU’s ICAC unit works alongside Cambodian authorities and international law enforcement agencies to investigate cyber-enabled crimes and protect vulnerable children. Its investigations combine specialist digital-forensics expertise with victim-centred safeguarding to identify at-risk children and support effective law enforcement action.
The grant will fund a six-month project to empower police and investigators in Cambodia with the skills to investigate and rescue children from online abuse through training and capacity building.
This grant will help equip police and investigators with the practical tools and expertise they need to identify victims, secure digital evidence and respond more effectively to abuse.
The CPU will deliver a series of training courses for police and investigators covering digital forensics and other specialist investigative skills. The project will also expand access to digital forensics software and licenses and strengthen judicial and prosecutorial understanding of digital evidence.
“Online crimes against children are increasingly complex and demand specialist investigative skills, technology and close coordination across the justice system. This grant will help equip police and investigators with the practical tools and expertise they need to identify victims, secure digital evidence and respond more effectively to abuse,” said James McCabe, Director of the Child Protection Unit.
“It is an honour to work alongside such dedicated officers. It also reflects the Royal Government of Cambodia’s strong commitment to working with local and international partners to combat these offences,” added Nick Rose, CPU Deputy Director and Head of the ICAC Unit.
Formed in 2013, the CPU is a collaboration with the Cambodian National Police dedicated to investigating serious crimes against children and securing justice for victims. It is recognised as one of Cambodia’s leaders in child protection, combining specialist investigations with care and support for children and their families.
The UK Government fund supports organisations working to achieve sustained poverty reduction and the United Nations' Global Goals.
