The Innovation www.hagarproject.org

Hagar initially began as a “shelter for women”. It has evolved into an organization offering an impressive array of social and market-oriented initiatives to break the cycle of poverty among of vulnerable mothers and children.

In urban areas in Cambodia, as with the rest of the developing world, an increasing number of women and their children relocate towards the cities in search of better lives. In doing so, they exchange their rural lifestyles, characterised by poverty and domestic violence, for the hand to mouth existence of the urban poor. Many become beggars, prostitutes, collectors/scavengers or vendors of recyclable scraps. It is these women and their children that Hagar targets by offering prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration possibilities.

One of the key success factors of Hagar’s approach is the understanding that rehabilitation is temporary and will only be completed successfully if the participant has been able to reintegrate into society. To ensure reintegration success after education and vocational training, women are given the chance to earn their living in one of Hagar’s commercial enterprises. By providing employment in a more protected environment, these businesses further vocational training and enable women to develop and maintain independent and productive lives in their communities. Hagar thus achieves its objective of reintegration of vulnerable women and their children into society. The synergistic relationship between the non-for-profit and for-profit activities is essential to the rehabilitation and reintegration process.

In addition, acknowledging that long term social impact is best achieved through prevention measures, Pierre has initiated Hagar projects in the areas of water filters and schooling.

Hagar continues to be challenged with significant growth opportunities in Cambodia. Over a period of 10 years, at least 10.000 people have benefited directly from the organisation’s rehabilitation and reintegration efforts. Water filters have positively impacted the lives of over 100,000.