NGO, SOCIAL ENTERPRISES AND SOCIAL BUSINESS: THE CAMBODIAN CASE

In Cambodia, NGOs, social enterprises and social businesses constitute the private organisations that affirm social utility practices and missions. This paper aims to clarify the relationships between these three organisations... [ view full abstract ]

In Cambodia, NGOs, social enterprises and social businesses constitute the private organisations that affirm social utility practices and missions. This paper aims to clarify the relationships between these three organisations that, in fact, partly overlap, as well as their practices and the way they justify their social mission. It presents the specificities of the Cambodian case, and then discusses the assumed content of the terms and the diversity, if not the vagueness, that characterises them. On this basis, the study of some of these organisations results in the identification of several topics found in the stated social mission: respecting labour law, taking workers into account, improving their situation and empowering them through labour or consumption. Two transversal issues run through these experiences: the goal of financial autonomy and a reflection on the role of profit.

Keywords: social enterprises, social business, NGO, Cambodia, social mission