Friends-International (Mith Samlanh, 'friends' in Khmer) is a Cambodia-born social enterprise that protects children and youth who live and work on the street and returns them to family, school and work. In August 1994, France's Sébastien Marot (a Sciences Po graduate and former L'Oréal employee), moved by street children he met in Phnom Penh while traveling, started it with Barbara Adams and Mark Turgesen. Cambodia then, after the Khmer Rouge and civil war, had no roads, electricity or water and 'everyone had a gun and was shooting'—on the first day it made a shop in that city a shelter, 17 children took refuge. Realizing that giving alms only entrenches street life, it went beyond food, medicine and education into reintegration with family, school and work: day and night outreach, drop-in centers, transitional homes, informal education, and vocational training in sewing, cooking, mechanics, barbering and beauty with job placement. As training grounds it runs social restaurants such as Friends the Restaurant, Romdeng, Marum and Nyum Nyum. Its ChildSafe Movement child-protection system engages citizens, travelers and companies, runs a 24-hour hotline, and under 3PC brought together 25 NGOs with UNICEF and ministries. It now supports 45,000–60,000 people a year across eight countries and warns against the harms of orphanage tourism.
●●● high
There is no confirmed −; independently verified + decide the position (B). No unreachable strike-through.= non-additive meter
Friends-International (Mith Samlanh): Protecting street children and youth and returning them to society. The letter is B; certainty is high. Unconfirmed concerns are placed under “Watching.” (As of 2026-Q2; estimate based on public information.)
Main narrative
One person’s story (N1)
+ before → after
For a street child in Phnom Penh, the 'everyday' was harsh labor scavenging garbage dumps and, with luck, selling souvenirs to tourists. Washing one's hair was a rare luxury—at Friends-International (Mith Samlanh)'s drop-in, children have their wounds tended, play board games and shampoo. One street girl says, through an interpreter, that with no food or place to sleep she risks arrest. Friends' counselors first provide food and a bath, then, when the child is ready, bridge to detox, housing and education, and send youth who learned cooking and service at the training restaurants on to dignified work.
Source nature: PBS NewsHour / Under-Told Stories Project / P2 Independent media (PBS NewsHour). Positive effects are not used to offset negatives.
Positive / negative effects
+ effects
- It supports 45,000–60,000 marginalized children, youth and families a year across eight countries. The ChildSafe Movement reaches 17 million people in 16 languages and has advised 412 companies on child-protection policy. In Phnom Penh it supports about 1,800 children daily and is said to reach 95% of the city's street youth. Winner of the Skoll Award and the Schwab Foundation (WEF); 3PC partnership with UNICEF and ministries.P1 Certification / award / international body (Skoll / Schwab / UNICEF) / Skoll Foundation / Schwab Foundation
− effects (confirmed)
- No confirmed −.
- T
- e
- n
- s
- i
- o
- n
- w
- i
- t
- h
- t
- h
- e
- g
- o
- v
- e
- r
- n
- m
- e
- n
- t
- '
- s
- '
- s
- t
- r
- e
- e
- t
- -
- c
- l
- e
- a
- n
- i
- n
- g
- '
- (
- d
- e
- t
- a
- i
- n
- i
- n
- g
- c
- h
- i
- l
- d
- r
- e
- n
- )
- (
- c
- o
- n
- t
- e
- x
- t
- ,
- n
- o
- t
- a
- m
- i
- n
- u
- s
- o
- f
- F
- I
- )
- ;
- d
- o
- n
- o
- r
- d
- e
- p
- e
- n
- d
- e
- n
- c
- e
- ;
- i
- n
- d
- e
- p
- e
- n
- d
- e
- n
- t
- v
- e
- r
- i
- f
- i
- c
- a
- t
- i
- o
- n
- o
- f
- r
- e
- i
- n
- t
- e
- g
- r
- a
- t
- i
- o
- n
- '
- s
- l
- o
- n
- g
- -
- t
- e
- r
- m
- o
- u
- t
- c
- o
- m
- e
- s
- .
- Global expansion of ChildSafe; building a child-protection system through institutional partnership with government; deepening youth employment (Futures / Building Futures).
A second look
The core plus is protecting the most vulnerable street children and youth and a path to dignified work (People), heavily backed by top-tier independents—Skoll, Schwab (WEF), UNICEF and PBS. On the other hand, tension with the government's 'cleaning up the streets' orientation (detaining children), donor dependence, and independent verification of reintegration's long-term outcomes are ongoing issues.
Sources
How to read this assessment
- Reachable upper bound (ceiling): a confirmed − sets the ceiling, and independently verified + decide the position within it. + do not cancel out −.
- The weight of evidence is not symmetric: only confirmed − are counted; the volume of disputes or allegations goes under “Watching.” + are counted from independent evidence, while an organization’s own PR is treated as “reference.”
- Size is not value: scale is not used in the assessment. Matters that stay within money or competition—investors, shareholders, sanctions, trade secrets—are also excluded.
- The letter (assessment) and certainty (how reliable the information is) are separate axes.
This is a translation; the Japanese version is authoritative. The assessments here are generated automatically by AI based on published criteria. The operator does not alter individual results. Because they are AI-generated they may contain errors, and they are opinion and commentary, not statements of fact. Where evidence is insufficient, the entry is marked “On hold.” Requests for correction are accepted via the form.
Terms: Narrative Value = an assessment (A–G) of the distance between the story an organization tells and its reality / Ceiling meter = a visualization of the reachable upper bound / Watching = unconfirmed matters not counted / Protected stakeholders = people, animals, nature, and future generations. | Generated by: AI | As of: 2026-Q2 | Back to top