About EDM

Founded in 1958 by René Péchard, a French doctor living in Laos, Children Of The Mekong (COTM) is a French NGO and non-profit making charity which was granted the French Republic’s Human Rights Award in 1990. The charity helps children of South-East Asia to have access to education, by offering individual or collective sponsorships and building schools and dispensaries through micro-projects. By promoting education, we believe we are helping children and their families to a better future for themselves and their country. 

Presence in countries :

COTM is currently active in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, Burma (Myanmar, the Yunnan region in South China and France where 22 000 children are sponsored by the charity and 60 000 supported daily in different ways. The charity is supported by 22 000 sponsors as well as 64 volunteer delegations in France and 7 delegations which represent the charity in different countries (Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapour, Switzerland, Thailand & UK). 

Our main actions :  

COTM undertakes many projects each year : building and renovation of kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and dispensaries etc. Forty volunteers called “Bamboos” are sent on yearly assignments to Asia to work with the local teams to oversee and check these programs, check the progress of the children and ensure the proper distribution and use of funds. They also assess the advancement of existing projects and the degree of need for new ones. If you wish, you can help a particular project.

 Children of the Mekong in numbers:

• 55 years (since 1958)
• 800 volunteers in Asia
• 200 volunteers in France
• 50 volunteers "bamboo" sent to Asia
• 38 employees
• 22,000 sponsored children
• 60,000 children supported
• 80 development programs
• 8 school centers and 76 shelters in Cambodia and the Philippines (1,746 young beneficiaries)
• 84% of expenditures used in the social mission
• 9.5 million € budget used in 2012
• 98% of private funding resources

More information on Children of the Mekong website: click here - English version available soon!