Access: Cambodia
All Ears Cambodia
Access to hearing care is essential for children with hearing loss. For more than 16 years, Hear the World Foundation partnered with All Ears Cambodia (AEC) to expand access to audiological care and strengthen hearing health services for children and families.
Founded in 2003 by clinical audiologist Glyn Vaughan, AEC began as a small, single-practitioner service that has grown into one of Cambodia’s leading providers of specialized ear and hearing care for vulnerable populations. Today, AEC operates four centers in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kratié, and Battambang, supported by an extensive referral network that includes more than 80 partner organizations and public hospitals.
Throughout this long-standing partnership, the Foundation supported the expansion of AEC’s services and technical capacity. Together, AEC and the Foundation contributed to the development of an ear mold laboratory in Siem Reap, communication therapy services in Phnom Penh, and mobile outreach clinics that bring care to high-risk and underserved communities. More recently, AEC’s Project ECHO initiative has helped scale pediatric
hearing services across central, northern, and eastern Cambodia.
Over the last decade, AEC has delivered ear and hearing health education, screening, and hearing aids to thousands of children, while continuing to provide diagnostic audiology services.
Delivering quality hearing care for children depends not only on clinical excellence, but on robust, accessible systems, where screening and diagnostic pathways are fully embedded in national structures. As the partnership transitions and concludes, AEC stands as a strong and independent organization with established services, skilled professionals, and a growing national network.
Interview
Glyn Vaughan, Clinical audiologist and director, All Ears Cambodia
Q: As one of Hear the World Foundation’s longest-standing partners, how has your ability to provide access to audiological care and hearing aids for children evolved over the past 16 years?
The growth has been enabled by three things: good people, consistent financial support, and shared determination. Over the past 16 years, the partnership with Hear The World Foundation has allowed All Ears Cambodia to move from sporadic provision to structured, reliable pediatric audiological services. This includes proper diagnostic pathways, fitting of appropriate hearing technology, and long-term follow-up – rather than one-off interventions. Children are no longer simply ‘given a hearing aid’; they are supported over time, alongside their families.
Q: Looking back on the partnership, how has strengthening local expertise, clinical standards, and training contributed to long-term access to quality hearing care in Cambodia?
Strengthening local expertise has been central to everything we do. Investment in training, clinical standards, and professional confidence has allowed a specialist service to support tens of thousands of people over many years – far beyond what could ever be achieved through isolated treatments alone. We have come a long way. Today, Cambodia has trained clinicians, established protocols, and local ownership of hearing healthcare services.
Screening
21,178
newborns and children screened
Intervention
105
newborns and children fitted with hearing aids
Capacity development
64
people trained
