Closing remarks
Mr. Geoffrey Petkovich
Director, Oxfam in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam
Closing “Social Protection Week” 2023
Phnom Penh, 15 February 2023
- His Excellency Vong Soth, Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and; Vice Chairperson of the National Social Protection Council.
- His Excellency Dr. Chan Narith, Under Secretary of State of the Minister of Economy and Finance,;and Secretary General of the National Social Protection Council.
- His Excellency, Her Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, and distinguished guests!
On behalf of Oxfam and our partner organisations , I am humbled and extremely honored for the opportunity to take part in the closing of this important "Social Protection Week", the biggest gathering of policy makers, social protection experts and practitioners here in Cambodia.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Royal Government of Cambodia, through the National Social Protection Council, as the Chair of ASEAN in 2022 for successfully incorporating social protection into the 55th ASEAN Joint Communiqué. This tremendous effort has paved the way for the preparation and formulation of regional Social Protection Roadmaps as a guiding principle for the implementation of the ASEAN Social Protection Charter.
His Excellency, Her Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, and distinguished
guests
Allow me to share with you a beautiful story of a garment workers and her family before and after receiving benefits from the social protection policy. Ms. Khun Nath is one of thousands of factory workers with whom Oxfam and our partners organisation have worked with. Ms. Nath is a widow with four young sons in her care. Since the global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Nath's income has been minimal, with almost no food supply for her four children, as the factory she works for has reduced working hours and overtime paid, let alone the rising inflation and cost of living. Unfortunately, her eldest son had to drop out of seventh grade to help support his mother and three other siblings. Her other two children too were almost dropped out of school due to financial difficulty and lack of access to food and nutrition.
However, through the social protection policy, she was eligible and given an IDPoor card by the Ministry of Planning. Two of her four children are supported through scholarships and school meal programme. After receiving support from this program, she is able to provide nutrition to her family, and her children can continue their education like other children. Ms. Nath's case story reflects and continues to remind us of the importance of social protection policies in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
And I am very pleased to learn from Honorable His Excellency Dr. Aun Pornmoniroth, in his open remark of the "Social Protection Week", that the Royal Government of Cambodia plans to spend $465 million in 2023 through cash- transfer programme to support the poor and vulnerable households. This decision confirms the continued commitment and the willingness of the Royal Government of Cambodia to strongly invest in social protection policy.
In the current context of Cambodia and due to the slow recovery of the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the increase of living cost, reminds us that the inclusive and gender transformative social protection policy will be the main force for the development and economic growth of the Kingdom following the Rectangular Strategy of the Royal Government of Cambodia.
Investing in social protection is equally important to investment in creating job opportunities. Such decision will strengthen economic growth and social inclusiveness in Cambodia by leaving no one behind. Several research studies in Asia and the Pacific by economists and social scientists found that investing 1% of Gross Domestic Product (DGP) on social protection will triple in economic return.
His Excellency, Her Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, and distinguished guests
Allow me the opportunity to kindly share with you all here the important and key contributions of social protection policy to the growth and economic development of the Kingdom of Cambodia:
It contributes to poverty reduction and reduce social disparities, and promote gender equality, especially amongst women and vulnerable households like Ms. Khuon Nath's family, through access to cash assistance.
It contributes to the strengthening of human capital through scholarships, school meals programme, and technical vocational training, thus increasing the quality of human capital and the competitiveness of Cambodia at the regional and international levels.
It strengthens the resilience and shock response to climate change, and emergencies, or economic crises, through strong and comprehensive social protection systems, and we can see this intervention in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, droughts and floods here in the Kingdom.
Over the past three days here in this national policy dialogue, I noticed a number of policy discussion and insight from speakers and panelist members who are the representative of government organisations, academic, and community. Several contemporary and emerging challenges were shared and discussed, and common solutions were raised to address those challenges for the benefit of poor and vulnerable households we serve.
Whilst social protection in Cambodia has made significant progress, we have observed that there are still challenges remain and will need collective effort and resource to address them. Those challenges include formalisation in social protection, expansion of social protection coverage and benefits, digitisation in social protection, inclusiveness and gender transformative social protection, public awareness and participation, and social accountability and feedback mechanism in social protection.
These key priorities require the close cooperation of all relevant institutions, civil society organisations and community representatives, and stakeholders. It also required effort and investment of building public trust and accessibility to information and policy, including enforcement of the policy amongst private sectors and employers.
Oxfam, our partner organisations, and the Social Protection for All, will continue to work with the Royal Government of Cambodia, through the National Council for Social Protection and the National Social Security Fund, in the form of technical assistance, research and advocacy, and policy dialogues to promote and strengthen inclusive social protection in the Kingdom.
Finally, I would like to thank and congratulate the leadership and team members of the National Social Protection Council for initiating and organising this superb "Social Protection Week". It is a successful event and you all are the true champion.
Thank you (Or Khun)