EU-SPS co-operation with Cambodia

Focus areas in Cambodia

Social Protection Capacity Assessment

Cambodia embarked on a path of economic growth and poverty reduction towards the end of the 1990s. Yet despite the progress achieved during the last decade, a high share of the population continues to face numerous and serious vulnerabilities. These include for instance food and income insecurity, natural disasters, economic shocks, injury, illness, catastrophic health expenditures, unemployment and the like.

New vision and approach for social protection

Cambodia’s priority efforts in the past two decades have been directed mostly towards reconstruction, rehabilitation and food security by different means. However, recently a new vision and approach to social protection has emerged aiming to deal with social protection policy planning in a more consistent, systematic and coordinated manner.

This vision is consistent both with the global initiative on Social Protection Floors (SPF) and with the UN Agenda-2030 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).  Also a new social protection policy framework (SPPF) has been prepared. It covers both contributory social security as well as non-contributory social assistance programmes targeting the poor and vulnerable.

EU-SPS focus in Cambodia: Assessing the social protection landscape, and developing the pension system

The EU-SPS programme supports the Cambodian government in the implementation of its social protection vision as endorsed in the Social Protection Policy Framework. Organizational capacity assessment work reviewed the landscape of social assistance governance and application, and produced recommendations for the institutions suitable for the governance and implementation of the Government’s main social assistance programmes (cash transfers to pregnant women and children, disability grant, and social pension)

Social insurance for informal sector workers

The construction sector is typically characterized by a number of vulnerable forms of work. There are typically a large number of casual workers, notably in the form of contract work. Typical vulnerabilities of contract workers include:

• Absence of formal contracts of employment
• Absence and lack of awareness of legal rights
• Limited and unequal access to information on job opportunities by lower skilled workers and related extensive use of labour contractors; 
• Labour contractors sometimes develop paternalistic relationships (providing informal benefits such as food or medicine), but often result in exploitation because of uneven power relations in absence of sufficient regulation and oversight (irregular payment or ad hoc deductions, debt servitude, etc…).
• Lack of continuity and social benefits resulting in exposure to extreme poverty in case of ill health, maternity, sickness, disability or old age. Workers do not receive holiday pay. Families are also often left unprotected in case of death of the breadwinner for lack of survivors and funeral benefit coverage.
• Workers are often migrants (internal or international) and have little communication channels with authorities and national institutions except for labour intermediaries/contractors

The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT) has noted this situation and has therefore requested the Development Partners for support in extending the benefits of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to this sector; chiefly in terms of the Worker’s Injury Insurance (WII).

The project will involve a study of the living and working conditions of workers in the construction sector in Cambodia. This baseline research will focus on the social risks and social protection risks in the construction value chain.

The project will also propose adequate innovative solutions to provide Employment Injury Insurance (EII) coverage to workers (enrolment and contribution collection).

Consultations with tripartite stakeholders will be held to select an option for piloting. The project will make recommendations for simplified administrative procedures, incentives for employers to contribute, improved access to grievance mechanisms and raising awareness amongst workers.  The project will also build the capacity of government, workers’ and employers’ organization to implement proposed changes. 

Read our guidance on extending social protection to informal construction workers (pdf 1.43 MB)

Go to our dedicated page on Cambodian informal inclusion

Video: Extending social protection to all workers in Cambodia (9 min)

Supporting training courses on pension models and financing

The EU-SPS programme is also working with the Cambodian government to support its efforts to further develop the pension system in the country. In order to support an informed dialogue on the financially sustainable and socially responsible outcomes in the areas of pensions, the EU-SPS has supported the organization of a training course on pension models and financing options. The aim is to strengthen the capacity of the relevant Cambodian Government actors around the complex technical aspects of this social protection area.

The training organised in January 2016 was designed to provide the participants with a good grasp of some basic concepts related to contribution models and financing options in order to inform the government’s decisions. While this was a short-term activity, the training is also part of a wider strategy to build national capacity that will better support the country’s reforms towards a more comprehensive SPF.

EU-SPS contact for Capacity Development work in Cambodia:
Markku Malkamäki (markku.malkamaki(a)thl.fi).