In collaboration with the Committee for Economic and Financial Policies of the Royal Government of Cambodia and the World Bank, the Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013 finds that poverty rate in the country has dropped by more than 50 percent. An astonishing number!
H.E. Keat Chhon (Permanent Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Policy Committee) mentioned that the successful implementation of Rectangular Strategy-Phase I & II by the Royal Government of Cambodia helped achieved poverty reduction numbers. Mr. Alassane Sow (Country Manager of World Bank) and Mr. Carlos Sobrado cited that poverty rate has decrease from 50 percent in 2004 to 20.5 percent in 2011. The total number of poor fell from 7 million in 2004 to just 3 million in 2011.
The bank noted that robust economic growth over the last decade has been distributed to the poor people to share in the benefit. The reduction in poverty rate was driven by:
However, it should be noted that over 3 million families are still susceptible to falling back below the poverty line if Cambodia’s development loses momentum. More than 3 million poor families are still vulnerable, $.30 away from falling back below the poverty line. Even more, the decade of economic growth will be unlikely to continue, while growth has not contributed substantially to improving social conditions.
The quality of health care providers to poor populations living in the rural areas still remains inadequate. Many children still remain malnourished. There is a persistent problem in primary and secondary education. Among poor and vulnerable families enrollment is low and dropout rates are high.
Despite all this, the report mentioned that Cambodia has surpassed all expectations and exceeded its Millennium Development Goals for poverty reduction. It also finds that most social indicators have improved significantly as well. The report suggested three key recommendations to focus on:
The World Bank report attempts to explain Cambodia’s poverty reduction trends and patterns, identify factors contributing to poverty rate reduction, and provide policy recommendation to further reduce poverty.
H.E Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of Education, Youth and Sport, challenged Cambodia to continue and repeat this achievement by 2020. With the proper strategies and implementation in each of the key foundations laying the basis for economic and social improvement, panelist are optimistic for achieving greater poverty reduction by 2020.
