A one-off payment of 800,000 riel ($200) is provided at the time of the birth. NSSF
Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Heng Sour has highlighted the government’s efforts to support working mothers, noting that since the programme began, more than $41.2 million has been paid to women workers who gave birth.
Sour shared the figures as Prime Minister Hun Manet addressed nearly 20,000 factory workers during a gathering in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on October 3.
“The government takes care of female workers by implementing cash assistance payments for pregnant women before, during and after childbirth,” he said.
“From January 1, 2018 to October 2 this year, $41.2 million of cash assistance payments have been made to 419,044 mothers,” he added.
Four payments of 80,000 riel ($20) are made to pregnant women, with a further 10 payments of the same amount made until the child reaches the age of 2.
A one-off payment of 800,000 riel ($200) is provided at the time of the birth.
Sour explained that in total, the government provides 1,920,000 riel ($480) in cash assistance payments to working mothers from the time of their pregnancy until their child reaches the age of two.
Women who give birth to twins receive an additional bonus of 400,000 riel ($100), while those with triplets receive 800,000 riel ($200). Former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who remains president of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) provides additional cash assistance of five million riel ($1,250) to mothers of triplets.
Sour also detailed how from August 1 to October 2 this year, as part of a new assistance policy, 10,062 female workers and civil servants had enjoyed free pre- and post-natal checkups.
“In just two months, the government has spent nearly $3 million on this policy. The aim is to improve the health of mothers and young children, in order to contribute to solving the problem of malnutrition of young children from the womb until two years of age,” he added.
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, on October 3 hailed the provision of cash assistance payments to pregnant workers, noting that the policy has contributed to a significant reduction in their expenses.
However, he suggested that some institutions could still improve their dealings with working mothers. He highlighted a number of complaints he had heard about the conduct of some medical staff, saying they apparently discriminated against users of the National Social Assistance Fund (NSAF) service.
According to Thorn, due to the limited budget of the NSAF, the provision of medicine and services in some hospitals is not necessarily of the quality that pregnant women deserve. He suggested that close examinations of NSAF facilities be made.
In addition to their NSAF concerns, he claimed that some workers had not received the cash transfers they were entitled to, generally due to a change of phone number – used for registering to access services – and difficulties updating details or reaching the correct department. This could be time consuming, and several had given up, he added.
