UNDP Cambodia resident representative Alissar Chaker addresses the launch of the UNDP 2024 Regional Human Development Report for Asia and the Pacific, on March 7. UNDP cambodia
While Cambodia and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region have made significant stride in improving human development, persistent disparities remain a challenge, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) 2024 report.
The UNDP released its regional human development report for Asia and the Pacific on March 7. The publication offers policy recommendations for countries in the region, including Cambodia, to drive bold action and promote positive change.
The report, titled “Making our Future – New Directions for Human Development in the Asia-Pacific”, examines how the region can renew and redefine human development in the face of global complexities and uncertainties, while also providing a comprehensive analysis of the risks and uncertainties of the future.
A March 7 UNDP press release noted that the Asia-Pacific region, one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic regions in the world, has made significant strides in improving human development. It added, however, that persistent disparities, both within and between countries, continue to be a challenge, including in Cambodia.
“The recent Covid-19 pandemic, along with other disruptive factors such as extreme climatic events, the cost-of-living crisis and geopolitical tensions, have further compounded disparities,” it said.
UNDP Cambodia resident representative Alissar Chaker addressed a launch event for the report in Phnom Penh.
“In recent years the world, as well as Cambodia, went through a series of devastating disruptions caused by the lingering effects of Covid-19, wars and global geopolitical uncertainties, leading to a sharp increase in the cost of living, and the triple planetary crises,” she said.
She added that as elsewhere, this disrupted the country’s hard-earned development gains. Cambodia also faces challenges that may pose potential threats to its long-term socio-economic development ambitions, adding that these include insufficient levels of needed highly-skilled workforce, high inequality, a large informal economic sector and vulnerability to climate change.
“As the Kingdom gears up for LDC [least developed countries] graduation, it will progressively lose trade preferences and other international measures.
“Accordingly, it will need to rethink its development model, diversify its sources of growth, and embrace sustainable, resilient and more inclusive modes of growth which are not based on trade-offs between economic competitiveness, social cohesion or natural assets protection,” said Chaker.
She added that the UNDP will continue to support the Kingdom’s human development efforts and acceleration of its growth ambitions, as well as the achievement of its sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“We will continue to work with our national partners to promote inclusive growth and human development, address the challenges of climate change and enhance governance and civic engagement as enablers and accelerators of socio-economic development,” Chaker continued.
Vongsey Vissoth, minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, is optimistic that Cambodia is on the right track to promote human capital development with adaptability and agility, for both the public and private sectors, thanks to “strong political commitment”.
“However, it requires more concerted efforts from all stakeholders, including our development partners, and effective central coordination mechanisms to ensure its effective and efficient implementation. It will need strong monitoring and evaluation systems of the strategy, policy and plan that has been laid out, to ensure that we reach the desired objectives and goals,” Vissoth was quoted as saying in the press release.
According to the UNDP, Cambodia has achieved remarkable progress in promoting human development, noting that between 1990 and 2021, the country’s income per capita increased fourfold, life expectancy rose by more than 14 years, and mean years of schooling grew from 2.4 to 5.1 years on average.
“As a result, Cambodia’s Human Development Index [HDI] increased by 56.9 per cent, placing the country in the medium human development category,” it said.
