“Leave no one behind” is the motto of Cambodia´s national poverty identification system implemented via their “ID Poor” programme. H.E Samheng Boros, Ministry of Social Welfare, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, Secretary of State and Chair of Social Assistance Sub-committee, described the government´s response to COVID-19 using the existing cash transfer program for women and children under 2 years: Cambodia has been able to design and deliver the cash transfer program to 670,000 ID Poor households totalling 2.7 million individual recipients which is 20% of a total population of 15 million persons. His Excellency summarised that “Social protection is new to many, to the people, government, NGOs, therefore many people do not understand what it is or how to access the services, so we need to proactively use the media to explain what social protection is and to encourage them to use it and believe in the system."
The question is now how to carry a family over from COVID-19 support to regular social protection programmes and see that their situation is stabilised. His Excellency elaborated that “the COVID support program has provided lessons learnt for developing an adaptive social protection framework and to open opportunities for a successful transition from COVID-19 to routine social assistance and disaster emergency responses”. Lastly, and inspiring was H.E.'s explanation of “Innovative Cambodia”, which develops a national understanding of social responsibility, that the nation works together to promote social assistance programmes and care for each other (social inclusion), “as government we try to take on relevant social issues and cooperate across Ministeries, we are a key element of national social responsibility”