Phnom Penh – On Monday, October 30, 2023, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation, H.E Sok Buntha, led a technical officer in a workshop focused on Recommendation 17, 33, 37, and 49 concerning the social sector. This event, titled “Concluding Observations of Cambodia’s Second Periodic Report on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights,” was presided over by H.E Keo Remy, Senior Minister and Chairman of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee.

The workshop saw the participation of 105 individuals, including representatives from the Senate, the National Assembly, the Royal Government, the German Ambassador to Cambodia, embassy representatives, and officials from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Cambodia, as well as those from various ministries, institutions, development partners, national and international organizations, technical experts, and civil society.

In his address at the ceremony, H.E Senior Minister Keo Remy, Chairman of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee, emphasized six crucial points that embody the state’s aspirations for the social sector:

1. Expansion of healthcare services to achieve global health coverage.
2. Provision of vocational training for underprivileged youth to facilitate their employability, with training being free of charge and additional support available.
3. Strengthening and broadening the national social assistance program to provide warmth to the poor and vulnerable.
4. Extending support to informal entrepreneurs, ensuring they receive benefits when facing crises or other risks.
5. Protection of farmers through the establishment of coordination mechanisms and financial programs, including agricultural lending, and safeguarding appropriate agricultural prices.
6. Deployment of agricultural technical officers to assist farmers in all agricultural-committed communes and the creation of farmers’ communities across the country to protect farmers’ interests.