National Social Protection Strategy for the Poor and Vulnerable.

The National Social Protection Strategy for the Poor and Vulnerable is an inter-sectoral strategy of national coverage that complements other sectoral policies, plans and strategies of ministries and stakeholders involved in social protection in Cambodia. The Strategy was finalized and entered into force in 2011, and will be implemented until 2015. The main aims of the Strategy are to protect the poorest and most disadvantaged who cannot help themselves; mitigate risks that could lead to negative coping strategies and further impoverishment; and promote the poor to move out of poverty by building human capital and expanding opportunities, including access to health, nutrition and education services for poor households, so they can move above the poverty line.
The Strategy will promote the development of a mix of programmes that cover both chronic and transient poverty, as well as hunger and that help promote human capital. In particular, it will be sought that poor and vulnerable children and mothers benefit from social safety nets to reduce poverty and food insecurity and enhance the development of human capital by improving nutrition, maternal and child health, promoting education and eliminating child labour. The Strategy will be implemented through cash, vouchers, food or other in‐kind transfers for children and women towards one integrated programme; school feeding, take‐home rations; and outreach services and second‐chance programmes for out‐of‐school youth and supporting social welfare services. In addition, the Strategy will promote affordable health care for the poor and vulnerable; and improve social protection for special vulnerable groups.
The Strategy will promote community forestry management, with vital functions for the landless and land‐poor, who depend on a variety of options for their survival and wellbeing.
The Strategy will seek that the working‐age poor and vulnerable, including those in rural areas, benefit from work opportunities to secure income, food and livelihoods, while contributing to the creation of sustainable physical and social infrastructure assets. In particular, food for work and cash for work schemes will be fomented.
The Strategy will seek that the poor and vulnerable receive support, including food, sanitation, water and shelter to meet their basic needs in times of emergency and crisis. The Strategy will be implemented through targeted food distribution, distribution of farm inputs, and other emergency support operations. In addition, the Strategy will promote programmes that establish village infrastructure and climate change mitigation and adaptation work.
Implementation of social protection activities is the responsibility of ministries and decentralised government institutions. The Strategy adds value by providing a framework to support ministries and sub‐national institutions in delivering social protection interventions that are sustainable, effective and efficient. Thus, the Strategy sets out the institutional arrangements for social protection coordination, including policy oversight, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge and information management, and capacity building.