Socialprotection.org Webinar (4 August) - Strengthening Shock-responsive social protection in Cambodia – Lessons learned from a cash transfer to households affected by multiple shocks

The GIZ, the WFP and the Ministry of Planning of Cambodia are promoting a webinar to first present the main features of the IDPoor database and recent changes that improved the database for shock-responsive social protection interventions. It will then focus on main lessons learned from the cash transfer programme as one example of such a shock-responsive social protection intervention in Cambodia. The webinar intends to engage social protection practitioners from all over the world in an open exchange about enhancing shock-responsive social protection. 

Register here.

For those interested in digital social protection, the Digital Convergence Initiative (DCI) under USP2030 is promoting a series of dialogues with country-experiences. You can access the content here. A presentation on Cambodia's experience with interoperability can be found here.  

Short summary about the webinar

The social and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has been profound in Cambodia and has been particularly severe for vulnerable groups. The economic shock of COVID-19 has adversely impacted jobs and livelihoods, especially for low-wage workers in tourism, garment manufacturing, construction, and agricultural export sectors. In addition to the prolonged impacts of COVID-19, Cambodia has experienced other shocks, including extensive flash floods in October 2020, which affected nearly 800,000 people (or 170,000 households) in 19 provinces. 

These shocks have compounded the already severe socio-economic impacts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia. Against the backdrop of a significant loss of income and already high levels of indebtedness, surveys have found that households have adopted negative coping strategies, including reducing food consumption, selling productive assets, and borrowing to meet basic needs. The risks of a further deterioration in food security and nutrition outcomes are high. Cumulative shocks such as these, risk undermining hard-won development gains and perpetuating an inter-generational poverty cycle. 

WFP implemented a cash assistance programme in Cambodia from April 2021 until March 2022 to support households impacted by COVID-19, floods and future shocks with financial support by GIZ provided on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation. The objective of this programme was twofold 1) to increase the beneficiaries’ ability to fulfil essential needs and to support their recovery in the face of these shocks and (2) in so doing create an operational model for a shock-responsive social assistance scheme that can be institutionalized and deployed for future climatic, socio-economic, and pandemic shocks. For this programme data on poverty status, as defined in the Identification of Poor Households (IDPoor) database, was combined with satellite-derived flood extent information made available through the Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM) system to target those affected most by multiple shocks. 

The webinar will first present the main features of the IDPoor database and recent changes that improved the database for shock-responsive social protection interventions. It will then focus on main lessons learned from the cash transfer programme as one example of such a shock-responsive social protection intervention in Cambodia. The webinar intends to engage social protection practitioners from all over the world in an open exchange about enhancing shock-responsive social protection. 

Speakers: 

Chea Radeth, Deputy Director, Identification of Poor Households Departments of the Cambodian Ministry of Planning

Kurt Burja, Programme Policy Officer, World Food Programme Cambodia 

Sophie Hermanns, Advisor Support to the Identification of Poor Households Programme, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Moderator: Kelvin Hui, GIZ