Excellency Kette Setha Bandit Chhay Than, Senior Minister and Minister of Planning

Excellency Ieng Mouly, Senior Minister and Chair of the National AIDS Authority

Excellency Lo Veasna Kiri, Secretariat of State, Ministry of Health

Ms. Patricia Ongpin, UNAIDS Country Director

Ms. Corinna Heineke, Head of Social Health Protection Programme, GIZ 

Mr. Seum Sophal, Programme Manager, Cambodian People Living with HIV/AIDS Network (CPN+)

Excellencies, Colleagues, Friends of the media, Ladies, and Gentlemen,

It is my sincere pleasure to join you in this important event.  The inclusion of People Living with HIV in the IDPoor mechanism marks a significant advance in strengthening Cambodia’s social protection and HIV responses. We are moving beyond the conventional HIV and Social Protection responses to address fundamental issues of equity and the unique needs of vulnerable people.

Last month, UNDP together with the Ministry of Planning, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the World Bank, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) launched the New IDPoor Procedures and Expansion to At-Risk Households. Today, the Royal Government takes a step further in the inclusion of at-risk population, particularly people living with HIV.  I applaud the diligent efforts of the Royal Government, civil society, and development partners for looking beyond the immediate to address intersectionality in two complex areas: people living with HIV and people living in poverty.

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen,

A study published in 2010 by the National AIDS Authority, UNDP and UNAIDS   found that HIV households are often affected by morbidity, loss of jobs, debt, and food insecurity, among many other challenges. For example, over 30% of people living with HIV lost their jobs or their source of income; Nearly 60% of the members of HIV-affected households are likely to be food insecure compared to non-affected households (34.7%); 16% of people living with HIV reported suicidal thoughts and 65% reported low self-esteem. This is tremendous in terms of their mental health and wellbeing. This data, though it requires updating, is illustrative of the state of HIV-affected households and their ordeal. People living with HIV and households with members living with HIV are often subject to stigma, discrimination, social exclusion, and other human rights violations. Women and girls particularly are often disproportionately affected.

A follow-up study was done in 2013 on “HIV Sensitive Social Protection: A review of Cambodia’s social protection schemes for incorporating HIV sensitivity”, led by the National AIDS Authority and the Council of Agricultural and Rural Development in partnership with UNDP and UNAIDS assessed whether social protection mechanisms are already meeting the needs of people living with HIV, and whether there are opportunities to increase HIV-sensitivity and inclusion. The study recommended to integrate HIV-sensitive considerations into existing social protection schemes and policies using the ID poor mechanism as entry point.

As direct follow-up to this recommendation, and thanks to our long-standing partnership with the Ministry of Planning, we were able to begin our journey for HIV inclusion in the Urban IDPoor mechanism in 2015 which was successfully launched in 2016. A series of capacity building and awareness-raising campaigns were organised at both the national and sub-national levels in partnership with PLHIV community networks to create the demand and resolve barriers they faced for IDPoor registration.  

In 2019, another significant milestone was achieved, the Royal Government through the Council of Ministers recognized the importance of integrating PLHIV into the IDPoor System and officially issued a regulation (Sar Chor Nor) to allow access of People Living with HIV access to Equity Cards, free healthcare, and school nutrition programs as needed. As a result, more than 7,783 individuals were registered in the ID Poor system, and they were subsequently included in the Covid-19 Social Assistance Programme.

This has been a diligent and persistent work where we advanced together to reduce barriers for the inclusion of PLHIV in the IDPoor mechanism and social protection services, making the registration more conveniently accessible and faster through a digital registration, which is uniquely designed to allow individual, on-demand registration at the ARTs (Antiretroviral Therapy) clinics.

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen,

Including people living with HIV takes us to the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals and their guiding principle of “Leaving No One Behind”.  This is the pledge of all the 193 Member States of the United Nations, including the Kingdom of Cambodia, who adopted in 2015 the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals with the aim of creating a better world by 2030.

UNDP support for IDPoor is in line with our conviction that social protection is an investment in people rather than a mere expense. Doubling down on investment in people has a good rate of return in terms of human development, mitigating losses in development gains during crises, and resilience during adversity. This has been further corroborated by macroeconomic analyses and the COVID-19 Cash Transfer Programme Evaluation done with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the UNDP’s latest Human Development Report 2022.

Social protection permeates every area of life and is particularly crucial for those living on the margins of society or hovering near the poverty line. With poverty reduction and effective, responsive governance in mind, UNDP is working to bolster social protection by supporting the design of policies and strategic frameworks, as well as strengthening institutions necessary for establishing an effective and inclusive social protection system in country. Our work in the areas of climate change resilience, gender empowerment, improving the rights of people with disabilities, human development, and economic inclusion also contribute to the reduction of the socio-economic vulnerability of Cambodians in every stratum of society, and particularly for the poorest and most marginalized.

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen,

I would like to celebrate today all who have participated in this journey through funding, generating evidence, supporting advocacy, developing capacities, and institutional mechanisms and systems. The digital system for PLHIV registration in the IDPoor mechanism, we are launching today, is yet another joint milestone towards an inclusive and resilient society.  

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners who worked hand in hand with UNDP throughout this journey, namely, the ID-poor Department of the Ministry of Planning; the National AIDS Authority;  the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, Cambodian People Living with HIV/AIDS Network (CPN+), GIZ, USAID and last but not least, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). This progress could not have been achieved without your valuable insights and commitments.

Thank you/ Saum Orkun.