- Last Updated on 07 December 2012
-
By Pamela Cox
For more than a decade, Cambodia has sustained impressive economic growth.
The
World Bank expects
real gross domestic product to increase by 6.6 per cent this year – a
figure to be envied in today’s fragile global economy.
At this pace, Cambodia can rapidly become the industrialised and productive economy it aspires to be.
Is this the future that Cambodians can rightfully look forward to?
The
answer is yes, but only if Cambodia invests in its most precious
resource – its people – to enable each individual to realise his or her
potential and productively contribute to the nation’s economy.
Until
now, much of Cambodia’s investment has focused on infrastructure,
agriculture and manufacturing – priority areas during the early stages
of the country’s economic development.
But with economic
progress, it has become increasingly clear that these efforts are not
enough to help the country achieve equitable, sustainable growth and,
most important, reduce poverty.
Today, despite the nation’s
economic achievements, roughly 20 per cent of Cambodians – that’s 2.8
million people – are still poor.
Nearly 40 per cent of children
under the age of five suffer from malnutrition, and 28 per cent in the
same age group are underweight.
Over the past decade, workforce
skills of adults improved at a slower rate than in other East Asia
countries, and the proportion of skilled workers among earners
stagnated.
When the economy is booming, it’s tempting to turn a blind eye to such statistics.
But for the sake of Cambodia’s future, these are the figures we must confront, and this is where the World Bank can help.
Ending poverty, and building shared prosperity, are central to the Bank’s mission.
Investments
in human development, particularly in the areas of health and
education, need to be a priority in Cambodia to create opportunities for
all, especially the poor and vulnerable.
Interventions in these areas work hand in hand to build a country’s human-resources pool even before schooling begins.
Growing
evidence shows the importance of adequate nutrition and health care
during early childhood, to lay the foundation for intellectual progress
and life-long learning.
The government has taken significant
steps towards improving access as well as the quality of education, and
96 per cent of children aged six to 11 now go to primary school.
The
average test performance of primary- and secondary-school students has
improved, and higher-education enrolments increased fourfold between
2001 and 2011.
The World Bank is supporting health and education in Cambodia.
With
the government and our development partners, we are financing health
equity funds and school scholarships, having provided 2.5 million
health-care treatments for poor people since 2009 and scholarships for
63,000 poor secondary-school students since 2005.
But much more needs to be done to improve the coverage, quality and governance of these sectors.
Although
Cambodia’s economy is growing, employers report a mismatch between the
skills university graduates bring to a job and the skills the labour
market demands.
A recent World Bank study found that 22 per cent
of foreign employers in Cambodia identify skills as a severe constraint
to businesses.
This means many Cambodians earn less than they could if they had adequate education and skills.
For
the country, this leads to lower productivity, limiting Cambodia’s
potential to attract investment and improve living standards for all.
As
a global knowledge and financial institution, the World Bank works with
governments and a broad array of stakeholders gathering best practices
and providing solutions for the most difficult development issues
countries and communities face.
It draws from the knowledge and
experience of other nations, and is able and ready to assist, inspire
and inform Cambodia’s efforts to achieve its development goals.
In Indonesia, for example, the World Bank supported a social assistance program designed to address three lagging
Millennium Development Goals – maternal health, child health and universal education – using a successful, community-driven approach.
Communities
themselves took charge and allocated block grants targeting 12 health
and education indicators, enabling 1.6 million women and children to
receive nutrition counselling and support; helping 365,000 children
receive immunisations; eliminating 185,000 cases of underweight
children; and providing assistance to about 380,000 poor school
students.
Tajikistan also has a high percentage of underweight
children resulting from malnutrition exacerbated by the 2008 food-price
shock.
The World Bank supported a community and basic health
project to provide food packages and micro-nutrient supplements to about
50,000 women, infants and children.
By mid-2011, the project had
trained 1,000 primary health workers and 300 community volunteers to
deliver education on breast-feeding, good nutrition and the care of sick
children.
Delivering these results requires a tremendous,
co-ordinated effort by governments, donors, the private sector, civil
society and others.
During my visit to Phnom Penh this week, I
discussed with the government and our development partners how the World
Bank can support Cambodia’s development strategy, to ensure all
Cambodians can participate in, and benefit from, their country’s future
prosperity.
Pamela Cox is the World Bank vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific.
