The United Nations of Development Programme has been a committed partner for the Royal Government of Cambodia, in supporting its national effort for preserving biodiversity and critical ecosystems. We have supported development of a management of Kulen Mountain, and implementation of the Environmental Governance Reform Project and the 3 Rio Conventions project...

The Government is well positioned to lead and finance the next stage of national development. Managing partnerships with the private sector will be of increased importance while Cambodia’s development partners and NGOs will need to adapt to new roles in support of the SDGs...

There is good reason to be confident that the government can mobilise the required funds to finance the next stage of the country’s development. By working closely with partners, polices and institutions can be strengthened to ensure that all sources of finance contribute to maintaining Cambodia’s high level of growth and increased well-being.

Our future financing, like in India, China, Malaysia and elsewhere, will gradually move to domestic financing, and away from aid, so it’s even more important that we ensure we can provide the policy support that the Government demands...

While the Belt and Road Initiative and the 2030 Agenda are different in their nature and scope, both have sustainable development as the overarching objective. Both strive to create opportunities, global public goods and win-win cooperation. And both aim to deepen “connectivity” across countries and regions: connectivity in infrastructure, trade, finance, policies and, perhaps most important of all, among peoples...

It requires an innovative and well-coordinated effort between MoWA, other state institutions, development partners, private sector, and civil society organizations to align their programs to national priorities, to mobilize and pull together both financial resources and technical expertise, and to make systematic gender mainstreaming in their other development projects with sufficient funds allocated.

The interdependency is not just a threat, but also an opportunity. The huge income from tourism to the temples can be used to finance the environmental and social changes needed. This could be envisaged in a Payment for Eco Systems or PES. Cambodia’s famously dynamic private sector can continue to thrive but then also to support the conservation of the resources upon which that industry depends. We should not always look to Government to fund through taxation and with such a thriving tourist industry the resources are certainly there...

UNDP was awarded the Royal Order of Sahametrei, Tepidin Class (Commander of the Order) from the Royal Government of Cambodia for its major effort to the country’s environmental conservation and protection. The Order was founded by the late King Norodom Sihanouk in 1948. It is the highest ranking medal conferred to foreigners for their distinguished service to Cambodia...

UNDP has launched a new cookbook looking at how climate change is affecting food security in developing countries and how communities are adapting their traditional recipes to survive...

As Cambodia crosses the threshold into the middle income country category, government intervention in education is highly justified and desirable to avoid the so called ‘Middle Income Trap’ also called ‘low skills trap’ by correcting the labour market imperfections and proving equal life chances for all citizens in education and skills building.

From 1990 to 2015, Cambodia’s annual HDI growth rate of 1.84% has outpaced the average in East Asia and the Pacific, currently at 1.35%, making it among the top seven countries in the world with the fastest HDI growth rate...

To achieve the goal of Planet 50-50 for these women farmers, there is an imminent need for the Government and its development partners to further step up through an increased and targeted investment to improve women’s farming knowledge and sustainable farming practices and technologies that can adapt to the changing climatic conditions. Over and above investing in women and girls as an investment for our future, gender equality is an ultimate goal in itself and women and girls should have equal rights and opportunities to men and boys.

To expand the scope for public action, UNDP will focus assistance on public institutions for poverty reduction and resilience and on strengthening voice and participation. The focus will be on upgrading value chains, financing development sustainably, building resilience and fostering participation. An important tool will be fostering partnerships in the context of transition.

But the term ‘gold’ should also be used for another important resource in Cambodia — water. Water is central to agricultural production including paddy rice, through the expansion of irrigation...