GENEVA: The Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations at Geneva issued a press release on Wednesday, 5 April 2023, summarizing the statements delivered by Cambodia during the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which concluded on Tuesday, 4 April.
During the six-week interaction, from 27 February to 4 April, a total of 57 meetings were held and 43 resolutions on thematic and country-specific issues were adopted. The Permanent Mission of Cambodia delivered a total of 22 statements, featuring the normative and practical achievements and progress made by Cambodia in all categories of human rights – civil, political, social, economic and cultural, as well as the right to development.
One of the achievements highlighted concerned the Royal Government’s “blossom strategy” to provide Covid-19 vaccines to all for free in a non-discriminatory manner, including to foreigners and inmates. Since April 2022, Cambodia has recorded no fatalities and near-zero Covid-19 cases each week, contributing to the success of the Kingdom’s overall pandemic response strategy.
The Cambodian delegation also shared the Royal Government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen social protection schemes providing support to the most vulnerable people, including 12 rounds of cash transfer programs, equal to US $960 million, for poor and vulnerable families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, benefiting nearly 2.8 million people including children, the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Additionally, the Permanent Mission highlighted the Royal Government’s Social Land Concession Programs, which have granted more than one million hectares of land to nearly 500,000 families, and built nearly 80,000 houses, including around 40,000 hectares of land registered specifically for 38 Indigenous Communities.
On ecological sustainability and gender equality, the Permanent Mission underlined the numerous policies and action plans that have bene introduced by the Royal Government, such as the National Environment Strategy and Action Plan (2016-2023) and Cambodia's National REDD+ Strategy (2017-2026), along with the development of a Gender Mainstreaming Strategic Plan promoting women's empowerment and the reduction of gender inequality.
The Cambodian Delegation also spotlighted efforts made to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation against children, including the adoption of the National Child Protection System Policy 2019-2029 and the launch of the ‘Kit Kou Kon’ digital campaign to raise awareness among children of online safety.
During the 52nd Session of the HRC, Cambodia signed up to 13 joint statements proposed by ASEAN, the Non-Aligned Movement, and Countries of the Like-Minded Group on topics including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, food security, academic freedoms, special procedures mandate holders, the modality and mechanism of the UPR, technical assistance and capacity-building, the right to development, unilateral coercive measures, and more.
