PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Manet requested various ministries and labor representatives to collaborate on studying the logistics of establishing community nurseries and kindergartens near factories to provide workers with safe and affordable childcare.

In a meeting with about 18,000 workers in Phnom Penh’s Por Senchey District on August 29, he asked the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training to join with the Ministry of Women's Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and representatives of employers and workers to study the possibilities of near-site childcare to relieve the burden of working parents.

The PM said that the government is already considering such facilities and that it will take steps to provide options to laborers who are often forced to leave their children with careless babysitters or hired caregivers that charge a lot of money. They often spend the day worried about their children’s safety.

He recommended that the childcare facilities not be located on the factory premises to avoid potential health hazards such as pollutants and smoke inhalation. He asked local authorities and employers to facilitate the discussion with a focus on child health and safety, including providing adequate nutrition.

"We will create facilities in some communities where people, not just workers, can take their children. The state will provide food for them. We will not make it difficult for parents to find food or milk for their children,” he said. The prime minister emphasized that the government should not only care for the elderly, but for the children as well, because they are the future of the nation.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports officially inaugurated the first professional child care centers in Cambodia on October 27, 2022. The four community nurseries in Kampong Speu are largely funded by the World Bank’s Japan Social Development Fund and the French Agency for Development (AFD).