PHNOM PENH: The Chairman of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee, Keo Remy, had a meeting with the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Country Director for Cambodia, Pauline Tamesis, on Thursday November 25. The Chairman informed the UN Resident Coordinator that the government is working towards introducing new anti-discrimination and gender equality laws in line with the ever-evolving human rights situation in Cambodia.

He informed the UN Resident Coordinator of the progress made in the last 20 years from implementing recommendations from the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), including progress on the status of women and transgender rights in Cambodia. He also specified that the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Women's Affairs are currently studying the process of preparing laws on anti-discrimination and gender equality.

Pauline Tamesis acknowledged the progress made by Cambodia's progress on the protection of human rights, especially the efforts made to eliminate violence against women and achieve gender equality. She encouraged the government to increase education and outreach to continue addressing these issues, and also urged Cambodia to draft a law on same-sex marriage.

Both the UN Representative and the Chairman of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee agreed to continue cooperation, including plans to jointly organize a National Workshop on the UPR Mid-Term Report and the Workshop on the Right to Information Law at the beginning of 2022.

The UPR from 2019 provided Cambodia with 198 human rights related recommendations from UN member states. The Cambodian government accepted 173 of these recommendations, and noted an additional 25. Chairman Keo Remy said that the UN highly appreciated Cambodia's efforts to improve the human rights situation in the country, while Cambodia also announced its acceptance of the UPR to showcase a willingness to protect and promote human rights in the country.