COVID-19 Fallout and Building Forward Better in Cambodia

Abstract

The United Nations declared the COVID-19 pandemic a public health emergency and a socio-economic crisis quickly turning into a human rights crisis. The impacts of the pandemic were not limited to public health; it has also caused severe social and economic effects by increasing poverty, amplifying vulnerabilities and inequalities, and entrenching structural discrimination and exclusion. This was reflected in the unequal access to information and vaccination and the collateral impacts of measures taken to combat the propagation of the virus, including food insecurity, rising unemployment and poverty, increasing domestic and gender-based violence during confinement periods, and loss of schooling.

Like in other parts of the world, strict measures were implemented nationwide in Cambodia to contain the spread of the virus, including mobility restrictions, curfews, lockdowns, and closure of schools and businesses. The measures effectively limited the spread of the virus, kept the caseload under control, and kept the death toll at a relatively low level. However, on the other hand, they also posed a multifold challenge to Cambodian households, businesses, and the national economy. Informal workers, vulnerable households, and Micro, Small, and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) have struggled to survive and are still struggling to recover. The pandemic and the restrictive measures have had cumulative impacts on Cambodian society and the economy.