As Cambodia touted recovering trade and GDP growth, thousands took to the streets this year over repression at work or struggles in the market.
In a report this week, the World Bank said some 460,000 Cambodians had fallen back into poverty due to Covid-19. For a Phnom Penh family of four, that meant spending as little as $1.25 total on food per day.
A survey of vulnerable communities in Phnom Penh has found a large majority of respondents reporting difficulties with food shortages, loss of incomes and feelings of helplessness during the city’s lockdown.
The government has renewed its promise to give cash aid to low-income people living in the capital’s most restrictive “red zone” lockdown areas, of about $39 to $78 for families and $40 to garment workers, following a string of protests over livelihoods.
The government’s initiatives and attempts to bring this outbreak under control have focused on tracking and tracing the virus, but have not yet fully addressed the multifaceted nature of this crisis related to both the demand and supply of food.
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