新冠肺炎期间柬埔寨的现金转移计划（英）

ASIANDEVELOPMENTBANKINSTITUTE ADBIDevelopmentCaseStudyNo.2022-5(December) Cambodia’sCashTransferProgramduringCOVID-19 NorinmonyChhoeung,SesokunthidethChrea,andNghiaNguyen ©2022AsianDevelopmentBankInstitute ThisworkislicensedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution- Stanford LeadershipAcademyforDevelopment NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0 InternationalLicense.https://doi.org/10.56506/RRMZ8095 CenteronDemocracy,DevelopmentandtheRuleofLaw Cambodia’sCashTransferProgramduringCOVID-19 NorinmonyChhoeung,SesokunthidethChrea,andNghiaNguyen NorinmonyChhoeungisdeputychiefofdivisionintheGeneralDepartmentofPolicyoftheMinistryofEconomyandFinance,Cambodia.SesokunthidethChreaisdeputychiefoftheresearchunitoftheGeneralSecretariatoftheNationalCouncilforMinimumWageoftheMinistryofLabourandVocationalTraining,Cambodia.NghiaNguyenisacapacitybuildingandtrainingassociateattheAsianDevelopmentBankInstitute. TheauthorswouldliketothankKentWeaverofGeorgetownUniversityandBlairCameronoftheLeadershipAcademyofDevelopmentfortheirmentorship,guidance,andfeedbackinpreparingthiscasestudy;ChanNarithoftheGeneralSecretariatoftheNationalSocialProtectionCouncilforvaluableinputandsupport;theAsianDevelopmentBank’sSoutheastAsiaDepartment;andtheAsianDevelopmentBankInstitutefororganizingtheworkshopandeditingthecasestudy,includingKESeethaRam,VeronicaErnHuiWee,TuesdaySoriano,andAdamMajoe. Thiscasestudywasdevelopedsolelyasabasisforclassdiscussion.Itisnotintendedtoserveasahistoricalrecord,asourceofprimarydata,oranillustrationofeffectiveorineffectivemanagement.Allnamesandofficialpositionshavebeenchangedtomaintainanonymity. Introduction “Myhusbandusedtomakeabout$100to$200permonth,dependingonhiswork,”saidYirYean,a24-year-oldmotherof18-month-oldRajit.“Butnowhemakeslessmoneybecauseofthecoronavirus.”UNICEFCambodiametYeanintheChhoukKsachcommune,wheresheandherhusbandhadregisteredforthegovernment’scoronavirusdisease(COVID-19)CashTransferProgram.Yean’shusbandhadbeenworkinginconstructioninSihanoukville,atownonthesouthwestcoastofCambodia,butaftertheCambodiangovernmentimposedtravelrestrictionstominimizethespreadofCOVID-19,Sihanoukvilleemptied,leavingitsmanyworkersstrugglingtosurvive.ForYeanandherfamily,foodwasatoppriority.“Allthemoneywereceivetodayisspentonfood—weneedfoodforourfamily,”shesaid(UNICEFCambodia2020). 1 COVID-19firsthitCambodiaon15February2020,andbytheendofthemonth,thenumberofnewcaseseachdaybegantorise.Within4months,thecountryrecordedmorethan30,000confirmedcasesandnearly500deathsfromthedisease.1Inresponseto 1Worldometer.https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/cambodia/(accessed2021). thealarmingspreadofCOVID-19,thegovernmentneededtominimizetransmissionoftheviruswhilealsosustainingtheeconomy.Somecommonpreventivemeasuresweretaken,includingtravelrestrictions,restrictionsonmassgatherings,andstrictlockdownstolimitthemovementofresidentsin“redzones,’’areaswherethenumberofcaseswasparticularlyhigh.Whilethesemeasureshelpedcontainthespreadofthevirus,theyalsoseverelyrestrictedeconomicactivities.Manybusinesseswereforcedtoclose,resultinginalossofjobsandlivelihoods. On6April2020,theEconomicandFinancePolicyCommittee(EFPC)2convenedameetingwithkeyministriestoconsiderandformulatemeasurestoprotectpublichealth,supportbusinessesandworkersinhard-hitsectors,andmaintaintheincomeofpoorandvulnerablehouseholds.TheCashTransferProgram(CTP)wasalsoontheagendaofthemeeting,andtheEFPCrequestedstatisticsonpoorandvulnerablehouseholds.InresponsetotheEFPC’srequest,theMinistryofPlanningpledgedtoupdatedataforpoorandvulnerablehouseholdsinruralareasbytheendofMayandpoorandvulnerablehouseholdsinurbanareasbytheendofJune. On24June,PrimeMinisterSamdechHunSenlaunchedtheCTPtoreach560,000poorandvulnerablehouseholdsnationwide.“ThisisthefirsttimeinCambodia’shistorythatasocialprotectionschemeofthismagnitudehasbeenintroduced,”hesaidinannouncingtheprogram.“Itisbasedontheprinciplesofequity,equality,andefficiency…theobjectiveoftheCTPistoimprovethelivelihoodsofthepoorandvulnerablepeopleaffectedbyCOVID-19,includingunemployedormarginalizedpeoplewhohavefallenintopoverty”(OfficeoftheCouncilofMinisters2020). Background TheincreasingandpersistentuncertaintyCOVID-19isputtingthecountryineconomicdistressandthepeopleinalivelihoodcrisisasofMarch2020.TheEFPC,chairedbytheDeputyPrimeMinisterandMinisteroftheMinistryofEconomyandFinance,convenedahigh-levelmeetingtodiscussmeasurestosupporttheeconomicandsocialsectorsinthefightagainstinfectiousdisease.Itwasnoteasytoformulatingappropriatemeasuresinthefaceoftheunpredictableanduncertainpandemicthathasaffectedtheeconomyandsociety.Followingthemeeting,thegovernmentannouncedthatitwouldreserveabout$200milliontosupportnearly1millionpoorandvulnerablehouseholdsaffectedbyCOVID-19throughtheCTP,whichaimstoimprovethelivelihoodsofpoorandvulnerablehouseholdsandchannelcashintotheeconomy.TheCTPbuildsonthesuccessfulimplementationofacashtransferprogramforpregnantwomenfromfamilieswithanIDPoorEquityCardsince2016,andtheIDPoorEquityCard,apovertyidentificationandregistrationsystem,hassincebeenimplemented.