Cambodia

CAMBODIA IS A country of some 11 million people located in tropical mainland southeast Asia. The majority of the people are involved with subsistence rice agriculture. Despite being home to the powerful and socially and technologically advanced Khmer Empire, Cambodia suffered from colonization by the French, and then monstrous misrule by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, the communist Cambodians who seized power in the chaotic scenes following the defeat of American forces in Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge regime murdered an unknown number of Cambodians either directly or through overwork and starvation.

The United Nations reports that poverty in Cambodia is characterized by low income and consumption, poor nutritional status, low educational attainment, little access to public services including school and health services, little access to economic opportunities, vulnerability to external shocks, and exclusion from economic, social, and political processes. Poverty has also contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Additionally, one of the legacies of Khmer Rouge rule has been the destruction of the intelligentsia in the country and, hence, the effects of poverty are exacerbated by the lack of medical, teaching, and scientific professionals, whose role in alleviating some of the effects of poverty is essential. Approximately 90 percent of the poor are located in rural areas, where incomes and educational and economic opportunities are lower than in the small urban areas. Around 40 percent of rural people and 36 percent of the population as a whole live below the poverty line of $1 per day.

The government of Cambodia has established a poverty monitoring and assessment mechanism and is also working with neighbors and with donor nations and organizations to reduce poverty. Priority policy goals include the provision of education for all and awareness of health issues. Basic minimum needs for people in rural locations are being established with a view to strategy formulation. The government has also been working to develop some export industries to generate income, although at a very low level.

However, low levels of capacity in the government, together with the threat of pervasive corruption in government, threaten to reduce the effectiveness of government achievements. These problems are worsened by poor resource management, the presence of unexploded ordnance such as mines and bombs across much of the country, and unresolved issues relating to the previous genocide.

Tackling poverty will require considerable strengthening of civil society institutions to promote greater government and private-sector accountability. Promotion of potentially valuable economic activities such as [Page 111]tourism, garment manufacture, and exploitation of natural resources must also continue. However, the great lack of government resources has prevented necessary funding of health and education services and is also threatening to derail the long-running, multilateral process aimed at bringing to justice former members of the Khmer Rouge.

Human Development Index Rank: 130

Human Poverty Index Rank: 81