Millenium Development Goals

Note on Cambodia's Progress in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Whilst many challenges remain with respect to Cambodia’s development; the country has seen some significant progress in the past five years. The table below highlights the progress achieved and the challenges that Cambodia continues to face in achieving its Millennium Development Goals.

Table 8.2: Cambodia's Progress in achieving the MDGs

Source: UNDP, Cambodia Annual Report, 2005

According to a study of the Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase Classification (IPC) in February 2007 led by WFP and jointly conducted with key stakeholders from the Cambodian government, UN, NGOs and donors, Cambodia is classified as chronically food insecure, except in the province of Bat Dambang and Phnom Penh muncipality.

The food insecurity is exacerbated by limited economic growth in rural areas compared with urban areas, and natural disasters, such as floods and drought. Drought, in particular, is seen as a major cause of reduced food availability in many provinces. Local markets can hardly stabilize food prices because of high transaction costs to move food from surplus to deficit areas. This situation has a negative impact on livelihoods, as various negative coping strategies are adopted to meet food requirements, such as seasonal migration, increasing child labour, withdrawal of students from school, debt accumulation, deforestation and sales of livestock and land. Beyond reduced household access to food, the IPC shows that nutrition and health status are poor in most provinces. An estimated 4.6 million people, out of a total population of 13.1 million, live below the poverty line. About 2.6 million people live in extreme poverty.