Khmer Times Mon, May 3, 2021

Oxfam says Cambodian women have less time to work and earn an income, less ability to save and contribute to social security and greater vulnerablity to chronic poverty and illness for them and their children. Oxfam

PHNOM PENH – To commemorate the 135th anniversary of Labour Day on May 1, Oxfam and partners in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam launched a two-month digital campaign, “Every Mother Counts,” to raise awareness on the challenges faced by women workers in accessing maternity protection benefits.

According to a 2020 World Bank report, women in their main reproductive years (ages 25-34) are more likely to be overrepresented among the poor. In Cambodia, this is because women spend 3.5 more hours on average than men performing unpaid care and domestic work, even during pregnancy and maternity and a devastating COVID-19 pandemic. This means less time to work and earn an income, less ability to save and contribute to social security and greater vulnerablity to chronic poverty and illness for them and their children. As such, Lim said it is essential that the law protects all women workers, partly through the formalisation of all work and by providing comprehensive protections and benefits during pregnancy and maternity.

According to a soon-to-be-released Oxfam report, national legislation presents a formidable obstacle to providing better maternity protection for all women workers in Cambodia. In particular, the Labour Law of Cambodia does not yet include informal women workers in the social security system. To avail themselves of maternity protection benefits, women workers must have formalised work arrangements and need to prove that they have met the minimum eligibility requirements for contributory social insurance or social assistance schemes. Most informal women workers, however, cannot meet these requirements because they have no formal employment arrangements and work too irregularly to afford to make regular contributions to social insurance.

Approximately 90 percent of women in the labour force in Cambodia cannot access any maternity protection benefits because of their informal status. Oxfam

Dr Cheng Narith, secretary-general of the National Social Protection Council (NSPC), said: “The NSPC strongly acknowledges the importance of maternity protection in addressing gender inequality and in mitigating women’s and household’s vulnerability. Maternity protection, especially for poor and vulnerable households, that are currently active within the RGC’s social protection agenda includes the ‘Cash-Transfer Programme for Pregnant Women and Young Children’. The NSPC is working to further strengthen the coordination and harmonisation of policies and regulations to ensure that all women in the formal and informal sectors are supported. We recognise the important roles of all stakeholders, including civil society and will continue the collaboration to make sure that all mothers count and benefit from social protection programmes and allow women the space to continue to contribute to the development of Cambodia.”

The Chhun Hak, director-general, Gender Equality and Economic Development at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), said: “Maternity protection is a human value and a fundamental part of gender equality and the care economy. In Cambodia, female labour force participation is steadily growing and the need for maternity protection becomes increasingly critical for everyone’s care.  MoWA, through the Neary Rattanak V strategic plan 2019-2023, commits to bring attention and accountability to this important agenda. We continue working with stakeholders, CSOs and the private sector to translate our core value into actions, transforming policies to be more inclusive and creating an environment where women fully exercise their rights and choices.”

Given the challenges of pregnancy and maternity, especially for informal women workers, Oxfam is calling on the Cambodian government to consider better aligning laws and policies with ILO Maternity Protection Convention No. 183 (2000), which establishes benchmarks in five core areas: maternity leave, cash and medical benefits, health protection at the workplace for mothers and their children during pregnancy and during breastfeeding, employment protection and non-discrimination, as well as breastfeeding arrangements.

The campaign is part of Oxfam’s social protection programme supported by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which aims to promote decent work in ASEAN and advocate for the recognition of social protection as an investment to reduce inequality, vulnerability and poverty. It stresses maternity protection is an essential part of comprehensive social protection measures.

Oxfam and partners maintain maternity protection is an important fundamental human right and an essential component to achieve gender equality and support economic growth. It is important for enhancing the well-being, health and nutrition of mothers and children and for ensuring women’s equal opportunities and treatment in the world of work. To protect women’s health and productivity and to ensure non-discrimination on the basis of gender, expectant and recovering mothers should have the right to take time off work for childbirth and recovery. Maternity protection facilitates women’s recovery and supports breastfeeding which ultimately facilitates the healthy development of children.

Oxfam has been supporting Cambodia’s development since 1979, making it the first international nongovernmental organisation operating inside Cambodia during the controversial post-Khmer Rouge genocide period. Oxfam in Cambodia works in a wide range of programmes advocating for female economic empowerment, livelihoods for vulnerable groups, natural resource governance, climate change resilience and sustainable energy, financial inclusion, social protection and decent works, sustainable and climate resilient agriculture, disaster preparedness and humanitarian relief, civic engagement and financing for development.

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SOURCE – Khmer Times, Cambodia Mon, May 3, 2021

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