Abiemar, Master of Arts in Economics,
UNDP Cambodia,
Socioeconomic Team, Policy and Innovation Hub,
Junior Professional Intern - Social Protection Policy
Doing a remote internship was simply unthinkable to me a few months ago, yet this week marks my 5th week of internship. At first, I had many apprehensions—I had no idea what a remote internship would be like. As someone who already has over 10 years of experience as a Branch Manager, I must admit that the experience of doing a remote internship at UNDP Cambodia is truly something else!
Cambodia is a Southeast Asian country with a population of about 17 million people. Its capital is Phnom Penh. Cambodia shares borders with Thailand to the west-northwest, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast. The citizens of the country are called Cambodians or Khmer, referring to the Khmer ethnic group. The majority of Cambodians practice Buddhism (96% of the population, which is the state religion). Although I am not physically there, every morning, I work as a Junior Professional Intern in the UNDP Social Protection Policy department with images of Cambodia stuck on my laptop. Of course, I would have loved a thousand times more to be there, but I console myself by taking virtual guided tours online and setting my computer screensaver to Khmer lap (marinated beef salad), Siem Reap (the gateway to the Angkor Wat archaeological park), and Ta Prohm Temple.
In recent years, Cambodia has made impressive progress in poverty reduction. According to official estimates, the poverty rate in 2014 was 13.5%, compared to 47.8% in 2007. These poverty reduction gains were achieved through a combination of economic development and improved public services for the poor. However, Cambodia remains highly vulnerable to external and internal shocks due to structural weaknesses in its economy. A narrow economic base, lack of capital controls, a dollarized economy, high levels of informality, and limited social safety nets mean that human development gains can quickly be reversed in times of crisis. The World Bank estimates that about 4.5 million people remain near-poor and are at risk of falling back into poverty when exposed to economic and other external shocks. The Multidimensional Deprivation Analysis (2017) also showed that nearly half (48.7%) of Cambodian children are deprived in at least three dimensions simultaneously.
For Cambodia to achieve its goal of reaching upper-middle-income country status by 2030, it must maintain inclusive growth and protect human development gains by advancing social protection. This is where my work comes in. I work with a team of passionate people whose goal is to expand social protection coverage and improve the quality of benefits (adequacy and quality of services) by enhancing the operational capacities of social protection institutions and adapting existing schemes to the characteristics and needs of workers in the informal sector. This objective will be achieved through three main pillars of work: expanding social security coverage to self-employed individuals and workers in micro and small enterprises, strengthening the delivery capacities of social assistance programs, and implementing complementary programs to address the needs of informal sector workers.
Working at UNDP also means participating in mandatory webinars for newcomers, such as environmental sustainability training, security awareness training, fraud and corruption awareness and prevention, ethics and integrity training, prevention of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse of the local population, gender training: thinking outside the box, UNDP’s legal framework: what every staff member should know, and human rights and UN responsibilities. All these trainings aim to equip newcomers and immerse them in the work culture that governs UN agencies. After completing these trainings, I feel even more informed and capable of navigating global work structures with confidence.
One last thing currently drawing attention in Cambodia is the impact of COVID-19. Although Cambodia had only 274 cases of COVID-19 as of August 2020, the data on the pandemic's impact on informal workers that our team is handling shows a significant economic recession and severe vulnerabilities. Many people, especially those in the informal economy, have been affected or are at risk of unemployment, underemployment, and income loss, consequently facing increasing poverty. The Cambodian government has implemented a cash transfer program for the poor and vulnerable.
To conclude, I must say that I do not feel any difference between working on-site and remotely in terms of workload. Teamwork through intranet and email makes many things easier. Zoom meetings try to compensate for the human warmth that is sorely lacking in this internship. I hope that before the end of my internship, I will get to know the people I work with a little better.