Cambodia: Cambodia’s Minister of Planning, H.E. Bin Trachhey, met with the new Country Representative of the World Food Programme (WFP), Ms. Kyung-nan Park, on Wednesday, with both sides committing to expand their long-standing partnership on food security and nutrition.
According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, during the courtesy call at the Ministry of Planning, Minister Trachhey commended WFP’s critical support in several key areas. He highlighted joint efforts in food fortification to combat malnutrition, collaboration on identifying poor households, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and technical support to enhance the Royal Government’s IDPoor registry systems.
Minister Trachhey stated that under the new legislative term, the Royal Government has placed ‘People’ at the centre of its agenda, making the promotion of food fortification and nutrition a key policy priority. He emphasized the goal to ensure all Cambodians, especially children, have access to nutritious food for healthy development.
The Minister also acknowledged WFP’s recent contribution of computer equipment to support the registration of families displaced by border conflicts and its ongoing work with the National Institute of Statistics. This collaboration strengthens national capacity in data collection and analysis for the CAMStat platform, using surveys to track progress on food security, poverty, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ms. Park, who brings nearly 27 years of humanitarian experience to her first mission in Cambodia, expressed her commitment to strengthening the partnership. She conveyed confidence that the collaboration with the Ministry of Planning will grow more robust and effective, pledging to leverage successful practices from other countries to advance food security and nutrition for the Cambodian people.
Ms. Park also sought the Minister’s guidance on future strategies to enhance food fortification and address issues of poverty and vulnerability, aligning WFP’s efforts with the national development agenda.