UN Analysis Final.pdf - United Nations in Cambodia

These force them to work much harder to supplement their incomes to support themselves and their
families in rural areas. Heavy work, together with difficult working conditions and unhygienic living situations,
worsen their already poor health status. Proper health services have not reached the youths working in garment
factories, construction, and other sectors. Improved access to health services is critically important to youth.
Working in garment factory is very hard and difficult. The smell from the clothes makes it very difficult for us
to work and is even dangerous to our health... Most women workers here have stomach ache because they
do not eat regularly. Our health is weaker and weaker through time because we need to work overtime for
additional income. Since everything is much expensive now than before, our monthly salary cannot meet
expenses so we have to work harder so we can send some money to our family in the village... – FGD with
female youth working at garment factory, Sihanoukville
Once employed, missing work due to illness can result in reduced income or job loss, which often has broader
repercussions, since extended families often depend on remittances from their relatives working in urban
areas or abroad. The death of a family member, especially if the family member is young, also has a devastating
impact as it represents the loss of productive labour. A number of families reported falling deeper into
poverty when their children are not able to find a job or fall sick.
We can get about 8000 riels from our heavy work a day long…and it is a very difficult and dangerous job…if
we have work accident we have to pay with our own money or borrow from friends or relatives, today’s job is
barely adequate just for ourselves... – Young construction worker, Poipet
Efforts towards the provision of better working conditions for marginal youth are therefore strategic measures
to reduce their vulnerability, as they would serve as a safety net in current working conditions. Reducing
the vulnerability of marginal youth at work can only make them more capable and transform them into
productive members of the labour force, and ultimately lessen the helplessness of families in the face of
economic shocks.
5.4 PROSPECTS FOR YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY
5.4.1 FOCUS ON AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
According to the World Bank’s 2006 Poverty Assessment Report, the number of working-age adults for whom
agriculture is the primary sector of activity grew by about 2.7 per cent annually over the previous decade
1993-2003, to 4.9 million in 2003. Cambodia’s high demographic growth rate and limited production and
service sectors have left agriculture to absorb a growing national labour force.
Annual public investment, inclusive of both donor and government funds in agriculture sector, has grown in
recent years but remains very low at about 1.4 per cent in agricultural GDP (or about 0.5 per cent of the total
GDP) (World Bank 2006). With the substantial growth in GDP 25 in the last decade, there is a need to change
the nature of growth in order to absorb young labour force entrants, and focus should be placed on
agricultural development and investment. There is every reason to believe that agriculture will remain
the mainstay of the Cambodian economy for the foreseeable future.
25
As the third engine of economic growth, agriculture’s share was 31 per cent of the GDP in 2004
60 Situation Analysis of Youth in Cambodia