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The Australian government will provide an additional A$3 million (approximately US$2 million) as part of the Improving Social Protection and Health (ISPH) program to strengthen Cambodia’s ability to respond to future crises, Australian Minister for International Development Dr Anne Aly announced on Thursday.
Speaking at the National Pediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh, Aly said the new funding would provide technical support, policy analysis and advice to help Cambodia build a strong and more responsive social protection system to current and future crises.
The partnership is aimed at strengthening institutions, and ensuring vulnerable people access support during economic hardship, natural disasters or other crises.
“We’re living in uncertain times. As we look ahead, we know the world will face more shocks, whether pandemics, climate disasters or conflicts. Each will test the resilience of communities and governments,” she said.
As such, there is a need to work together to build robust, effective, and responsive social protection systems so that no one is left behind, she added.
Recent global conflicts, including the Middle East, have triggered economic shocks that disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized communities, underscoring the need to invest in stronger social protection systems.
Aly said Australia’s development partnership with Cambodia is built on nearly 75 years of cooperation and focuses on helping the country achieve its national development priorities.
“Partnership to us means showing up even when times are tough,” she said. “At a time when other partners have reduced their development budgets, we have made a decision to sustain ours.”
Australia expects to provide about A$94.4 million in development assistance to Cambodia this year, supporting sectors including health, agriculture, education, infrastructure and security cooperation.
“Australia’s commitment is clear: we will continue to work with Cambodia as partners to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous region,” said Aly.
National Pediatric hospital director Nhep Angkeabos, said this aid is given to the government to improve on social protection and health care to vulnerable people that are needed during the hardship. Even this aid is not directly delivered to the National Pediatric hospital, but this will help a lot on social protection and health care.
“We are excited as the aid would help vulnerable people, social protection and ID poor. As a low middle income country, Cambodia needs the support from partnership development. So, this aid is very important,” said Angkeabos.
According to her, the hospital must respond to the needs of patients, such as support for expansion, equipment and human resources, including experts on diseases.
Currently, the hospital has beds for 400 patients, but the number of patients is up to 800 following a 30% increase in dengue fever and other diseases, which necessitates the hospital’s expansion to adequately meet the needs of patient treatment.
Patients who are divided into four categories: self-paying patients, which make up approximately 50%; followed by patients supported by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) (25%), and patients using equity cards (23%). Two percent of patients receive direct support from the hospital.
“We have done a lot of work so far, but we still need to develop and strengthen human expertise, equipment and building,” he said.
Pen Sopakphea, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance and chair of the Executive Committee of the National Social Protection Council, said the additional funding would strengthen Cambodia’s social protection system while helping safeguard the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable households facing multiple crises.
She said the support would enhance Cambodia’s capacity to respond to related risks and the impacts of climate change by ensuring the social protection system can better assist vulnerable people.
“The Improving Social Protection and Health (ISPH) Project has supported the government in strengthening the inclusiveness and sustainability of Cambodia’s social protection and health protection systems since the first phase of the project, and this support continues under Phase II,” she said.
ISPH Phase II is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, with co-financing from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, totaling about 12 million euros. Australia’s contribution amounts to approximately A$4.5 million, and it recently announced an additional A$3 million to support health services and Cambodia’s energy transition during a period of rising fuel prices.
“The project has strengthened the core functions of Cambodia’s social protection system, including policy implementation, beneficiary identification and service delivery, social accountability and feedback mechanisms, public awareness, capacity building at both national and subnational levels, and improvements to health protection and universal health coverage,” Sopakphea said.
As of June 2026, Cambodia’s national social assistance programs covered about 4.86 million people, with the government allocating approximately US$282 million for seven major programs.
Meanwhile, the country’s social security schemes covered about 3.7 million people, with expenditures totaling about US$487 million, in addition to contributions collected from members of the NSSF, to finance pension, health care and employment injury insurance programs.
