Setting the ground on disability policies

Exchanges of experiences between Cambodia, Portugal and other European countries, using the SOCIEUX+ distance modality

At a time when institutional reflection is intensifying in Cambodia on the development of an adequate system for the protection of and promotion of human development opportunities for disabled people, the National Social Protection Council of the Kingdom of Cambodia, an inter-ministerial body in charge of performing a function of advice, promotion and supervision in the development of modern and inclusive social protection systems, requested the assistance of SOCIEUX+ in order to start a structured reflection on trends and models of protection and social promotion for people with disabilities, i.e. disability-inclusive social protection.

The mission of the experts – of French and Portuguese nationality – took place in September and October entirely at a distance, given the difficulty of organizing international missions on the spot in the current pandemic phase. Of course, this modality has partly suffered from a greater detachment between the NSPC teams and the experts, but the exchange of experiences, examples and tools could still take place through adequate methodologies and IT instruments, which allowed experts to meet online with their counterpart and to share information and analysis on protection systems of various European countries, such as France, Portugal, Sweden, Romania, Italy, Germany, Estonia… By bringing examples but also first-hand (video) contributions from experts and practitioners, particularly from the Portuguese Institute for Social Security, experts addressed a number of dimensions of disability-related protection and promotion policies, including the legislative endowment necessary to structure a national system, and the funding arrangements for a human, suitable and sustainable system.

Cooperation will continue and the second activity will more closely look into the Cambodian context and the current dynamics of building an articulated system of protection and promotion relating to disability. It aims at mapping of the current services and programs dedicated to people with disabilities, provided by different national and international stakeholders in Cambodia, and to provide a brief assessment of the extent of social protection coverage of people with disabilities in Cambodia, and eventual gaps in terms of targeting, adequacy, assessment and identification, enrolment.