The Rural Development Strategy and Action Plan 2019-2023 follows the 2014-2018 Climate Change Action Plan for Rural Development. The vision of the renewed Action Plan is “to assure high quality of life in rural Cambodia; enabling all citizens to live in a healthy rural environment with nurturing social, economic and cultural conditions.
Cambodia is particularly exposed to flooding with loss of rural connectivity. Climate change is a key threat to rural infrastructure and people's wellbeing. The objective of the policy is
- To strengthen institutional and human resource development
- To increase coverage and resilience of rural infrastructure and quality of rural public services
- To ensure good quality of life through inclusive social and economic development of the rural areas
The overall scope of interventions is
- increasing employment opportunities and income generation in rural, family households
- efficiency toward reduction of poverty in the countryside,
- tangible diversification of livelihood, farming, fishing, use of forests and other natural resources,
- fostering community-based vocational training and local handicrafts,
- promotion of appropriate technology and investment for climate resilience,
- reliable access to infrastructure and public services in districts, communes, villages; and
- gender equality as warrant for individual development of Cambodians of both sexes.