A/HRC/42/60/Add.1
previously had relevant documentation, can regain their status and rights. Many of these are
living in poverty and very marginalised. There is also work to be done, including in education
and awareness raising, to eliminate pejorative terminology for Vietnamese living in
Cambodia and counter the discrimination these people face in everyday activities.
E.
Older persons
52.
The government recognises that the inevitable changes of the demographic situations,
especially a rising proportion of the older population, affects not just the older persons but
all parts of society and all sectors of the economy. Its 2017 National Ageing Policy aims to
further improve the well-being of older persons.87 To this end, it aims to eliminate age-based
discrimination so that older persons are guaranteed the same rights as younger persons and
treated on par with them in all respects; to ensure gender equality by focussing more on
women who form the majority of the older population and are more vulnerable than their
male contemporaries; and to promote intergenerational relations so as to maintain the strength
of the joint family system, integral to Cambodian culture. 88 This applies to all those over the
age of sixty years.89 Two goals are stipulated: To ensure that older persons are enabled to
fully participate with freedom and dignity for as long as they wish to in family, community,
economic, social, religious and political activities; and to ensure that younger persons are
better equipped with knowledge that enables them to lead a more productive, healthy, active
and dignified life in old age. Despite this commitment, older persons are only mentioned in
CSDG indicator 10.4.1 on civil servant retirees.
53.
Whilst the National Ageing Policy evidences the government is aware of the matter,
the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has expressed concerned
at the lack of data disaggregated by age and sex that could be used to assess the extent of
discrimination against older women, especially in access to health care and social security. 90
54.
The Government notes the feminisation of ageing and acknowledges that women will
be more affected than men and that women will have greater vulnerabilities. 91 In Cambodia
many of these women have survived all male relatives during the era of Democratic
Kampuchea. Financial security is a major risk to their wellbeing with few younger relatives
to provide the traditional support. This is exacerbated by the internal and external migration
of young Cambodians, leaving elderly relatives behind to seek employment and education
opportunities in urban areas.
55.
Reflecting international human rights documentation, Cambodia has also committed
to preparing the younger population for ageing. 92
F.
LGBTIQ persons
56.
The Cambodian government has reiterated its willingness to engage with LGBTIQ
issues and have presented Cambodia as a country safe for and open to all persons. In 2017 a
committee was created to observe and receive complaints on discriminatory content in the
media. Pride celebrations have been organized in Cambodia since 2009, with increasing
visibility and participation. CCHR’s 2017 survey encouragingly highlights that rainbow
families report high levels of acceptance from their communities.93 In 2017, the Ministry of
Education, Youth and Sport, in partnership with NGOs, developed a proposed new “Life
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
16
National Ageing Policy 2017-2030, available https://cambodia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pubpdf/NAP%202017-2030_%20Final_English-Printed.pdf.
National Ageing Policy 2017-2030, pv.
National Ageing Policy 2017-2030, p1.
CEDAW/C/KHM/CO/4-5, 29 October 2013, para. 30.
National Ageing Policy 2017-2030 p7.
National Ageing Policy 2017-2030, p16.
Cambodia Centre for Human Rights, Cambodia’s Rainbow Families: Marriage, Adoption and Gender
Recognition Rights in the Kingdom, 2017, available https://cchrcambodia.org/rainbowfamilies/report
with a May 2019 update online.
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