The Asia Foundation Hosts “Ponlok Chomnes Provincial Policy Forum on Local Knowledge Matters: Impact of Covid-19 on Vulnerable Groups in Cambodia”

Recognizing the importance of timely and reliable data at the sub-national level in informing policymaking, The Asia Foundation’s Ponlok Chomnes: Data and Dialogue for Development in Cambodia program, in collaboration with its emerging research partners, Komarik Reakreay Association, the Khmer Association for Development of Countryside, and My Village Organization, held its first Provincial Policy Forum on “Local Knowledge Matters: Impact of Covid-19 on Vulnerable Groups” on August 18, 2022, in Battambang Province.

This one-day collaborative event convened over 50 participants, including subnational government representatives from provincial to commune levels, researchers, civil society, policymakers, policy experts, and students from Battambang, Kratie, and Stung Treng provinces. The event was presided by the Deputy Provincial Governor of Battambang Province and the Deputy Ambassador of the Australian Embassy in Cambodia. The event discussed the importance of data from the local community in supporting the national government in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic and three case studies on the impacts of Covid-19 on indigenous people, students’ learning, and child protection.

The Provincial Policy Forum is one of the flagship events for the Ponlok Chomnes program, which supports various local organizations in conducting action research to collect timely data that responds to issues local people face during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This Forum was supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through The Asia Foundation’s Ponlok Chomnes: Data and Dialogue for Development in Cambodia program. The program aims to strengthen the capacity of knowledge sector institutions to undertake quality research that informs public policy analysis and dialogue in Cambodia.

For more information on the Ponlok Chomnes program, please visit the Policy Pulse Initiative website.