Cambodia
Strategies for youth employment
- Strategies for youth employment
- Yes
Youth employment strategy planned in the next 2 years
- Discussions within the government
- Yes
- Consultations with national-level stakeholders (e.g. employers’ and workers’ associations, youth councils, etc.)
- Yes
- A draft strategy already exists
- Yes
- Other (please specify)
- No
Countries with national action plans for youth employment
- Monitoring framework (timeline and activity/outcome indicators, e.g. youth labour market indicators)
- Yes
- Funding (indicative budget to implement the plan)
- Yes
- Institutional responsibilities (e.g. ministries/agencies in charge of specific planned activities )
- Yes
- Other, specify
- No
Public funding for the national youth employment strategy
- Public funding for the national youth employment strategy
- Yes
Additional information:
• Ministry of Economic and Finance (MEF) • Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MLVT)Youth in the national development / employment strategy
- Youth in the national development / employment strategy
- Yes
Additional information:
The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) prioritizes youth in its Pentagonal Strategy – Phase I (launched in 2023), which aims at guiding Cambodia’s socio-economic development over the medium term. In this strategy, youth are mainly addressed under: • Pentagon 1: Human Capital Development Side 1: Enhancing the quality of education, sport, science, and technology Side 2: Expanding and improving technical and vocational skills training • Pentagon 3: Development of the Labor Market Side 1: Promoting a dynamic, inclusive, and competitive labor market that actively supports youth employment These strategic priorities are being operationalized through the upcoming National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2024-2028, which will guide the implementation of policies that enhance youth employability and integration into the labor market.Countries with national goals for youth employment
- Countries with national goals for youth employment
- Yes
Additional information:
Cambodia has defined national goals to promote youth employment, led by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) in close collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO).Countries with quantitative targets for youth employment
- Countries with quantitative targets for youth employment
- Yes
Policy areas in national youth employment strategies
- Macroeconomic and Sectoral policies
- No
- Enterprise Development
- Yes
- Education, Training and skills development
- Yes
- Labour Demand
- Yes
- Labour Law and Legislation
- Yes
- Labour Market Policies
- Yes
- Other (please specify)
- No
Social partners' inclusion in the youth employment strategy
- Workers
- Implementation of youth employment strategies/programmes (e.g. social partners as official implementers of the strategy or programme)
- Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
- Assessment of youth employability (alignment of youth qualifications and skills to labour market needs)
- Consulted
- Monitoring and evaluation of youth employment interventions (e.g. active labour market programmes)
- Consulted
- Awareness raising, marketing and promotion of youth employment (e.g. campaign to promote youth employment)
- Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
- Formulation of youth employment strategies (e.g. national action plan for youth)
- Informed
- Development of youth employment programmes (e.g. sectoral programme with a clear target to employ X number of youth)
- Consulted
- Employers
- Implementation of youth employment strategies/programmes (e.g. social partners as official implementers of the strategy or programme)
- Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
- Assessment of youth employability (alignment of youth qualifications and skills to labour market needs)
- Consulted
- Monitoring and evaluation of youth employment interventions (e.g. active labour market programmes)
- Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
- Awareness raising, marketing and promotion of youth employment (e.g. campaign to promote youth employment)
- Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
- Formulation of youth employment strategies (e.g. national action plan for youth)
- Fully involved
- Development of youth employment programmes (e.g. sectoral programme with a clear target to employ X number of youth)
- Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
Youth-led organizatios' inclusion in the national strategy
- Fully involved
- Yes
- Partially involved (only for some elements of the strategy)
- No
- Consulted
- No
- Informed
- No
- Not involved
- No
Countries with national partnerships for youth employment
- Countries with national partnerships for youth employment
- Yes
Additional information:
2025: NA _________ 2023: National Employment Policy 2015-2025: - Promote and encourage the participation of public and private sectors in soft skill development programmes - Strengthen connections between education and training providers, with the private sector to reduce skill gaps - Promote and encourage the private sector to play an active role in providing inputs to policy formulation, skills development, training delivery, and financing training - Allow private companies to provide domestic recruiting services National TVET Policy 2017-2023: - Promote Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and aggregate resources from stakeholders to support for sustainable development of TVET - Establish Joint Committee on Technical Working Group on TVET - Provide Technical Assistance to develop standard training package - Provide an opportunity of internship and job opportunity Decent Work Country Programme for Cambodia 2019-2022: - DWCP Priority 1: More women, men, youth and vulnerable groups in Cambodia have access to decent and productive work as a result of increased economic diversification, productivity, competiveness and development of the digital economy - DWCP Priority 2: More women, men, youth and vulnerable groups in Cambodia are in safe and healthy work and benefit from quality, effective, efficient and transparent social protection services - DWCP Priority 3: Social dialogue, industrial relations and rights at work improved in line with international labour standards, including for migrant worker Decent Employment for Youth in Cambodia Phase 2 2020-2023: - Young women and men in Cambodia have demand-driven skills and competencies including soft, life, green and digital skills which are relevant to current and future labour market needs. - Young women and men in Cambodia have adequate entrepreneurial capacity and increasingly access business development services. - Young women and men in Cambodia are able to make career decisions based on relevant knowledge and support services for decent and productive employment - - The American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (AMCHAM) - European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (EuroCham) - Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) - Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Association (CAMFEBA) - The mechanism of school enterprise partnership has been integrated in all secondary resource schools throughout the country to promote engagement between not only enterprises but the public sectors and school teachers and students. It is tailored within the upper secondary education sector program (phase 2). The activities that engage public sectors’ involvement are student work fair, small career fair at schools, job shadowing, visit to enterprises, student entrepreneurial challenges and so on.Inclusiveness of vulnerable groups in national strategies
- Women
- Yes
- Migrant Workers
- Yes
- NEETs
- Yes
- People with disabilities
- Yes
- Low skilled workers
- Yes
- Rural workers
- Yes
- Other (please specify)
- No
Youth employment strategies and international cooperation
- Youth employment strategies and international cooperation
- Yes
Additional information:
ILO: - Providing both Technical and financial supports to promote youth employment and protect migrant workers in obtaining decent employment and skill recognition - Supporting the implementation of National Employment Policy which youth employment promotion is included in policy measures - Providing Capacity Building for TVET staffs and instructors - Providing consultation in TVET (Apprenticeship, RPL) Swedish Employment Service (SIDA): - Supporting National Employment Agency, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to implement “Career guidance and counselling in secondary schools – The bridge to employment 2019-2021” project. This project aims to the increased labour market participation of youth after completing a meaningful education pathway, and to enhance sustainable career development skills of Cambodian youth Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC): - Developing TVET Law - Developing National TVET E-Learning Platform - Supporting the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training to implement United Nations Joint Programme “Decent Employment for Youth in Cambodia 2020- 2023”. The programme promotes decent and productive employment opportunities for Cambodian youth, through providing the quality formal and non-formal education including volunteerism to develop relevant technical and vocational skills; equipping them with adequate entrepreneurial and business skills to create and develop sustainable enterprises; and helping them reduce their exposure to discrimination at work while raising their awareness of rights; and how to promote these at work Swiss contact: - Supporting Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, and Ministry of Tourism to implement “Skills Development Programme 2020-2023”. One of the objective is “Disadvantaged young men and women and low-skilled workers will improve their employability and income through technical skills, soft skills and entrepreneurship skills” - Supporting Skills Development Project Phase 1 & 2 Asian Development Bank (ADB): - Providing loan to implement “Skills for Competitiveness Project 2019-2025” The project is to enhance the skills and competitiveness of Cambodia's industrial sector labour force. It will develop human resources to work as skilled-workforce in four priority sectors, namely manufacturing, construction, electricity, and electronics - Supporting TVET Sector Development Project (TVETSDP) - Supporting Skill for Competitiveness Project (S4C) International Organization of Migration: - Providing both Technical and financial supports to promote youth employment and protect migrant workers in obtaining decent employment and skill recognition Agence Française de Développement (AFD): - Supporting TVET Sector Development Project (TVETSDP) Supporting Skill for Competitiveness Project (S4C) JICA: Supporting Project for Improving TVET Quality to meet the Needs of Industries. SIDA-SPES: supported project on Career Guidance and Counselling in Secondary Schools- The Bridge to Employment (2020-2021) ILO/China South-South Cooperation: project on Strengthening Skills Development in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar through South-South and triangular cooperation (2020-2022). UNDP: supported project on United for Youth Employment “Doctor Job Career Show”, 2019; and under Youth Employment Programme, UNDP supported on Productivity Campaign and Dr. Job Production for 2020-2021 MoEL-KEIS: supported project on Development of Public Employment Service (PES) Portal WorkNet in Cambodia (2018-2021) ILO’s Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP). The programme provides the basis for the ILO’s contribution to the Government’s Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency and the National Strategic Development Framework, and addresses a wide range of issues, including skills and human resources development, youth and women’s employment, the informal economy, SMEs, social protection, industrial relations and social dialogue, and labour market governance.