Cambodia’s COVID-19 Cash Transfer Programme tied to existing ID Poor programme

A new COVID-19 Cash Transfer Programme for ID Poor Households was launched in June 2020 to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable groups of the population, including the needs of children aged 0-5 years old, persons with disabilities, the elderly, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and those identified as poor (ID Poor 1 and ID Poor 2) through the existing national ID Poor programme.

Those households identified as eligible beneficiaries need to register with an administrator at commune level, and then proceed to withdraw the monthly payments at a local branch of the e-payment provider upon presentation of the Any IDPoor equity card.

Many of the concerns reported focus on the management of the ID Poor systems, including multiple users of the database, accuracy and quality of the data, and involvement of a private actor in the data entry process as well as plans to introduce biometrics and expand data-sharing with third parties and linking the ID Poor database to other databases. This is particularly concerning in light of the various foreign entities involved in the ID Poor programme, which include global humanitarian organisations whose roles in the system are not clearly regulated. There is also a private actor, Wing, who is responsible for the delivery of the payments.

As with other cash transfer programmes, there are concerns that those without access to digital devices may not be able to access the digital money transfer service. Other concerns include the failure of the system to recognise Khmer language, effectively preventing some of the elderly beneficiaries from using the system.

Source: https://ipcig.org/sites/default/files/pub/en/PIF47_What_s_next_for_social_protection_in_light_of_COVID_19.pdf
Writer: International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG).
Publication: International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG).

Source: https://focus-cambodia.com/article/id-poor-vs-covid-19/
Writer: Sothearin Yeang
Publication: Focus Cambodia