Cambodia is the 53rd Country to join the SUN Movement!

On the 26 June 2014, the Kingdom of Cambodia became the 53^rd Country to join the Sun Movement. On behalf of the Government, a letter of commitment was sent by Dr. YIM Chhay Ly, the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) within the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). The letter identified the multiple challenges Cambodia faces with malnutrition including a high prevalence of stunting which jeopardizes the achievement of several Millennium Development Goals by Cambodia by 2015.

The RGC has positioned food security and nutrition as top priorities in their national development policies, strategies and plans. Recognition for the importance of nutrition can be seen with the development of the National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition (NSFSN 2014-2018). Led by CARD with participation of several line ministries, it complements existing sector strategies and aims to serve as a platform for joint inter-sectorial actions.

To ensure the NSFSN is implemented, the Ministry of Health has put in place the first Nutrition Fast Track Road Map (2014-2020) to ensure health services are delivering key nutrition interventions at a significant scale.  Other sectors are now also developing road maps in line with the NSFSN.

The RGC is also developing a National Nutrition Investment and Action Plan (NNIAP) that embraces nutrition interventions as well as nutrition sensitive actions. In response to the lack of sufficient cross-sectoral interactions among many stakeholders, and to foster a dialogue between the RGC and development partners for cross-cutting themes, a Technical Working Group on Social Protection, Food Security and nutrition (TWG-SP&FSN) has been established to ensure policy cohesions and effective implementation.

The RGC are eager to benefit and contribute to the Movements efforts for Scaling Up Nutrition and sharing experiences with countries and learning from other effective approaches. The RGC also recognizes the value in harnessing support to scale up nutrition from the international community involved in the SUN Movement.