Oxfam calls for equal access to maternity care in Cambodia

International NGO Oxfam has urged policymakers to ensure that all female workers are given equal access to maternity benefits.

Given their informal employment status, these female workers do not have access to any maternity protection benefits, which makes them more vulnerable to sickness and chronic poverty, it highlighted in a press release, in conjunction with its maternity protection campaign. 

“Through this campaign, Oxfam and partners aimed to engage the public, employers and businesses and national policymakers in discussions about ensuring that all women workers in Cambodia can access maternity protection,” it said. 

The NGO also called on the government to better align laws and policies in five key areas: maternity leave; cash and medical benefits; breastfeeding arrangements; health protections at the workplace for mothers and their children during pregnancy and breastfeeding; and employment protection and non-discrimination.

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“Programmes for providing maternity protections to women workers in the informal economy fall under the purview of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, which has been paying more attention to this issue recently,” said Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation spokesman Touch Channy, according to The Phnom Penh Post.