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Marc Derveeuw, Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Cambodia, has received the country’s highest award for a foreign resident – the honorary title of Commander (or Thipidin in the Khmer language) in the Royal Order of Sahametrey. The award was given in recognition of his contribution to Cambodia’s development, while leading the UNFPA country office since 2011.

Prime Minister Hun Sen bestowed the award at the launch of Cambodia’s National Population Policy, in the presence of 600 dignitaries from the government, ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps on the 3rd of May in Phnom Penh.

The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the new National Population Policy in improving people’s quality of life, in eradicating poverty and ensuring sustainable economic growth. He also highlighted UNFPA’s key role in bringing down the maternal mortality rate from 472 to 170 in under just ten years, the increased use of contraceptives and improvements to reproductive health and rights for the country’s young people.

We caught up with Marc to find out what it’s all about.

 

What has changed in Cambodia over the last five years?

The government now fully understands the benefits of investing in the reproductive health and,rights of women and young people, and the huge, much wider gains this brings for the country. UNFPA helped make this happen.

The last five years have been an exciting journey that I believe shows how a committed government and a capable, coordinated set of international partners can save lives and significantly improve the situation for women and young people.

When it came to realizing Millennium Development Goal 5, on reducing maternal mortality and ensuring universal access to reproductive health, Cambodia was the 5th highest-ranked country globally. This is a phenomenal achievement; thousands of lives have been saved and thousands more needless deaths will be avoided. I am extremely proud that UNFPA was part of this, and that I could also play a role.

All women and young people everywhere should be able to make the key choices in their lives, including who they partner with, the number of children they have and when they have them. This is at the forefront of our work to reduce maternal mortality, bring down the fertility rate and increase the use of modern contraceptives in Cambodia.

 

What are the country’s biggest achievements in recent years?

What gives me a great sense of personal satisfaction in Cambodia is that the Ministry of Finance agreed to fully finance contraceptive supplies for the country in 2016 without any donor support. This is a major step forward. It will further bring down needless maternal and newborn deaths and will prevent thousands of unsafe abortions and unintended pregnancies. This is the result of a three-and-half-year advocacy campaign by the UNFPA country office, and UNFPA’s procurement branch in Copenhagen played a crucial role in making this possible. The Ministry of Health is now working with us to provide a variety of reproductive health supplies, worth over $2 million in 2016 alone.

UNFPA’s midwifery training has also had a big impact. I recently revisited a health district in Battambang Province after five years. Unlike before, I was delighted to see that all health units now have at least two trained midwives. The majority of the midwives there were trained by UNFPA to perform life saving interventions

Srey Pisey, a 24-year-old midwife, proudly told me that just the last night she’d managed to help a woman deliver a baby with serious complications. The mother and the baby are fine, but without UNFPA’s training she wouldn’t have had the confidence to do it.

Cambodia is a fast-growing middle-income country with huge potential. To better respond to the changing needs of the country, we managed to change our modes of engagement and focus on policy influence, advocacy and technical assistance in response to the government’s needs. This was the key to our achievements.

Cambodia's 1.5 million young present a huge opportunity for the country. Photo: UNFPA Cambodia.

What needs to improve? 

Around 35 per cent of all Cambodians are under the age of 18, and the country is about to experience a ‘demographic dividend,’ in which 1.5 million young people aged between 13 and 17 years will reach working age over the next five years. With this window of opportunity, thousands of young people will need good education and decent jobs.

Many young people are moving to the capital to find work, and as they strike up relationships, the teenage fertility rate is on the rise. Between 2010 and 2014, teenage pregnancies rose from 8 per cent to 12 per cent of all pregnancies in the country.

There is also still work to do in terms of providing family planning options and know-how, particularly among married adolescents, of which nearly 15 per cent do not have yet have access.

 

What’s life like for women, girls and ethnic and sexual minorities in Cambodia?

Violence against women and girls remains a serious issue, with 22 per cent of women having experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence from an intimate partner. UNFPA is working with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to make sure that health centers and hospitals provide an appropriate response to victims.

The 2014 demographic and health survey showed that almost all indicators linked to reproductive health are lower in more remote areas, including among ethnic minorities. UNFPA’s current country programme pays particular attention to communities in remote areas near the border with Vietnam, and interventions are undertaken with the local authorities, including local youth.

We also see the impact of migration on the lives of adolescent girls. Young girls who leave their home village can often only find jobs in the large garment and shoe industry. Right now, over 600 000 young girls are employed in this industry. The pay is low and the conditions are tough, so many girls quit the hard factory labour to work in entertainment in casinos or Karaoke bars. Some end up as sex workers, and some are exploited. We’re working with these girls to ensure they are fully aware of the risks of unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and that they are fully aware of their inalienable rights - to make their own decisions about their own bodies.

 

How did you become UNFPA’s Representative in Cambodia – and what advice do you have for those aspiring to do the same?

UNFPA’s mandate is unique and very close to my heart. It is because of that unique mandate that I wanted to join the agency and use my knowledge and expertise to provide access to reproductive health. I started with UNFPA as a Sexual and Reproductive Health management expert in the country support team in Southern Africa. Whilst there, I provided technical assistance to the 14 country offices in the region in English, French and Portuguese.

In India I started as Deputy Representative and was later appointed as Acting Representative. I learned the importance of managing large teams with expert staff. I also learned how best a UN agency can help a country undergoing a rapid economic change.

People are the pillars of our agency and the success of UNFPA in Cambodia should be entirely attributed to a strong and dynamic team. They are the real owners of this honorary Royal title, and I’m proud of them. We have a strong team of experts who were able to skillfully adapt to the requirements of this rapidly growing country.

The leadership training I received whilst with UNFPA has taught me how to build a team of people who are confident in negotiating on issues surrounding sexual and reproductive health with government officials, and to make serious decisions that save lives. I find a great satisfaction in leading this team, and seeing staff gradually become more confident in taking on more responsibilities, especially when it comes to difficult decisions.

The lesson I’ve learned with my team here is that the key to a successful UNFPA country office is to empower people, and to make them believe in themselves and in the organization they work for. They can then take that core belief and turn it into results that make a real difference for women, girls and young people.

Marc Derveeuw, UNFPA Representative in Cambodia, received the country’s highest award for a foreign resident at the launch event for Cambodia's new national population policy. Photo: UNFPA Cambodia.