Phnom Penh (FN), Oct. 5 – Resident Coordinator of United Nations in Cambodia Pauline Tamesis conveyed apology to the Royal Government of Cambodia for releasing false report on Cambodian poverty rate, speaking in a courtesy call on Minister of Planning Chhay Thorn on Friday.

“Thirty-five per cent of Cambodians are still living in poverty, with the rural population making up the majority, according to estimates from the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) on Thursday,” Phnom Penh Post wrote on 26 September 2018.

In fact, poverty rate in Cambodia is only 13.5%.

"I would like to apologize for the false report. MPI is not a research of UNDP but of an independent institution linked to the UNDP, and we did not hold any workshop to discuss on the research," said Pauline Tamesis adding that she is working to clarify to the public with the correct figure.

"I would like to urge the UNDP to correct the figure to 13.5%, which is agreed upon by many government’s development partners,” said the minister.

“Before publicizing data related to Cambodia, one shall verify with Ministry of Planning,” he added.
=FRESH NEWS