The prime minister used World Population Day on Saturday to urge government ministries to work together to protect women who have become vulnerable during the economic crisis. "I want to appeal to all relevant institutions, especially the Ministry of Women's Affairs ... to help support and deal with women's problems such as health, education and work," he said. "When we have an economic crisis, protecting women and vulnerable people is a problem we all have to pay strong attention to, especially women and children's health and the number of female students abandoning their studying." World Population Day was celebrated this year with the slogan "Investing in women is a smart choice in a troubled economy". Hun Sen said the theme should build awareness of the importance of girls' education to the economy. He pushed all "leaders, politicians, planners, government officers and development partners" to continue to pay particular attention to the needs of women.