National Program

Introduction to the four-year program.

Cambodia’s programme in gender:

“IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN THE ECONOMIC FIELD AND PROMOTION OF WOMEN’S ROLE IN  SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SPHERES 

Our intervention aims at  holistically improve the living conditions of women in the Northeast provinces of Cambodia, facilitating their access to social and political spheres, increasing their purchasing power, promoting the defense of Women’s Rights and gender equality and strengthening medical care in sexual and reproductive health.

We will therefore, respond to the major problems identified in the intervention areas, which coincide with the priorities identified by both public and private agencies present in the four provinces:  Discrimination against women in all spheres of public and private life, high incidence  of gender violence, extreme poverty, many women with overload family responsibilities, difficulties in access to non-formal education for the population general and women in particular, lack of access to adequate sexual and reproductive health and high rates of infant and maternal mortality.

Having these concerns, taking into account the characteristics of the Spanish cooperation priority areas and aligning the different contributions to national and provincial plans of development, we have organized our interventions around three major areas of work to promote gender equality: promoting the exercise of the Rights of Women, the Economic Development of Rural Populations and Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Beneficiaries:               

Direct: 2.308 women and 1.744 men neighbors of the high-priority communities

Indirect: 74.351 women and 68.041 men of the rural populations of the northeast of Cambodia.

Local partners:

Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA)

CNCW

KWWA

CAN-DO

NREDO

ICSO

RHAC

                                   

Collaborators:   

UNIFEM

ILO

IOM

Others:            

Ministry of Rural Development

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Economic and Finances 

 

Women’s Right Project 

To address this priority, we have considered necessary to work with an eye on six aspects : 

• To reduce the high rates of gender violence present nowadays.  One of the main problems of the provinces in the northeast of the country is the high rates of Gender-Based Violence. To mention an example, during the past year, the province of Ratanakiri recorded the highest number of cases of Domestic Violence in the entire country.
• The lack of official channels of information to permanently and regularly send the information on Gender-Based Violence cases to the capital and to the international organizations, and to assist with the monitoring of these cases.
• The training shortcomings of local officials on gender issues, particularly the staff of provincial departments of the Ministry of Women Affairs..
• The difficulties of the population to access to the information campaigns on Women’s Rights which the Government conducts from time to time.
• The economic difficulties to train provincial staff on Women’s Rights and on the new regulations published in recent years –mentioned by the Government.
• The need to support the process of administrative decentralization and train these new members of the State Administration in relation to CEDAW and gender approach (elected in provincial elections, district and city last June 2007). 

As a result, the first major area of intervention would be formulated in the following way:

OBJECTIVE: To promote multidisciplinary actions designed to facilitate the access of women to the full exercise of their rights and freedoms in the political, social, cultural and civil spheres.

Result1.1.   The gender approach is included in the strategic plans of development of the provincial departments of MoWA and of local NGOs.

Result1.2.   The contents of the CEDAW convention have been fully incorporated into the District and Commune policies.

These activities will be executed in direct collaboration with UNIFEM, MoWA and with CNCW (Cambodia National Councils for Women) official organism in charge of the implementation and following of CEDAW. GAD / C is also the local NGO responsible for this result.

Result1.3.   Improved the monitoring process of the  CEDAW implementation into the national policies as well as the four yearly reports submitted to the  UN , with the addition of new tools.     

Result1.4.   The provincial working groups have been incorporated into the Forum for Female Commune Councilor’s Network –FCCs.  The new regulations on Discrimination against Women and Gender-Based Violence are disseminated among the men and women in the four provinces. 

The National Network of Female Commune Councilor’s Network-FCCS- is an initiative being carried out by the Ministry of Interior in collaboration with UNDP under its National Program of Administrative Decentralization. The idea is to empower with gender approach, specifically those women  who actively participating in public life.

Result1.5.   Improved access of the population of the four provinces to information about new state regulations on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

Result1.6.   Systematized the collection of information on cases of gender violence in the four provinces.

One of the main weaknesses identified regarding  gender violence is the lack of information on cases detected in the northeast because there is no official vehicle of transmission so that the official documents do not include statistics about this part this of the country .   In addition, training of local authorities and NGOs is rather weak.

 

Social and Economic Development Component

The population in the northeast, especially the indigenous groups, has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. The arrival of new inhabitants, coming mainly from the central and southern provinces of the country, the overexploitation of natural resources, the opening of new border crossings with Laos and Viet Nam –which results in the presence in local markets of more, better-quality products and at better price-, and the problem of the land ownership, makes even more serious their already difficult situation.

Furthermore, given their lack of education and their limited access to free vocational training and to official loans which would make it possible for them to start up new economic activities , these communities are at a disadvantaged position  in comparison with the immigrant population from other areas of the country.

As always, the most vulnerable populations, women, and children are the ones, which most suffer the effects of the extreme poverty. This cannot be truer than in Domestic Violence and Trafficking. 

This intervention seeks to offer a real and sustainable possibility of improvement in the quality of life of a large part of the population in the four provinces above mentioned.. To this end, PYD has worked directly with the provincial departments of Rural Development in the preparation of an Economic Assessment of the Northeast of the Country. This assessment will provide information on the following, regarding the current economic activities:

• What, how, who, where and with what results;
• Which are the real possibilities of economic development in the area.
• How the economic activities of our beneficiary population are going to be planned in the middle- and long-term.

PYD has also worked with the national authorities to achieve the Protected Denomination of Origin and the quality stamp of the products from our beneficiary population. PYD explores –together with national authorities- the access to local, provincial, national, and international markets when -and if- it is deemed necessary. Finally, PYD focus on training the beneficiary population both on new production techniques linked to their respective economic activities and on the establishment of Business Plans.

OBJECTIVE:  Living conditions of women and men in the northeast of the country improved by fostering their economic development, specially focusing on women head of households.

Activities common to all the results:

A.1. Concretion of the commitments acquired by the local partners and the beneficiaries / related with the promotion of the Rights of the Women

R.2.1. Established and fully operating an Inter provincial Socioeconomic Observatory with the participation of the public sector and civil society.

R.2.2. Improved and diversified the agricultural production of the families beneficiaries of Kratie and Stung Treng with special stress in those headed by women.

R.2.3. Improved and diversified the fishing production of families beneficiaries of Stung Treng (Mekong River) with special attention to those headed by women

R.2.4. Improved and diversified the production of traditional craft and products of the forest of the indigenous communities of Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri object of the intervention

R.2.5. Constitution and reinforcement of social companies in the indigenous communities as those linked to women’s associations

R.2.6. Established a Public Consultancy Service for Women in New income generating ideas in Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri and improved the existent ones on Kratie and Stung Treng.

 

Sexual and reproductive rights component.

In Cambodia there remains a large imbalance in the ability of men and women in making independent decisions that affect their quality of life with women most affected due to gender discrimination exists. In addition, gaps in access to information and training of women, the unequal distribution of resources in the public sector and households produce large imbalances in access of women to health services that can ensure their physical, mental and social wellness.

One of the most relevant indicators on the health of Cambodian women is the high level of maternal mortality and lack of access and use of contraceptives or family planning.

About 85% of women in the intervention areas continue to give birth at home without proper medical care. The high cost of Public Health, the difficulties of access to health care facilities, lack of doctors and the still high weight of tradition and customs are the main reasons coined by women and their families to explain this phenomenon

OBJECTIVE: To improve the socio-sanitary conditions which allow women to exert their sexual and reproductive rights.

Activities common to all the results:

A.3.1. Implementation of a socio-sanitary study which determines deficiencies, needs, priorities, and resources in the communities targeted by this intervention

R.1. Improved access to the Sexual and Reproductive Health services both in public Health Centers and in the communities themselves

R.3.3. Increased awareness of the population on rights and duties on sexual and reproductive health issues has increased

R.3.4. Established a program of Health Funds in Equity/Equality in the communities of intervention