Listen to the vioce of D&D experts

A Think-Tank Meeting was smoothly convened by the Cambodian Civil Society Partnership Organization on August 22, 2011 to discuss and share experiences on gender issues in Cambodia and the participation of Civil Society Organizations in the upcoming Commune Council elections.

As mentioned in the meeting, gender issues are still a a main topic to be discussed and find the solution to promote women’s participation in Cambodia even though the concept of gender mainstreaming has been supported and practiced for many years by the government and Civil Society Organizations.

The understanding of Cambodian people on women’s presence in leadership roles is still limited as they have held the wrong perception that women cannot do the same jobs as men in terms of physical as well as technical capabilities.

Participants noted that there is little reflection on poor performance of men’s duties, for instance. Moreover, there is not enough support from women themselves, for example of women’s candidacy for the commune councilors in the past elections. Think Tank participants felt that limited women’s participation in Cambodian politics can also be attributed to the low pay for government officials; in particular, commune councilors.

In response to the gender issues in Cambodia, some recommendations for solutions were raised to promote more women’s participation in leadership roles, for example, by setting up a women group, whose capacity would be built and strengthened through trainings in the full range of leadership skills and concepts of decentralization and de-concern- traction mainstreaming for self-confidence building.

This capacity building program should be introduced by some women leaders, who can serve as role models, sharing their practical experiences so that the mind sets of all the group members can be expanded prior to engagement in broader social works. Women should be able to believe that their success in development and politics work depends on their own effort.

Relating to this matter, the think-tank members mentioned that some civil society organizations have been working since 2002 to educate and disseminate knowledge by providing many training programs to strengthen women’s capacity and to build their self-confidence to participate in social activities such as running as a candidate for the election. Civil society organizations have also met and convinced some political parties to include more women members in high-ranking positions. These activities are also being implemented for the third commune/sangkat council election in early upcoming 2012.