Young Women Leaders for the Future
Mr. Houn Phorn (Cambodia)
During the Angkor period, Cambodian women were very active in communities andsocieties, but in the present time, they are not so much active as they used to. Hopefully,
they will become more active once again in the future.
Some people even believe that Cambodian women are still second-class citizens,and thus are unsuited for leadership in communities or organizations. However, in arural commune situated along the Mekong River in Kratie Province, for instance, a groupof women with a strong motivation to work for other women’s emancipation came
together and decided to engage in activities for inspiring women and offer them new rolesand opportunities. They established a network of women volunteers and, with thesupport of an NGO, started small projects to encourage women to build their selfconfidence and capacities, and help them step out of the old tradition and embark on newroles in the community.
When decentralization made new positions available for women at a village andcommune level, these women became able to assume the role of leadership withincommunity organizations. Little by little, other women in communities have become able
to undertake new tasks in social organizations such as fishery committees and healthvolunteers’ networks, as well as in formal political positions. The initial group of womengrew into a critical mass of women active at various levels within their communities.
The leaders’ group has gone through a process of reshaping gender roles that hasinvolved their personal sphere and their family relations, and has been required patienceand capacities. By promoting changes within their families, those women have been able
to convince their husbands to accept the wives’ public roles and act positively.
Nevertheless, they have been confronted with crises, in particular when the communities’
access to resources such as forest or water sources was in danger of becoming lost. On
that occasion, they stood up for the communities and people by taking a series ofinitiatives to protect resources and rights. As a result, the community people came toacknowledge women as genuine and reliable leaders.
It is noteworthy that although the women leaders have diverse political affiliations,this has never impeded their efforts to work together. Despite these achievements,
however, the communities also show other trends that highlight difficulties that womenleaders face in promoting women’s initiatives and translating the idea of representation
into action. A series of new problems arise and afflict the communities, to which there
are no solutions in the short term. Lack of land and resources affects many families, andstrategies to cope with the crisis have important gender aspects, in particular whenunsafe migration of men and women in search of employment is involved. Family bonds
become more fragile, driving women into a situation where they have to abandon theirchildren, and increasing the number of single mothers whose livelihood is at risk offalling into poverty. The trend of the migration of girls to Malaysia and Thailand to workas maids or workers is spreading across the nation. Women leaders find themselves
barehanded, because the decentralization process has not yet been devolved locally,lacking power and tools to deal with these problems. Although local women leaders draw
on their integrity and stand by the people’s side, the leadership models around them areassociated with patronage and corruption, and therefore community women’s trust forthem is increasingly affected by that.
Moreover, institutional gender mainstreaming have gained momentum, shifting
the focus from gender discrimination and need for acting for gender equality to genericdiscourse, which equates gender with “women’s and children’s affairs” and is very often
interpreted as health care, child care, hygiene and sanitation. This discourse is extended
through meetings, trainings and forums, without further analysis or critical perspectives
that may help women leaders to elaborate policies and strategies in favor of women.
In short, important results in terms of women’s participation in community, social
life and decision making can be achieved by mobilizing women, building networks, andfocusing on self-confidence and awareness of discrimination. By adopting strategies toempower women, they can increase their ability to utilize their rights, and enforce thelaw. But these results need to be secured and the strategies need to be constantly
reviewed and elaborated to respond to new problems and challenges. If NGOs and thegovernment enhance their support for women in Cambodia, they will become more active
and exercise leadership in their communities and societies as men do.