CO-WEE Multi-Country Program in Asia The One Oxfam Asia strategy framework anticipates both gains and losses in women#s roles, rights and status, with increased visibility and participation in the labor force; challenges include poor working conditions, gender-based exploitation, impacts ofeconomic migration and identity-based politics exacerbating social exclusion and gender inequality. Separate analysis shows that women, who are responsible for the majority of food production in many developing countries, have severely limited access to job opportunities, markets, land, technology and financial services. These market and policy failures relegate women to a realm of economic dependency.At the same time, women and girls are overrepresented among those who are food-insecure. Promoting gender equality and women#s empowerment is about expanding opportunities, choices and control.

In January 2018, Oxfam in Cambodia held the Regional Learning Workshop: Innovative Integrated Development Solutions to Advance Women#s Empowerment event. This workshop recommended for a multi-country program (MCP) on Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) in Asia. An MCP on WEE would advance objectives stated in the One Oxfam Asia Strategy framework for Oxfam to be recognized as a thought leader on gender equality and women#s economic empowerment. It seeks to eliminate gender-related barriers to economic empowerment to develop and strengthen partnerships focused on levelling gender imbalances, motivate the private sector to address gender equality, leveraging and influencing media outlets, and deepening investments in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) in the region. We see a particular opportunity to focus in on women#s organizing capabilities and opportunities, where women # through savings groups, cooperatives, entrepreneur networks and social movements # are working to gain control over their economic futures.

This project supports the development of such a multi-country program through:
1. Organization of Asia Regional Workshop on Women#s Economic Empowerment hosted by Oxfam in Cambodia in collaboration with the Asia Regional Platform to co-design a WEE MCP
2. Facilitating post-workshop start-up initiatives/research for a multi-country program covering 4 countries- Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Timor Leste

Oxfam in Cambodia is well-positioned to support the development and facilitation of a WEE MCP given their initiative in hosting a regional event on WEE last year, their successful implementationof SfC, increased focus on WEE and their commitment to regional influencing work to expand Saving for Change as a platform for promoting WEE in the region.

I. Organization of Asia MCP Workshop on WEE hosted by Oxfam in Cambodia in collaboration with the Asia Regional Platform and supported by OUS to co-design a WEE MCP

The goal of the Asia MCP workshop on WEE is to initiate co-creation of aWEE MCP to be used for fundraising, program design and development purposes.  The event will be sponsored by OUS and hosted by Oxfam in Cambodia in collaboration with the Asia Regional Platform.

The objectives of the regional workshop are to:

# Support the implementation of the One Oxfam Asia Strategy Framework, the Oxfam International Women#s Economic Empowerment Framework, and current strong country projects to co-design a MCP;
# Develop shared theory of change, outcome, risk management strategy and an initial measurement framework with countries and partners;
# Agree on 1-3 projects we can start immediately based on current programming in the countries involved. This could be a research, identifying influencing objectives, a pilot collaboration, or other joint effort;
# Identify fundraising opportunities for this newly developed program and influencing work on WEE in the region;
# Share experiences and learning on WEE-related programming.

Key outputs: A workshop report and briefing document jointly with OUS, inputs to draft proposal for a WEE MCP by end of March 2019. This event will provide an opportunity to develop thinking that, through the engagement of the Asia Regional Platform and the Asia Regional WEE Community of Practice, can provide an input into a broader WEE Strategy for the Asiaregion.

The MCP design workshop will include the following countries: Cambodia, Laos,Vietnam and Timor Leste identified through OUS#s standard criteria used to select country partnerships and based on OUS#s WEE team#s strategic direction. In addition, members from the OUS WEE, ACJ, fundraising and ICT4D teams will participate, as well asother partner affiliates operating in these countries will be invited to join forces together in the 2020 spirit.

II. Facilitating post-workshop start-up initiatives/research for a multi-country program covering 4 countries- Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Timor Leste

This grant will provide seed funding to kick-start MCP interventions while we collectively raise funds for the full-fledged WEE MCP. While the actual scope of this component will be determined in the workshop, below are the potential activities that the grant will support.

Building on the existing work on financial inclusion and WEE and the anticipated needs to lay a ground work for operationalizing MCP, this seed funding will support the following:
1. Establishment of SfC/WEE Center ofExcellence in the region to potentially support the MCP
2. Potential joint research (e.g. baseline study, scoping on WEE, gender and power analysis, feasibility study etc) with Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Laos for a MCP based on the discussions and next steps agreed upon during the workshop
Based on the outcome of the workshop, the scope will be adjusted and refined as relevant.

Potential joint research with Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Laos for a MCP based on the discussions and next steps agreed upon during the workshop

Oxfam in Cambodia will facilitate implementation of next steps that emerge from the MCP design process during the workshop. Specific activities will be identified collectively by the participating MCP countries during the workshop which may include joint research or feasibility studies for refining the WEE MCP.

Establishment of SfC/WEE Center of Excellence in the region
Over the past thirteen years, Oxfam in Cambodia has successfully expanded the Saving for Change program (SfC) to over8,000 SfC groups with 140,000 members nation-wide (85% women), working closely with partners. Using SfC as a powerful platform for development, the team has developed interventions to promote community resilience, health education, natural resource management, and active citizenship. With its remarkable results, success stories and sustainable impact, SfC model has attracted many organizations both national and international who look for solutions to achieve their development goals. The success has increased the demand on SfC service, not only in Cambodia but in other countries in Asia and the Pacific. Based on the demand and request from other countries, Oxfam in Cambodia has supported expansion of the SfC methodology in Timor Leste, and Laos and has facilitated exchange visits forother organizations like Save the Children Myanmar, and Oxfam in Solomon Islands to educate them on the SfC methodology and the value in using SfC as a platform for development interventions.  Building on the success, OxfaminCambodia developed SfC Plus interventions including SfC + Youth, SfC + Ag, Community-Based Enterprise Development C-BED, a methodology developed by ILO and adopted by theteam to strengthen the business skills of aspiring SfC members, as well as integratedGender Action Learning Systems (GALS) in the SfC model, a tool developed by Oxfam Novib to address negative gender norms and involve men in the process.

The above work was supported through grants by OUS Food Systems and OUS PMU to advance Oxfam in Cambodia#s role as a regional technical expert on SfC and WEE.
The WEE MCP workshop will provide an opportunity to explore the enormous potentials to scale-up/pilot the Saving for Change methodology as a platform for WEE interventions in the participating MCP countries by leveraging the long-standing experience and technical expertise available within Oxfam in Cambodia.

Due to the change in country's priorities, Oxfam in Cambodia and Oxfam US agreed to adjust the grant activities as following:
1. Gender audit
2. Capacity development of Oxfam staff on gender, feminism and influencing