Joint Press Release Re​sults of the Commune/Sa​ngkat Council Elections 2012: further efforts required to achieve quantitati​ve and qualitativ​e female representa​tion in politics in Cambodia

https://www.box.com/s/9698c6d7e1bbe9d92f75


https://www.box.com/s/257d5c69e6319f102bb6

Cambodia, UN hold forum to promote women's entrepreneurship

Phnom Penh, June 6 (Xinhua): Cambodia's ministry of women' s affairs and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on Wednesday jointly organized a forum on women's entrepreneurship promotion to discuss challenges women are facing in business management.

The one-day forum was attended by some 80 high-level government representatives, international experts, leaders of women's business associations, women's producers groups, entrepreneurs and economic experts, Ing Kantha Phavi, minister of women's affairs, said in her opening address.

Cambodia's feminist MP is gaining ground [-Mu Sochua's plight for Cambodian women and the SRP]

Mu Sochua leads a strategy session for candidates. Photo by Anna Brown

Mu Sochua and Aung San Suu Kyi meet in Yangon. Photo supplied

Deputy Sam Rainsy Party Leader Mu Sochua poses while traveling in Banteay Meanchey province earlier this month. Photo by Anna Brown

Friday, 20 April 2012
Anna Brown
The Phnom Penh Post

“This is not a poor country; it is a badly governed country” - Mu Sochua

Women candidates, local focus are key to SRP’s goal of doubling seats in June’s commune elections Mu Sochua says

Mu Sochua picks me up at my hotel at the crack of dawn. My first impression is of being put at ease. It’s as though she’s unaware of the reputation that preceded her.

As the Land Cruiser pulls away, she urges the driver to maintain a steady speed and to be cautious about overtaking other vehicles on the narrow highway that stretches north from Battambang to Banteay Meanchey province – until it is timely to do so.

She surprises me – and the driver – when we stop for breakfast by urging him to join us after he had humbly taken a seat at another table. As he sits, he is included in our conversation, erasing any sense of the hierarchy that had compelled him to sit alone.

Women Building Democracy - From Cambodia to Burma

We agree that women are in politics and that politics is about issues in our everyday life. Politics for women is about building a movement and having a voice to bring change for women and with women.

The group that crafted and delivered the best message on FREEDOM - our lesson on DAY 2

Millions of women have no access to justice, says UN

Wednesday, July 6, 2011
By MADELEINE BUNTING
The Irish Times

MORE THAN 50 per cent of working women globally, 600 million, are trapped in insecure jobs without legal protection, according to the first report of the new agency UN Women.

A similar number do not have even basic protection against domestic violence, it finds, while sexual assault has become a hallmark of modern conflict.

Michelle Bachelet, the executive director of UN Women, said the document showed millions of women had no access to justice.

“The report reminds us of the remarkable advances that have been made over the past century in the quest for gender equality and women’s empowerment,” she said.

Two Women at Top Posts of Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania

Hon. Irena Degutiene-First woman to hold the post of Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament(Ruling party) and Hon.Virginia Baltratiene-Deputy Speaker (from Opposition party) with members of Women's Democracy Network - Vilnius June,2011.

Saturday, July 02, 2011
By Mu Sochua
On the web at http://sochua.wordpress.com/

With 18% women members,The Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania elected its first lady Speaker in September,2009. The First Deputy Speaker (also a woman) is from the opposition party.

Committee on Audit and Committee on Budget and Finance are chaired by opposition parties.

After 20 years under the oppressive Soviet Union regime, Lithuania has built institutions deeply rooted with democratic principles.

Midlander, foundation work for Cambodian women’s empowerment

Saturday, June 11, 2011
By Theresa Clift
Midland Daily News

Midlander and retired Dow Corning Vice President Marie Eckstein recently spent two weeks in Cambodia working with The Harpswell Foundation.

The politically-neutral Harpswell Foundation’s mission is to empower a new generation of women leaders in Cambodia and the developing world. Eckstein is a new member of its advisory board.

The foundation was created by Alan Lightman, a retired professor at both Harvard and The University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Bijou orchestra’s musical production of Lightman’s best-selling book Einstein’s Dreams, inspired Eckstein to take the trip.

“I wanted to see if there were opportunities where I could help,” Eckstein said. “What I found was just amazing.”

Cambodia: Women Entrepreneurs and Social Media

10 June 2011
Written by Sopheap Chak
Global Voices Online

The Cambodian Women in Business page was established on Facebook in November 2009 to share the experience of women in doing business and networking in Cambodia. Since then, a number of formal gatherings has been held by the network through the support of the International Finance Cooperation of Cambodia. Last week, the first informal gathering was successfully organized through individual contributions.

About 40 network participants showed up at the gathering last June 3 to discuss the role of Facebook in facilitating their various businesses. The event was participated by bloggers, e-entrepreneurs, business women, and civil society organizations.

Photo courtesy of @homePhotography by Jerry

Lesson from Cambodia: Why Female Role Models are Key to Women’s Empowerment

June 8th, 2011
By Victoria L. Petitjean
By 3p Guest Author

The case for sex and gender equality has been widely made, and maybe more than ever in recent years with people focusing particularly on women still lacking in important decision-making roles. One important point that has been made is that we, individuals, societies and even businesses need to understand even more fully this matter as a fundamental of socio-economic sustainability.

Maybe even more crucially and as a priority, women must believe in themselves. In a recent TedX speech, Sheryl Sandberg, mother and Facebook COO, talked about how we have indeed made progress in terms of women’s rights (including access to education, work, healthcare and respect). Yet, recurring daily examples from all over the world reveal that not only can we not become complacent of our relative progress in these matters but women themselves must also focus more fundamentally on one core aspect: the need to believe in their own dreams and capacities.

As a First Lady and as the only woman leading the team responsible for the drafting of the Universal Human Rights Declaration, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her biography:

Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home […] they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he (sic) lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination.

Cambodian ‘Vital Voice’ Urges More Women’s Rights

Cambodian parliamentarian and human rights leader Mu Sochua meets with US Secretary of Sate Hillary Clinton during a Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards event in Washington, DC on April 12, 2011. (Photo: Courtesy of Mu Sochua)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDchxcwgTiE&feature=player_embedded

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington Monday, 18 April 2011

“All parliamentarians, especially those 90 members of the Cambodian People’s Party, should uphold the parliamentary power bestowed upon us. Don’t protect your party principles, because as politicians we serve the voters, not the party."

Vital Voices, an organization for women leadership, held an annual awards ceremony in Washington this month, gathering many women from around the world who work toward greater rights.

The ceremony, held at the Kennedy Center in downtown Washington, honored seven women, including Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for their contributions in politics, advocacy and business. The other awardees came from Afghanistan, Cameroon, India, Israel, Palestine and the US.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, founder of the organization, said at the April 13 ceremony that each woman shared common values, despite the differences in their countries.

Women Building Democracy – Is it our Business?

April 3, 2011
By Mu Sochua
Originally posted at: http://sochua.wordpress.com

When watching and hearing about the revolution that is shaking decades of dictatorship in the Arab world, I ask myself : When in Cambodia?

I have been in this business of building democracy for more than two long decades. Is there hope for change?

When is not the first question to ask.

I believe that the first question is: How?

Is the How happening?

I believe that the How is the grassroots movement which is happening on a small scale here in Cambodia, but independently in different parts of the country. When our farmers can walk over 200kilometers from the North-West to the city to lodge their complaints, I think the government sees this as the beginning of a big movement. This explains the cracking down on demonstrators- almost always with violence and even against women and children.

We must nurture these movements by fighting for liberties and freedoms. Women have a huge part in this fight as women are first to be affected by injustice, violence and discrimination.

SRP MP Mu Sochua's RIGHTS TALK in Hong Kong on 25 March 2011

Lacking Education, Women Face Limited Opportunity [-It's a real SHAME!]

Women play an important role in land protest in Boeung Kak Lake (Photo: Reuters)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Friday, 11 March 2011

“We do not want women to take over the roles of men, but to be equal or very much the same.”

Women face few prospects in the economy or politics, highlighting a need for better education and opportunities, a leading rights advocate said Thursday.

Pung Chhiv Kek, founder of the rights group Licadho, told “Hello VOA” that women here are limited in what they can do, with many finding their way to labor in the garment sector.

“We do not want women to just be garment factory workers,” she said. “If women have work to do, it’s better than nothing. But we want to see women becoming the presidents of companies, leaders of large or medium-sized companies. We want women to obtain very high levels of education in order for women to be incorporated in all sectors of societal leadership.”

Cambodian women struggling to meet MDGs

Thida Khus

March 8, 2011
ABC Radio Australia

Eighteen years since the end of Cambodia's civil war, the lives of many Cambodians are little improved, with many seeking out a living from day to day.

With four years to go before the UN's target date of Millenium Development Goals, it looks like Cambodia still faces the challenge in poverty eradication, education, maternal health and gender rights.

Mrs Thida Khus is the executive director of Silaka, a Cambodian NGO working to promote gender equality and equity in Cambodia.

When Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Thida and her husband lived in Thailand where he was teaching mathematics.

They stayed briefly in a Thai refugee camp before Thida and her children went to the United States, her husband joining them later.

Thida Khus has been working in human resource development for the past 18 years.

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speakers: Thida Khus, executive director, Silaka, Phnom Penh

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

Life in Cambodia on International Women's Day

Sarany Prak

Sarany Prak lives in Snapmok village in Prek Kaporp commune in Battambang, Cambodia. She is the general manager of Ek Phnom micro credit union

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Guardian.co.uk

I was married in 1979, but it was not voluntary. Parents on both sides agreed that we should get married. I didn't want to. I was young. I enjoyed going to parties.

When the Khmer Rouge came to power I was 13 or 14. I had to leave school because they said we couldn't go any more. The Khmer Rouge forced me to work. I had to help build a dam and do rice farming. Everyone was treated the same – women weren't treated any differently.

When the Khmer Rouge lost power my parents said I should have a husband and a family and start a new life. At first I didn't like my husband, but I had to adjust so that we could live together and raise children. Now I'm much happier.

Award finalists weave local change

The Indradevi Hope Awards were designed by Artisans d’Angkor. Behind, award finalist Loem Lida talks about her work in a village near Siem Reap. Photo by: PHA LINA

From left, finalists Sophea Oum, Chum Kirivath and Houn Sovannary. Photo by: PHA LINA

Monday, 07 March 2011
Sarah Macklin
The Phnom Penh Post

SIX inspiring women have been named as finalists for Cambodia’s first Indradevi Hope Awards.

“We wanted to honour the extraordinary Cambodian women who are working hard to bring about a positive change in their communities,” said Lynn Muller, president of Women’s International Group, a non-profit group of more than 20 nationalities who meet regularly in Phnom Penh.

And the awards were a great way to draw attention to the unsung heroines working in the fields of education, health and the empowerment of women, she added.

“The Indradevi awards demonstrate WIG’s commitment to community-based projects. This is an inaugural award that we hope will continue on an annual basis.”

'Equal Status Is Key'

Cambodian opposition political figures Mu Sochua (R) and Sam Rainsy (L) walk to court in Phnom Penh, July 24, 2009. (AFP)

2011-03-04
Radio Free Asia

A leading opposition figure calls for the defense of women's rights ahead of International Women's Day.

Mu Sochua, president of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) Women's Wing, spent 18 years in exile from her homeland after she was forced to flee war and genocide during the Khmer Rouge era. After earning degrees in the United States, she returned to Cambodia in 1989 to work as an advocate for human rights. She won a seat to parliament in 1998 and soon afterward was asked to take over the Ministry of Women's and Veteran's Affairs. She stepped down from her cabinet post in 2004, citing corruption as a major obstacle to her work, but has continued to represent Cambodia's women as a member of parliament.

Founded in 1995, the Sam Rainsy Party Women's Wing works to mobilize women on issues that are crucial to women's lives, train and prepare SRP women leaders at all levels, and provide women candidates with winning positions on the SRP lists of candidates.

Ahead of International Women's Day, Sochua and her group underlined the need for reforms in various fields to better protect women in Cambodia.

"On March 8, 2011 the world celebrates the 100-year anniversary of International Women’s Day. Today we must honor the vital role that women play in the development of our country. It is a day for us to stand together, raise our voices and defend women’s human rights.

SRP MP Mu Sochua's address on International Women's Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39G8W5qMbwk&feature=player_embedded

Congratulations Pheng Sotheany! First Cambodian woman driver for Cambodia's UNDP

Cambodia's Heroine: Mu Sochua at the World in 2011