User login
 
Cambodia

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties

How women participate in political parties – and how those parties encourage and nurture women’s involvement and incorporate gender-equality issues – are key determinants of women’s political empowerment. They are also key to ensuring gender-equality issues are addressed in the wider society. If strategies to promote women’s involvement in the political process are to be effective, they should be linked to steps parties can take across the specific phases of the electoral cycle – the preelectoral, electoral and post-electoral phases – and to the organization and financing of the parties themselves. 
 
The most effective strategies to increase women’s participation in political parties combine reforms to political institutions with targeted support to women party activists within and outside party structures, women candidates and elected officials. These strategies require the cooperation of a variety of actors and political parties from across the political spectrum.
 
The Guide identifies targeted interventions that political parties can take to empower women. It is structured according to four phases, following an electoral cycle approach.

Democracy With Women, For Women

This publication presents an overview and brief analysis of the first round of grants issued
by the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) in partnership with the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Both organizations are engaged in advancing gender equality and democratic governance around the world. The following pages probe, in a concise fashion, what was achieved through seven grants to improve women’s political participation in a diverse set of countries and regions.

A series of project profiles, drawn from reports and independent evaluations, summarizes objectives and activities, results, challenges, lessons and ideas for future work. Collectively and individually, the profiles shed light on effective strategies in implementing gender and governance programmes. This information may be useful for people carrying out or funding similar initiatives, or for gender advocates, governance specialists and researchers interested in a concise overview of recent experiences illustrating advancements in women’s political participation.

Since 2006, UNDEF has provided grants to strengthen democratic governance in over 100 countries. UNIFEM works with about 10 percent of UNDEF projects to inject its long-standing expertise in gender equality and governance. While all UNDEF projects contribute to realizing gender equality goals, UNIFEM puts deliberate emphasis on ensuring that women have an equal voice in all aspects of governance, peace and security and public decision-making. Globally, progress towards a gender balance in politics is being made, but the pace of change is slow, and the number of women in political offices remains low.

In 2006, the first round of UNDEF proposals awarded $36 million to 125 projects. Grant awards ranged from $50,000 to $500,000. UNIFEM assisted 10 projects in Argentina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Haiti, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania participated in a Great Lakes regional project, while Inter Press Service International implemented an Africa regional project in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Swaziland.

Report on Constituency Dialogues in Cambodia 2010

NDI‟s January to September 2010 constituency dialogues revealed significant consistencies in the concerns facing Cambodians across the program‟s 12 provinces: land conflicts; agricultural challenges, particularly irrigation needs and access to markets; pervasive corruption, especially among local authorities; unequal application of the law and lack of justice for the poor; and infrastructure and development needs, such as roads, health centers, schools, and electricity. There were remarkably few differences in the main issues from those in NDI‟s CD program the previous year. In 2010, NDI found that Cambodians had a pervasive sense that although their country‟s economy was growing, this development was benefiting the rich and connected, and not the average Cambodian. Feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction underscored people‟s remarks, and participants were outspoken and critical at the events.

Ending Violence Against Women and Human Trafficking: A Guide to New Strategies

CRosario's picture

This toolkit provides you with resources and ideas to help focus your efforts to fight domestic violence, sexual violence and trafficking and to give you a framework for action. It contains not only specific case studies of women across the globe, but it also provides policy background as well as concrete examples of what you can do to mount a campaign to combat human trafficking, sexual violence or domestic violence. Contact the authors at sfoster[at]stepheniefoster.com
and cindydyer[at]vitalvoices.org.

Strategies for Policymakers #1 March 2009: Bringing Women into Government

Women bring important skills, attributes, and perspectives to the governance process. Few times offer policymakers as good an opportunity to increase the number of women participating in government as those windows immediately after conflicts. Those women who have successfully entered government have tended to build governance systems that are more stable and transparent, and more often accepted as legitimate by society. They have demonstrated the ability to bridge political divides, highlight women’s concerns, facilitate a consultative and participatory approach to policymaking, and press for government accountability. Despite their documented contributions, they are largely excluded. In October 2000, the UN Security Council mandated women’s full participation in peace building in Resolution 1325. Few policymakers, however, know how to fulfill this obligation. This guide intends to provide the international community with concrete strategies to successfully bring women into government. This publication presents case studies of Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Rwanda. Top recommendations These policies are proven to increase women’s participation in government (see page 4 for complete list of recommendations): 1. Demand women’s inclusion in transitional institutions, especially constitution-drafting bodies. 2. Support constitutional provisions, such as parliamentary and executive branch quotas, that guarantee women’s participation in all branches and at all levels of government. 3. Establish election mechanisms that advance women’s representation, including quotas for political parties, indirect elections, and proportional representation systems with closed ("zippered") lists, which alternate the names of male and female candidates. 4. Support electoral systems that require voters to select male and female candidates. About the Series Strategies for Policymakers condenses a decade of research and direct input from leading peace builders into concise recommendations for ensuring the extensive involvement of women in peace processes. Each guide consists of a set of best practices highlighting policies and programs proven to increase women’s participation, as well as stories of countries that have shown these mechanisms better involve women in all stages of the peace-building process.

Cambodia: The Law on The Prevention of Domestic Violence and The Protection of Victims

This law aims to establish a legal mechanism to prevent domestic violence, protect the victims and preserve the harmony within the households in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

CEDAW Message Posters

These posters were developed to raise public awareness in Cambodia on the CEDAW principles regarding equal access to education and women's participation in all work areas.

Practitioner’s Guide to Designing Inclusive and Accountable Local Democratic Institutions

This guide is the first of its kind to provide an overview of the current range of local representative arrangements and electoral systems in Asia and the Pacific. This easy-to-use guide will assist country offices/teams and government partners as programmes are shaped to make local decision-making processes more inclusive and accountable to all citizens.

Consolidated Response on Gender Mainstreaming in South-East Asia

This consolidated response highlights the role of international organizations, national governments, and non-profit women’s organizations in mainstreaming gender into national policies and legislation of the South-East Asian countries.

Performances of Resistance: Women's Struggle for Political Power in Cambodia

This paper explores how politically engaged Cambodian women have developed strategies and performed various types of resistance against the male domination of democratic arenas. It investigates possible ways to eliminate gendered hierarchies of power and alter the stereotypes of men and women. It addresses two processes: the issue of networking as a factor that enables women's political participation; and the elaboration of new identities through the resistance of female Cambodian politicians.