Cambodian women remain largely marginalized within the political sphere. This is especially true for indigenous women in local decision making.  To better understand and promote indigenous women’s participation in both traditional and formal political institutions, the Cambodia Country Office, together with GTZ, has launched an action research project. The project was conducted during the months of May, June and July 2008 among indigenous communities in Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng and among Khmer communities in Kratie.

Following a very complex and tricky cross road at the intersection between ethnicity, gender, and political representation, the study points at both obstacles and opportunities to enhance indigenous women’s political participation. While most female commune councilors are still facing an ethnically Khmer and male dominated context in which their role is downsized and marginalized, women participating in this research agreed on the relevance of women’s access to governance, and on the capacity and commitment that women have in managing the communities. The study results are currently being disseminated through a number of workshops both at the provincial and national level.

Full study in (English, PDF, 55 pages, 490KB)_Final Version