The RGC has recognized that sustainable development and good governance depend on women taking part in all decision-making processes. The most significant quantitative and qualitative gender gaps are in the areas of political participation and decision-making, due to deeply entrenched gender biases against women which systematically prevent women from getting equal access to these opportunities.
In the 5th Mandate, the RGC will focus on promoting women in the public sector through increasing the gender ratio in line ministry management and strengthening women’s ability to pursue leadership both at management and technical levels. These priorities could be addressed through active and strategic participation in the processes of SNDD, PAR, the National Election Committee (NEC), political parties and line ministries.
Strong political backing and high-level advocacy from CNCW would be instrumental in pushing this agenda forward. Through PAR there is potential to advocate for affirmative action for women in the civil service to be implemented and monitored. MoWA works with the Ministry of Civil Service MoCS) to maintain up-to-date statistics on women at all levels of the civil service, and monitor changes.
CNCW and MoWA can advocate with key stakeholders, including the political parties, for legislating affirmative action and gender equality commitments in political party laws and policies, especially increasing the number of women candidates on party lists.
MoWA can supplement the policy demand side with additional supporting measures to increase the quality and quantity of the supply side, such as technical, leadership and management capacity development for women candidates and civil servants, women in leadership forums and support networks, and promoting women’s access to higher education. MoWA and the Ministry of Civil Service need to ensure that women participate equally in regular civil service capacity development programs and opportunities.
MoWA will continue to work with LMs, in particular GMAPs to ensure that gender is mainstreamed throughout on-going RGC policy and reform programs, and to increase the national budget allocation for gender mainstreaming by targeting specific and adequate resources at the national machinery, as well as in line ministries, with solid gender-mainstreaming strategies. MoWA is planning to develop the first National Policy on Gender Equality. This, in conjunction with successful integration of gender equality measures at the reform level, will create an enabling environment and pave the way for successful mainstreaming at the sectoral level.
MoWA coordinates with PAR/MoCS and line ministries to ensure all programs, legislation and guidelines related to PAR are gender responsive. Capacity is needed on gender mainstreaming into public administration and public services of MoWA, MoCS, RSA and line ministries.
The NP-SNDD is an important vehicle for increasing women’s participation in decision-making at sub-national level, as there is a strong gender-mainstreaming component to it. Through the NP-SNDD there is potential for quantitative and qualitative increases in women’s leadership and decision-making at local levels. This can be done through technical support, capacity building and promoting networking among women leaders at sub-national levels across regions.
The RGC will continue to implement the PFMRP aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Cambodia’s public financial management system according to international standards. MoWA and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) will promote gender-responsive budgeting by encouraging all government agencies to consider the resource implications of mainstreaming gender into their on-going programs, and ensure that this total allocation is requested from MEF.
In stage two of the PFMRP, MoWA and GMAGs will monitor to ensure that gender equality measures are included in all line ministries’ annual plans and budgets.