By Duong Chanmettachampavieng and Research team
Faculty of Development Studies (FDS), Royal University of Phnom Penh
The Cambodian peoples have always had close cultural, social and economic links with wetlands, from their earliest recorded history, as is evident from the murals at Angkor Wat temple complex. Most settlements are located near or in wetland areas and thus livelihoods are closely dependent on the natural resources diversity and productivity, especially capture fisheries and harvesting a wide variety of wild products. The central part of Cambodia which occupied the heart of the ancient Khmer empire, focused on the Tonle Sap lake and its connectivity to the lower Mekong river, forms a large seasonally dynamic wetland comprised of floodplains and flooded forests. Until relatively recently these wetlands fed and sustained millions of families both directly living next to them, but also millions of others who relied on the bountiful fisheries for cheap and easily available protein. However, there are numerous signs that the capture fisheries are collapsing, impacting the most vulnerable and poorest households and individuals hardest, including rural women, who are intimately involved in fishing and wetlands harvesting activities.
Women are recognized to outnumber males in the Cambodian population, partly due to a legacy of war and internal genocide. It is estimated that about 84% of the total female population live in rural areas, with an adult female literacy rate of 57%, compared to 79.5% for males (latest General Population Census in 2019). Traditionally, rural households have largely depended on farming, fishing and harvesting forest and wetlands resources as the primary sources of household food and income, but more recently, studies have shown that most households no longer rely on these sources for their main income, but rather off-farm sources, mostly through migrant remittances (OECD 2017).
Women are recognized to play a central role in harvesting, managing, and safeguarding wetlands and water resources. They are often at the forefront of household water provision, with women and girls often tasked with collecting water from wells, rivers, streams and ponds in rural communities where there is no piped water. Women are also integrally involved in seasonal fishing, processing and sale of fish, as well as harvesting and trade of numerous other wetlands products, although they are poorly represented in the institutions charged with managing these resources, from the local level upwards to national agencies. Thus the empowerment of women is an important requirement for inclusive, fair and effective wetlands and water management, in particular raising their profile and representation in the relevant management institutions.
In contemporary Cambodian culture, women’s rights and freedoms tend to be limited in almost all spheres. Customs, beliefs, social norms and codes often reinforce discrimination against women and thus lead to patterns of subordination by men in society. Typical values or norms expected of women include being modest, soft-spoken, "light walkers”, well-mannered, industrious, maintaining the household, acting as the family caretaker, main financial administrator, and being seen as the "preserver of the home".
As a result of enduring social attitudes, women often have enjoyed less access to education, especially higher levels of education attainment, in part due to expectations around the need for women to stay at home as the main day-to-day food provider for the family. Moreover the opportunities for women in some employment sectors are not equal and they tend to be paid less than male counterparts in rural settings., Female headed-households tend to lack access to male labor, have less capital or savings, are characterized as having higher levels of dependency on family labor and have less access to land and other property rights (ADB, 2005).Women are often less able than men to translate labor into income, income into choice and choice into personal wellbeing. Under such circumstances, they are particularly vulnerable to poverty.
To response to a sense of unequal participation of women in regional natural resources management, the BRIMOFOT Project aims to focus on the degree to which relevant institutions translate existing policies into actual practice, in a bid to encourage more equitable and meaningful participation of traditionally under‐represented groups. It is researching rural communities situated near to the border of Cambodia and Vietnam in the upper Mekong Delta, as well as examining the policy context regarding gender and water resources governance in each nation.
In terms of Cambodia’s national policy on gender, the government has set three overarching policy frameworks: 1/ Gender Sectoral Policies; 2/ Key institutions for setting Gender Policies and Plans; and 3/ Gender and Decentralization.
To promote gender equality and women's empowerment, the National Gender Policy has been formulated to provide a longer-term policy framework for gender equality in line with the SDG 5 [1].
The Royal Government’s Rectangular Strategy (2019) has set out a Gender Equity for Nutrition and Social Protection strategy as the key engagement within national governance to address gender equality in economic empowerment, education, health, legal protection, decision making and politics, and climate change. Especially, the plan promotes better working conditions and social protection for women and recognizes the role of women in agriculture, looking at models of cooperation with private sector to increase the number of enterprises led by women.
At the same time, the National Strategic Development Plan, (NSDP, 2019) recognizes little improvement in children and women’s nutritional status and vulnerability.
The environment and natural resource code of Cambodia was adopted by the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2018 (MoE 2018). It aims to enable the sustainable development of the country through protection of the environment and conservation, management, and restoration of natural and cultural resources. Part of this Code, Article 14 states, “The principle of gender equality in environmental protection and natural resource management”, to promote gender equity and the participation of women in all aspects of decision-making concerning the environment and natural resources. These activities underscore the government's commitment to improve people well-being, especially in the remote areas. As a result, it can see that there are a number of laws, relevant policies, but the implementation is still limited. Thus effective methods and plans require all of agencies to strengthen their understanding and implementation of these plans at all levels of management.
These are the key pieces of national policy and legislation regarding gender equity and participation in the natural resources management sector. Civil society and some state agencies have worked hard over the last decade to promote women’s rights, but there are still large gaps and challenges remaining in turning rhetoric into action and genuine positive change on the ground. While numerous studies have highlighted the central importance of women in water and wetlands management, all too often they remain on the margins of decision-making processes, with their voice excluded from key formal and informal institutions.
By emphasizing the crucial role that women play in the wetland and water sector through carefully targeted action research at several governance levels, BRIMOFOT hopes to elevate the ability of women to participate in key decision-making institutions, as well as supporting capacity building efforts. By doing this we believe that in future women will play a more significant role in sustainable water and wetland management, as part of national and regional governance development aims.
References:
Sustainable Development Goal 5 concerns gender equality among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording of SDG 5 is "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls".
Royal Government of Cambodia (2019) Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency, Phase IV
RGC, Royal Decree, SN/Roy Kr/0201/036, On Creation of Cambodian National Council for Women (2001)
Ministry of Environment (MoE).2018.Environment and Natural Resources Code: Phnom Penh National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning. “Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 2019
Nguyen H.; Biskupska, N. and Mortensen S. (2019). Exploring gender dimensions of water insecurity and governance in the Lower Mekong Region, SEI Discussion Brief, https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/genderand-water-insecurity-sei-discussion-briefing.pdf
OECD/Cambodia Development Resource Institute (2017), “What impacts does migration have on development in Cambodia?”, in Interrelations between Public Policies, Migration and Development in Cambodia, OECD Publishing, Paris.