Heinrich boll stiftungの連続セミナー、北京女性会議と北京綱領から２０年を振り返って、という会合で、お話しさせていただくことに。
なんでも、政府の人を呼んでも、非政府組織の人がいたらこないそう・・・・・はははは・・・そうだろうなと理解したのは、あとになってからである。
↓欧州議会の議員さんがゲストで、ネパールの活動家がチェアー
メタハウスでの会合、連続で５つの異なるセミナーを開催するそう・・・・・この日は、午前は北京関連で、午後は人身取引。午後のセミナーは、工事ですっごくうるさくなって、スピーカーの声が聞き取れないことが何度もあったのである。わたしたちがセッションをやってた時は、静かで、あとになって、よかった〜って思ったのである。
わたしの担当は、２０年を振り返っての成果と課題を紹介すること。なにせ昨年政府報告書を書いたばっかりなので、内容はまだたいてい覚えてるし、他のスピーカーということもたいして変わらないから、あまり準備もしなくてよかったんだけれど、「統計は大事！！」ってネパール人がコメント。そうなのだ、カンボジア人だけかもしれないけれど、非政府組織の人って、なかなか統計をつかって分析するってことができないのだ。活動家としてはいいんだけれど、現状分析がちょっと弱くなりがちなんだよな。
以下は、わたしの原稿。
Listen to Women: For a change
Roundtable on Beijing plus 20
16 February 2015
Achievements and challenges
the implementation of Beijing Platform for Action in Cambodia
Key words: Beijing Platform for Action(BPFA),Empowerment,
Background
- Beijing Platform for Action(BPFA) in Cambodia
Cambodia endorsed the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) at the Forth World Conference on Women (FWCW) in 1995. The period following the FWCW has been an eventful one with many actions and measures being initiated and achievements attained. The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has put gender equality as a top priority in the government development agenda, with significant political commitment, and has taken concrete measures in order to achieve the goals set out in BPFA. Cambodia has periodically reviewed the progress of the implementation of BPFA, submitted reports in 2000 and 2004, and participated in the regional and global review with the latest one done in 2015 in and will be presented in March 2015 at the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW).
Achievements to date
- Active women’s participation in the poverty reduction
Promoting gender equity is one of the priority actions in the RGC’s poverty reduction strategies such as the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) (2003-2005) and the National Strategic Development Plans (NSDP)[1]. Following the historic UN Millennium Summit in 2000, which set broad Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by the year 2015, Cambodia developed its own set of MDGS, the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals (CMDGs), focusing on poverty alleviation and human development. Cambodia has been making progress in women’s economic empowerment to achieve these poverty alleviation goals. Women’s opportunities to get employment have expanded, and more women are in paid employment. The labor force participation rate for women in Cambodia is the highest in the region, with increases in women’s labor force participation rates rising from 75.6 to 79.7 per cent between 2008 and 2012 for the age group 15-64 years.[2]
- Increase of girls’ enrolment to schools
There has been substantial improvement since 2004 in narrowing the gender gap in the literacy rate among the 15 -24 age group and the proportion of female to male literacy was more than 99 per cent in 2011 compared to 91. 3 percent in 2004.[3] This progress is on track to achieve its CMDG target. Gender parity has been achieved in primary school level net enrollment. The 2013/2014 Gender Parity Index[4] improved to 0.97 in primary net enrollment, and from 1.05 for secondary enrollment. The gender gap in the grade 6-completion rate has been eliminated, with the completion rate at 88.94 percent for both sexes (girl 90.19 and boys 87.75) in 2013/2014[5].
The net enrollment of girls (aged 6-11) was 94.8 per cent in 2008 and it increased to 97 per cent in 2014. This progress is almost reaching the CMDG 2015 goal of achieving 100 per cent net enrollment by 2015.
- Dramatic decrease of maternal mortality rate (MMR):
Cambodia is one of 10 countries that are on track in 2013 to achieve MDG 4 and MDG 5 to reduce child mortality and maternal mortality[6]. The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has more than halved to 206/100,000 in 2010 from 472/100,000 in 2005, a remarkable reduction in a short time period.[7] This progress has already met the CMDG 2015 goal of 250/100,000 MMR. This success greatly owes to the RGC’s efforts to improve the delivery of key reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health interventions for women and children. This includes increased government spending allocations to health, and the development and expansion of three health care financing schemes: performance-based financing, health equity funds, and vouchers with active support from development partners and civil society organizations.
- Increased female participation in decision-making positions:
After the national reconciliation in 1991, and the first democratic election in 1993, the participation of women in decision-making positions has steadily increased in many fields.
The number of women in the National Assembly has continuously increased over the past four legislatures, from 5 per cent in 1993 to 20.3 percent in 2013[8]. The proportion of female members in the Senate remained stable at 14.7 per cent between 1999 and 2012[9]. There has been an increase in the proportion of women in senior government positions since 1998. In 2013, although there are no female Senior Ministers among a total of 15, one out of nine Deputy Prime Ministers is female. The percentage of female Ministers has increased from 7.14 per cent (two female ministers out of a total of 28) in 2008, to 11 percent (three female ministers out of 27) in 2013[10].
All ministries have at least one female Secretary of State and one female Under Secretary of State. The proportion of female Secretary of State appointees increased from 16 (8 per cent) in 2008 to 38 (20.5 per cent) in 2013. The number of female Under Secretary of State appointees has increased from 33 (15 per cent) in 2008 to 48 (17.58 per cent) in 2013. Affirmative action in promoting women in public administration has made a difference. As a result of the State Secretariat of Civil Services Guidelines in 2007, that each ministry to have 20−50 percent women among new recruits, the proportion of female civil servants has increased from 34 per cent in 2008 to 37 percent in 2013. In the judiciary, in 2010, women represented 14 per cent of judges, an increase from 7.7 per cent in 2008.
At sub-national level, strong progress in female representation has been made at Deputy levels with females comprising 16.78 percent of Deputy Governors at Provincial/Capital level (24 females of a total 143) and almost 25 percent of Deputy Governors of Municipalities, District & Khans (23.79 percent, 196 female of 828 total)[11] Also, the proportion of women elected as members of Commune/Sangkat councils more than doubled from 8 per cent in 2002 to 18 per cent in 2012[12].
- Formulation of gender equality and gender mainstreaming policies
Cambodia has made significant progress in formulating policies for gender equality and the empowerment of women since BPFA. Mainstreaming gender equality at all levels is a high priority of the RGC and a political commitment, while also being considered as a requisite for good governance.
With the implementation of BPFA, the Secretariat of State for Women’s Affairs was elevated to the status of Ministry of Women’s Affairs (in 1996). Other institutional mechanisms for gender equality and the empowerment of women include the Cambodian National Council for Women (CNCW), Gender Mainstreaming Action Groups (GMAGs) in all line ministries and the Technical Working Group on Gender (TWGG). At the sub- national level, provincial and district Women’s and Children’s Consultative Committees (WCCC) have regular meetings with the Board of Governors on women, youth and children issues. For better delivery of services to rural men and women, Commune Committees on Women and Children (CCWC) have been established and Sub – decree 22 requires that among the three village leaders, at least one must be a woman.
Gender is also mainstreamed in national policies namely; the Socio-Economic Development Plan I (1996-2000) and II (2001-2005), the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NRPS), the Rectangular strategy 1, 2 and 3. The CMDGs also considers gender equality as a priority.
Since BPFA, MoWA has developed a key national policy for women in 1996 to guide the country for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. The national policy was operated through the five year strategic plan called Neary Rattanak (NR) [13], and it passed through three generation, NR1 (1999), NR 2 (2005-2009), and NR 3 (2009-2013) and the 4th generation (2014-2018) is under development along with the key national documents of the fifth RGC’s mandate (2013-2018), namely, the Rectangular Strategy III and NSDP 2014-2018.
- 7. Attitudes towards Violence Against Women (VAW) is positively changing:
The RGC has committed to the prevention of violence against women (VAW) through its endorsement of international declarations and conventions and a number of laws and policies have been adapted to date, including;
- Labour Law (1997)
- Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims (2005) (DV Law)
- Law on Monogamy (2006)
- Laws on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation (2008)
- Civil Procedure Code (2006)
- Civil Code (2007)
- Penal Code (signed in 2009)
- 1st National Action Plan to Prevent VAW (2009-2012)
- Criminal Procedure Code (2007)
- Law on Regulating Concentrated Acid (2011)
- The National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2014-2018
- Safe Village/Commune/Sangkat Policy (2010)
- 2nd National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women (2014-2018)
MoWA initiated a baseline survey (2005) and a follow-up survey (2009), which showed that both men and women were generally expressing a much lower tolerance for violence between these time periods. In 2009, victims were also reporting decreased levels of domestic violence. The percentage of Cambodians who understand that violence against women is a wrongful behavior and a crime increased from 30 percent in 2008 to 80 percent in 2009, exceeding the 2015 CMDG target of 70 per cent (CMDG 2011).
Major challenges
- Limited access of girls to continue to lower secondary and higher education
While gender parity has been achieved in primary education enrolment, beyond lower secondary, access to education for girls is limited and completion rates remain low. Girl’s completion rate of lower secondary school remains at 40 per cent and upper secondary at only 22.1 per cent (2013/2014, MoEYS). Social norms that prioritize boys over girls education is just one of the barriers to education for girls[14]. The perception of parents towards their daughters is generally that they should help with household chores and take care of younger siblings, undermining the importance of higher education.[15]
- Limited opportunities for women’s access to better paid employment
With the implementation of gender-responsive labor policies and promoting gender equality in the labor market, some gender gaps in the labor market have been reduced. However, women still suffer from persistent gender inequality in employment.
About 70 per cent of employed women, compared to 59 per cent of men, remain in vulnerable employment, defined as unpaid work contributing to the family and own account workers. [16] Low levels of education and literacy constitutes one of the main barriers to women’s participation in and benefit from better paid work.
Way forward
A five-year gender mainstreaming policy, Neary Rattanak 4, was endorsed, and the implementation stage has started. This is a guiding principle document for RGC, development partners and non-governmental organizations to combine all efforts to empower women and promote gender equality in Cambodia. With other tools such as CEDAW, BPFA, and the new internationally agreed principle which will replace Millennium Development Goals (MDG), it is essential that all stockholders joint our forces together to effectively achieves the goals for gender equality, protection of women’s rights, reducing gender-based violence and empowerment of women and girls.
[1] MOP, 2009, NSDP Update, Phnom Penh
[2] MOP, Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey (CSES), 2008 and 2012
[3] MOP, 2014, Annual Progress Report 2013, Achieving Cambodia’s Millennium Development Goals, Phnom Penh
[4] The Gender Parity Index is the ratio of female to male values of a given indicator: A GPI of 1 indicates parity between sexes. (MOYES, 2014, Education Statistics & Indicators 2013/2014)
[5] MOYES, 2014, Ibid
[6] WHO report 2013, Success factor in women’s and children’s health. Cambodia is one of top ten countries that have made substantial progress to achieving MDG 4 and 5 targets. www.who.int/pmnch/knowledge/publications/siccessfactors/en/
[7] CDHS, 2010
[8] MOP, 2013, Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] MoWA, 2014, Cambodia Gender Assessment 2014, Phnom Penh
[11] Ibid.
[12] RGC, 2013, Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency Phase III, Phnom Penh
[13] Neary Rattanak means Women as Precious Gems
[14] RGC, 2010, Fourth and Fifth National report on the implementation of CEDAW in Cambodia, Phnom Penh
[15] MoWA, 2011, Report on Study of emerging gender issues among women, girls and youth in Cambodia, Phnom Penh
[16] CSES, 2012
