Cambodia Leadership Skills

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Posted by: | Posted on: February 27, 2016

Women’s Leadership: A Case Study From Cambodia

Women’s Leadership: A Case Study From Cambodia

Meeting with community leaders (February 2011)

torkimsy_19In a rural commune situated along the Mekong river in Kratie province, a group of women with a strong motivation to work for other women`s emancipation come together and decided to engage in activities that could inspire women and offer them new roles and opportunities. They established a network of women volunteers and with the support of a NGO they started small projects to encourage women’s self-confidence and capacities, and help them stepping out of tradition and engage in new roles. When decentralisation made available to women new positions at village and commune level, these women were able to assume these roles; they become leaders within community organisations and in the 2007 commune council elections one of them gained the position of chair of the commune council.

For this reason their experience offered a great opportunity to learn more about the best strategies that women can employ to gain representation in local politics and to analyse what changes such representation can produce among community in terms of gender equality.  The research process initiated by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in cooperation with these women started in 2008 and lasted until 2011.

The small group of committed women has centred their capacity building on women’s self-esteem, pursued through specific activities to overcome gender based discrimination and the feeling of being inadequate and incapable that result from it. Little by little other community women have been able to assume new tasks in social organisations, like fishery committees or health volunteers’ networks, or in formal political positions when these become available. The initial group of women grew into a critical mass of women active at various levels within their community.

The leaders` group have gone through a process of reshaping gender roles that has involved their personal sphere and their family’s relations, and has required patience and capacities. By being able to promote changes within their families, convincing husbands to accept wives’ public roles and act consequently, they have obtained the esteem of the community’s women, and have proved that gender roles can be re-negotiated peacefully and with mutual advantages. Their example provides them recognition as trustable leaders by women and men.

During this process, they have been confronted with crises, in particular when community’s access to resources such as forest or water sources, was endangered.  In that occasions they took side with the community and engage on the side of the people in a series of initiatives to protect resources and rights.  As a result community people acknowledged them as correct and accountable leaders, not corrupt and willing to act and stand up on the side of the people, even when integrated into the mainstream of formal politics.  Noticeably, the women leaders have diverse political affiliations, but this has never impeded them to work together.

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Posted by: | Posted on: February 27, 2016

January 7 is analysed as dividing day for Cambodia political leadership

Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 49

Image Credit: Ari V/ Shutterstock.com

Image Credit: Ari V/ Shutterstock.com

This part (49), Mr. Sophan Seng analysed the celebration of “January 7, 1979” in which Cambodia’s People Party (CPP) under PM Hun Sen’s leadership has always celebrated this day as liberation day. At all times, the party’s policy has condemned Khmer Rouge regime by valuing the invading day of Vietnam.

According to his view, many analysts have viewed this day as a “dividing day” for Cambodia politics. To prove its dividing synthesis, two factors are articulated:

  1. From the period of Angkor’s decline, Cambodia political leadership has been so divisive among Khmer leaders. Each side has always asked for aids from Siam and Dai Viet to support their causes to advance for personal powers and interests. Thus, the compensation was huge. Sometime, each side compensated national treasure, some time each side compensate land. As a witness, Cambodia land has been in a significant shrink.

  2. External political changes especially the aura of the cold war that each powerful countries took small countries as their hostage for negotiation. Cambodia was one of those states being brutalized.

Posted by: | Posted on: June 30, 2015

Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from Khmer Youth part 26

This part of 26th volume, the author Mr. Sophan Seng described the first phase of Sun Ray Political Platform aiming to upgrade political opposition of Cambodia in implementing genuine democratic political party system like it has been practiced in civilized countries particularly Canada, Australia and the UK.

Leadership Skills 1In Cambodia, the democratic development has not been inclusive since 1993 such as the inclusiveness of fair play political parties, the inclusiveness of civic engagement through civil society and bottom-line community, the inclusiveness of free and fair election committee (NEC), and the inclusiveness of responsive and effective governance leadership.

Historical remark, the political party of government leadership has enjoyed free ride since the first election result in 1993 sponsored by the United Nations. The UNs failed to establish a strong and dynamic opposition party since the beginning. The monopoly of power and resources by the political party of government leadership Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is remained visibly tenacious. While the government and party’s affairs are not clearly separate, the opposition party(s) in Cambodia have been planned in “activism” leadership than “government” leadership.

In Canada, for instance, the opposition party is inclusive in government leadership role and this party is incentivized by several government’s sponsorship such as opposition leader and family who is minority leader of the Assembly is living in a free mansion (named Stornoway), there is official office for minority leader cabinet, minority leader can host foreign delegates regardless of their position(s), and financial support from the state to fund the researches opposition can rally the critics effectively etc.

Official Cambodia opposition party couldn’t rely on sympathy and donation in kind from supporters solely, this party can exercise their full rights within a democratic principle, the CNRP of Cambodia must be able to afford full leverages from the state budget which is owned by the Cambodian people to ensure smooth and sustainable democratization of this country.