A woman's place is in the economy
March 13th 2010 02:42
Mu Sochua, an important voice in women's and Cambodian issues
In Cambodia, which struggled as much as anyone last year, that spotlight revealed something which had received scant acknowledgement in the past — the fact that the country's economic performance owes a great deal to women who have for years made up more than 50% of a workforce decimated by two decades of civil war.
They have not received the credit they deserve, they still do not reap a fair share of the benefits of economic growth, and they were, according to experts and development organisations, the demographic hardest hit in Cambodia by the economic crisis.
"It is not fair for our women to be contributing to the economy of the country when there is so little investment in the health, education and small and medium enterprises where women are predominant," said Mu Sochua, a legislator and gender advocate.
Consensus forecasts are for economic recovery in Cambodia this year, a process, which some are seeing as a golden opportunity to empower women in both their social and economic roles.
"The global financial crisis confirms the failure of an economic model that, as agreed by many, has been made and dominated by men," said the East Asia office of International Labor Organization. "The ... crisis could present new opportunities to women to take the lead alongside men and raise their voice to change their society for the better."
image: grad.berkeley.edu
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