Ing Kantha Phavi, Minister of Women's Affairs of Cambodian, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony
date：2023-12-15 16:23:01 hits：
The 5th Belt and Road Women’s Forum successfully convened in Sanya, Hainan from December 6-8. Co-hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and the UN Resident Coordinator Office in China, and jointly organized by the People’s Government of Sanya City, the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, and the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Women’s Forum. Chen Xi, Mayor of the People’s Government of Sanya City, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech.
Ing Kantha Phavi, Minister of Women’s Affairs of Cambodian, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony
Excellencies, ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, I am honored to attend the 5th Belt and Road Women’s Forum, with the theme “She Power: Jointly Building and Sharing a Beautyful Life”, and to deliver an address on the cultural education, health care, and the protection of women’s rights.
To begin, I would like to address my sincere thanks to the organizer, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) for the invitation. Due to prior commitment, I am not able to physically attend the forum in Sanya but I am delighted to do it online and share with you our Cambodian experiences based on “She Power” in the framework of Belt and Road initiative implemented in Cambodia.
Dating back over decades, China and Cambodia have enjoyed a unique relationship, forged and carefully nurtured by Chinese and Cambodian leaders and treasured by the people of both nations. Today, this relationship continues to flourish and generate many tangible benefits in terms of peace, stability and prosperity for the two nations and the region at large, culminating in the announcement of the year 2023 as the ‘Cambodia-China Friendship Year’ which coincides with the ‘65th Anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia.’
In the past decade, China has commendably and continuously launched several global initiatives with the vision to develop an interconnected community with a shared sustainable, thriving and safe future for all nations. And most recently, many of us may recall China’s launch of its three new flagship initiatives the Global Civilization Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, aimed at forging a united, equal, balanced and inclusive high quality global development partnership with other nations.
First introduced in 2013, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been a globally impactful development strategy built on the historical symbolism of the ancient Silk Road aimed at improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth between Asia, Europe, Africa and beyond.
Cambodia was one of the first countries to have endorsed the China’s path-blazing Belt and Road Initiative, and would be a good example of the success of this international cooperation and development framework in terms of bringing new development opportunities and pragmatic cooperation in various fields that are of great mutual benefit achieving unprecedented development (improving production capacity, trade investment, agriculture and infrastructure development, people to people exchanges…) which empower citizens’ livelihoods in the Kingdom.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The recent economic growth and prosperity of Cambodia under the Belt and Road Initiative framework has led to an enabling environment allowing the Government to increase its
investments in social development as well as initiate and implement more gender-related policies and programs.
Our Government remains strongly committed to advancing the agenda regarding gender equality and protection of women’s rights, considering women and girls as valuable agents for change in national socio-economic development. The newly launched national political platform called the Pentagonal Strategy – Phase I (2023-2028) for Growth, Employment, Equity, Efficiency and Sustainability, continues to highly value Women as part of human capital and to promote gender equality in the resilient, sustainable and inclusive development strategy through increasing investment in gender-related agenda, and empowering women and girls in the fields of economy, education, health and public leadership.
Cambodia has proven to be a country with good practices, illustrating how high-level commitment, inter-ministerial collaboration and partnerships with development partners, private sector and the civil society are instrumental to strengthening the institutional gender equality architecture across the government and to advance an inclusive national development agenda.
In the recent years, with the strong support of the Government as well as local and international development partners, Cambodia has shown good progress and achieved worthy milestones related to Women’s Development and Women’s Rights protection, some of which I would like to highlight for you today:
1. Cambodia is among the only ten countries to have achieved its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target on maternal health.
2. We are closely approaching gender parity in primary and secondary education; Female students studying in tertiary education represent 49.7%.
3. According to the World Economic Forum 2022, Cambodia ranks 41st out of 146 countries in women participation in economic sector. The female labor force is 84% and 61% of SMEs are owned or managed by women which are a high rate in the region.
4. Significant efforts have been made in combating violence against women and girls through the National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women (NAPVAW) which is a multi- sectoral approach. The prevalence of violence against women by lifelong partners has dropped from 29% in 2014 to 21% in 2021.
5. We are continuing the steady progress of fostering women’s leadership at all levels of governance and decision-making. Currently, in the public sector female civil servants represent 42% with 27% in decision making.
6. Lastly, related to Women, Peace and Security, Cambodian women have increasingly been known as agents of peace and valued by the international community for their participation in peacekeeping cooperation ranking Cambodia 1st among ASEAN countries and 13th out of 120 countries.
Our Government remains strongly committed to advancing the agenda regarding gender equality and protection of women’s rights, considering women and girls as valuable agents for change in national socio-economic development. The newly launched national political platform called the Pentagonal Strategy – Phase I (2023-2028) for Growth, Employment, Equity, Efficiency and Sustainability, continues to highly value Women as part of human capital and to promote gender equality in the resilient, sustainable and inclusive development strategy through increasing investment in gender-related agenda, and empowering women and girls in the fields of economy, education, health and public leadership.
Cambodia has proven to be a country with good practices, illustrating how high-level commitment, inter-ministerial collaboration and partnerships with development partners, private sector and the civil society are instrumental to strengthening the institutional gender equality architecture across the government and to advance an inclusive national development agenda.
In the recent years, with the strong support of the Government as well as local and international development partners, Cambodia has shown good progress and achieved worthy milestones related to Women’s Development and Women’s Rights protection, some of which I would like to highlight for you today:
1. Cambodia is among the only ten countries to have achieved its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target on maternal health.
2. We are closely approaching gender parity in primary and secondary education; Female students studying in tertiary education represent 49.7%.
3. According to the World Economic Forum 2022, Cambodia ranks 41st out of 146 countries in women participation in economic sector. The female labor force is 84% and 61% of SMEs are owned or managed by women which are a high rate in the region.
4. Significant efforts have been made in combating violence against women and girls through the National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women (NAPVAW) which is a multi- sectoral approach. The prevalence of violence against women by lifelong partners has dropped from 29% in 2014 to 21% in 2021.
5. We are continuing the steady progress of fostering women’s leadership at all levels of governance and decision-making. Currently, in the public sector female civil servants represent 42% with 27% in decision making.
6. Lastly, related to Women, Peace and Security, Cambodian women have increasingly been known as agents of peace and valued by the international community for their participation in peacekeeping cooperation ranking Cambodia 1st among ASEAN countries and 13th out of 120 countries.
Whilst we count our successes in our work towards gender equality, the state of our economy is growing and our society is ever-evolving, so our work continues on to reach our goals, as well as to tackle new emerging challenges such as:
. Empowering Women in Digital Economy, Care Economy, Green Growth
. Fostering Inclusive Governance and Women’s Leadership
. Continuing to promote Women’s Value and combat Gender Based Violence
. Participating to the development of a Gender Responsive Social Protection and the achievement of the Universal Health Coverage
. Promoting people to people exchanges
. Developing international and regional Cooperation and Partnership to promote Gender Equality.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
With the foundation of over three decades of efforts, lessons learned and best practices, Cambodia has built a strong momentum to better its goals for its Women and Girls.
We believe that achieving gender-equality and empowering women and girls should be everyone’s business, as their untapped potential is key to accelerate the development of our societies and economies, and their motherly nature can provide more favorable environments, especially in today’s context of rising global uncertainty.
Thus, I would like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the organizers of this meaningful forum for providing a platform that catalyzes dialogue and boosts our partnership for Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment to ensure that no women and girls are left behind! Cambodia stands for the Initiative ‘He for She’ to enable She Power to come out and shine!
I look forward to the knowledge sharing and valuable discussions here at the 5th Belt and Road Women’s Forum, and I would like to wish everyone attending here today an insightful and fruitful forum.
Thank you.
The theme of the forum, ‘She Power: Jointly Building and Sharing a Beautiful Life,’ reflects a focus on women’s unique contributions and empowerment within the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. Organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and the All-China Youth Federation, along with the People’s Government of Sanya City leadership, the forum brought together over 400 participants. These included the First Lady of Guyana, representatives from the United Nations, Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine, and ambassadors from Kyrgyzstan, Zambia, Maldives, Switzerland, Nepal, Guyana, Uganda, Mozambique, and various other countries, along with national and international business representatives.
During the forum, in-depth discussions and exchanges took place around the theme. Guests shared insights on the distinctive role played by women in the ten years since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched. They highlighted the substantial achievements of women and looked forward to the future of the initiative, advocating for women’s empowerment to foster common development and prosperity in human society.
2023 marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, the Belt and Road Women’s Forum has been instrumental in showcasing the unique role of women in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, promoting comprehensive and sustainable development for women, and enhancing people-to-people connections among the participating countries. The forum has successfully established a platform for communication and collaboration among women across the Belt and Road countries, building bridges for mutual understanding and cooperation.