For ALL Women and Girls: How GIZ Cambodia Advances Gender Equality
Every year, the world comes together and marks the International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect, honour, and act for rights, resources, and representation of women and girls.
At the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, gender equality is not just a goal; it is embedded in how we plan and deliver our work. From design to implementation, our projects enable women to participate fully, safely, and equally. This International Women’s Day 2026, we share stories from GIZ Cambodia, where our commitment translates into daily action.
The following examples across sectors illustrate how gender equality comes to life, whether in trainings, services, partnerships, and governance, and the real impact these changes have on women and girls in the communities.
Empower, Educate, Elevate: WE House at the Heart of Women’s Empowerment
The textile industry is a cornerstone of Cambodia’s economy, with women making up more than 75% of the workforce. Yet despite their critical role, many women in the industry continue to face workplace challenges, including gender inequality, limited access to information about their rights, and barriers to professional growth.
To help close these gaps, the Sustainable Textile Industry (FABRIC Cambodia) project, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), together with its partners, launched the Women Empowerment (WE) House in 2021. Designed as a safe and inclusive space for women garment workers, the WE House supports both their professional development and personal wellbeing.
At the WE House, women come together to strengthen skills, build confidence, and access reliable information on rights. From offering capacity building to psychosocial and legal support, the centre fosters a strong sense of community and solidarity. To date, more than 15,000 women have benefited from its offers, gaining practical knowledge in financial management, leadership, and mental health awareness.
For many participants, the impact is transformative.
"The Women’s Leadership Programme provided me with essential life perspectives that I previously lacked. This experience sparked a positive behavioural change, empowering me to integrate better financial habits, mental health awareness, and self-love into my daily routine."
- Sophat Kim, Sewing worker at Joint Force Sporting Good (Cambodia) Co.,Ltd
Through empowerment, education, and collective support, the WE House continues to elevate women in Cambodia’s garment industry through collaboration and partnership with various organisations, ensuring they are not only vital contributors to the economy, but confident leaders in their own lives.
Designing for Dignity: Embedding Gender Responsiveness in Social Protection and Health
In Cambodia, many women’s lives are shaped by quiet limits such as quitting school early to care for family, taking informal jobs without social security, and having little say in household decisions. These barriers and inequalities accumulate over a lifetime, translating into greater economic insecurity and higher poverty risks for women, especially in older age.
The Improving Social Protection and Health (ISPH) project (Phase II), commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), works where these everyday realities meet public systems. The project recognises gender inequality as a key barrier that undermines progress in social protection and health. The project links policy and day‑to‑day practice to strengthen the systems that hold, especially when climate shocks and crises hit.
Together with partners, the project supports reforms that make social protection and access to quality health services more responsive to the needs of women and girls, people with disabilities and other marginalised populations. At the strategic level, this includes expanding scheme/programme coverage, ensuring the adequacy of benefits and promoting formalisation pathway of women paid/unpaid work. At the programme level, this includes simplifying enrolment processes, ensuring benefits reach those most in need, promoting respectful and dignified care in health facilities, and establishing clear and accessible feedback and grievance mechanisms.
The project invests in pre-service education to prepare future nurses, midwives, and health professionals to deliver gender-sensitive care. Training emphasises listening without judgment, recognising risks such as gender-based violence, and connecting women and girls to appropriate services and support networks.
Change is also becoming visible in health facility leadership. Recent nursing structure reforms have resulted in the promotion of more than 60 women nurses to Chief and Vice-Chief positions across departments and wards, strengthening women’s leadership within the health system itself.
"When 49% of poor households are female-headed, making social protection work for women isn’t optional; it’s why we support our government partners in Cambodia in making the social protection system more gender-responsive."
- Kristina Knispel, Programme Director, Improving Social Protection and Health, GIZ Cambodia
By embedding gender responsiveness into both policy frameworks and frontline services, ISPH II project contributes to building systems that uphold dignity, expand opportunity, and ensure women and girls, and other vulnerable populations are financially and socially protected are supported at every stage of life.
Governance that Works for Everyone: Elevating Women Leaders and Public Services
In collaboration with National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development-Secretariate (NCDDS) and other relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), Ministry of Interior (MoI), and Ministry of Civil Service (MCS), the Improved Service Delivery (ISD) project supports sub-national administrations in making public services more responsive to citizens’ needs. Spanning areas from waste and water management to administrative services, health, and fiscal decentralisation and national-level policy development, the project strengthens how sub-national administrations serve their communities in an effective and inclusive manner. At the heart of this effort is a clear priority: increasing women’s participation in decision-making and equipping them with the tools to lead effectively.
Commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Luxembourg Aid and Development, the project supports a strategy to raise the number of women in management roles within sub-national administrations, backed by practical guideline and institutional support.
Through the Women’s Leadership Programme, the “Empower Women to Lead” initiative, and Gender Equality, Social Equity, and Inclusiveness (GESEI) training for both men and women decision‑makers, 12 high‑potential women received targeted coaching, more than 100 women councillors and civil servants strengthened their skills, and a total of 336 participants took part, with over 60% of them women.
The impact is increasingly visible. With more women in leadership positions contributing to priority-setting and oversight, local development plans better reflect everyday realities. Communities are experiencing safer water and waste management systems, more accessible administrative services, and better quality of waste and water management services procedures, cleaner neighbourhoods, and health services that take into account the specific needs of women and girls.
"Empowering women to leadership positions promotes women’s rights, justice, and drives action toward more inclusive governance and improved services delivery."
- Men Kunrath, Team Leader Decentralisation, Improved Service Delivery Programme (ISD), GIZ Cambodia
By elevating women leaders and strengthening local institutions, ISD project demonstrates that inclusive governance is not only fairer, but it also delivers better results for everyone.
Closing the Gender Digital Divide: Women Leading Cambodia’s Digital Future
In Cambodia’s fast-evolving digital landscape, ensuring that women and girls are not left behind is both a social and economic imperative. The Digital Transformation Center (DTC) Cambodia, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), works to close the gender digital divide by empowering women within the digital economy and fostering stronger women leadership in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) public sector.
DTC Cambodia convenes inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues where policymakers, private sector actors, and women leaders exchange perspectives and advance gender-equitable digital policies, particularly in ICT and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through practical workshops, the project supports policymakers in integrating gender inclusion into strategies and implementation, co-creating recommendations and guidance frameworks to drive systemic change.
However, these efforts extend well beyond policymaking. Since 2023, DTC Cambodia has worked directly with women across communities to strengthen their digital and economic opportunities. Through digital literacy initiatives, skills development programmes, and entrepreneurship support, women are empowered to actively shape and benefit from digital transformation.
Flagship initiatives under the Women in Tech module include the Women in Tech Awards, AI Bootcamps focused on digital marketing, and the Up:Skill programme. These initiatives provide mentorship in technical, data, and soft skills while building professional networks that support women’s growth as tech practitioners, digital leaders, and entrepreneurs.
To date, more than 6,500 women across communities have been supported. By delivering capacity development programmes while connecting community voices with systemic change, DTC Cambodia ensures that women’s stories and needs inform national strategies for ICT and AI inclusion.
"To reach Cambodia’s ambitious digital economy goals, prioritising the inclusion of women and girls in ICT is key."
- Jonas Herzing, Project Lead, Digital Transformation Center Cambodia, GIZ Cambodia
By linking grassroots empowerment with policy reform, DTC Cambodia is helping build a more inclusive and gender-responsive digital future.
Advancing Women Through Skills: Expanding Access to Quality TVET
When a woman who left school early gets the chance to learn on the job, a certificate becomes more than paper; it becomes proof that her skills count.
The ASEAN-Swiss TVET Initiative (ASTI) project, commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), starts where work happens. In Cambodia, it opens doors to enterprise-based training in sectors that drive Cambodia’s economic growth, such as electricity, electric vehicles, automotive, manufacturing, and customer service. Skills gained on the ground are mapped to national standards so that experience translates into recognised qualifications. Learning is not limited to classrooms; competencies demonstrated at work are assessed and certified, helping women step into roles long labelled “men’s jobs.”
ASTI makes inclusion standard, not exceptional. A certificate can open the door, but workplace culture keeps it open. The project partners with employers to embed fair recruitment practices, mentoring systems, safe and respectful working environments, and clear pathways for advancement. In partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, companies lead the training while national recognition ensures quality and labour market mobility.
This approach matters because skills must lead to jobs. Structured, nationally recognised, and on-the-job learning creates real pathways into formal employment, better pay, and career progression in a fast-changing economy. It also shifts norms: when women wire circuits, service electric vehicles, and supervise teams, they redefine who is seen and hired as technical talent.
Early results demonstrate strong momentum. Of the 415 trainees enrolled, 340 were women. All successfully completed and were certified in the four-month on-the-job training component and are now finalising the theoretical coursework required for full national qualifications, positioning them for formal and gainful employment.
"Women's practical intelligence powers industries. Invest in it. Certify it. Design systems where their advancement is structural, not symbolic."
- Coralie Blunier, Regional Team Leader, ASEAN-Swiss TVET Initiative (ASTI), GIZ Cambodia
By aligning skills development with labour market demand and institutional reform, ASTI is helping ensure that women’s advancement in technical sectors is not temporary, but systemic and sustainable.
Circular Solutions, Shared Responsibility: Women and Communities Closing the Loop
Clean neighbourhoods are built by people, not infrastructure alone. Turning waste into a resource is everybody’s job: households that sort, students who advocate, local officials who plan, and enterprises that close the loop. Within this shared effort, the participation of women and girls makes the difference.
Commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the ASEAN Team’s Environment and Waste Management projects support the promotion of circular economy approach that treats environment and waste management as a collective responsibility, where inclusion drives better results.
More than 200 students, leaders, local officials, enterprises, and political partners have engaged so far in initiatives ranging from water filtration and composting facilities to improved waste collection systems and awareness campaigns. These women and girls are not just participants; they are organisers, trainers, and decision-makers.
"Improvement of waste management and planning has become the central part of my municipal priorities. Since joining the collaboration with ISD and GGI4CE projects with GIZ, I have significantly deepened my understanding of circular economy, waste segregation at source, and three-bin system. I'm happy to share my initiatives, knowledge, concerns, and experiences, with equal rights, not only with my dedicated team but also with the ten Sangkats in Battambang municipality."
- Touch Uy, Battambang Sub-Committee on Waste Management
Treating waste as a shared responsibility strengthens environmental outcomes. Ensuring women and girls are fully part of that shared responsibility strengthens governance itself. Together, collective action and inclusive participation create cities that are not only cleaner, but also fairer and more resilient for everyone.
Crossing Borders, Building Confidence: Women Connecting to ASEAN Markets
Opportunities grow when women have equal chances to lead and connect across borders.
The ASEAN Team’s Regional Economic Integration projects, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), are helping women entrepreneurs and youth move from local networks to regional value chains by pairing targeted skills development with real cross-border exposure.
The approach is practical and people-centred. Specialised technical trainings build sector-relevant capabilities, while access to business development services helps women plan, finance, and scale their ventures. Regional platforms like the Young Consumer Champion Programme give participants a first taste of international collaboration. Through initiatives such as ASEAN Access and other matchmaking activities, women connect with suppliers, buyers, and mentors beyond their home markets, turning knowledge into real opportunities.
This is inclusion that lasts. By embedding gender-responsive practices into regional services and platforms, more women can find their place in value chains. Over 200 women have already benefited, gaining technical competencies, visibility, and pathways to new markets.
"It was more than just a trip; It was my first time traveling alone, and as the only woman delegate representing Cambodia, I was pushed far beyond my comfort zone. Most importantly, I met inspiring young leaders from across Southeast Asia. We didn’t just discuss consumer protection; we explored cultures and deepened our understanding of the issues affecting our region. Thanks to GIZ for giving me this opportunity and for creating a space where youth can grow, speak, and lead."
- Lo Kimsivly, Cambodia’s Young Consumer Champions
The impact doesn’t end when the programme does. Equipped with knowledge, networks, and confidence, these women carry forward lessons, connections, and ambitions that continue to grow, strengthening regional value chains and fostering lasting inclusion.
"Development advances when women and men walk side by side. Women form a crucial part of our families, communities, economies, environmental stewardship, and every workplace. True empowerment emerges only through partnership, respect, and shared responsibility - led by everyone. Let us unite to build a society where every voice counts and every opportunity awaits."
- Frank Jattke, ASEAN Team Leader, GIZ Cambodia
Climate-Smart Farming for All: Women Leading Community Resilience
Across Kratie province and beyond, the EU-German Cambodia Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (CAPSAFE) project strengthens climate-smart cashew and pepper value chains while promoting women’s leadership in agriculture. Supported by the European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), its Training of Trainers (ToT) programme builds skills in climate-resilient farming, cooperative management, and market access, while adapting schedules and materials to ensure women can fully participate.
Under the leadership of Savin Ven, Chief of Ou Korkie Agricultural Cooperative, improved post-harvest handling and quality control have expanded market opportunities and increased incomes, benefiting kindergartens, vulnerable families, and disaster relief efforts.
"My biggest joy is seeing the community grow. Farmers are earning more, women are confident in their skills, and the community is stronger. It’s amazing to see what we can achieve together. These trainings gave me the confidence to help others improve their harvests and livelihoods. It’s not just farming; it’s about building stronger families and a stronger community."
- Savin Ven, Chief of Ou Korkie Agricultural Cooperative in Kratie Province.
Savin’s leadership also led to her election to the Commune Council, extending climate-smart impact into local decision-making.
To date, CAPSAFE has trained 42 farmers and cooperative leaders and 234 Commune Agricultural Officers (33% women), reaching 3,405 smallholders, 1,673 of them women (49%). By embedding gender-responsive design in climate-smart agriculture, the project shows that inclusive value chains deliver stronger results for farmers, families, and communities.
Together, these projects turn commitment into practice: women gain skills, voice, and agency; services and systems become more responsive; and markets and technologies open to everyone.
The result is visible: more women leading, earning, and shaping decisions across Cambodia’s textiles, public services, agriculture, digital economy, technical trades, and regional markets.
Gender equality is not a women’s issue; it is a prerequisite for a resilient and prosperous society. By investing in rights, resources, and representation, we build a structural legacy where every woman and girl in Cambodia can lead, innovate, and thrive.