Monday, June 30, 2008
Toward a level playing field
H.E. Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi, Cambodia’s Minister of Women’s Affairs, asks me if I’m married, and when I tell her I’m still single, she gives me some advice for the future. In a clear voice with a hint of a French accent, Dr. Phavi says I must remember to help my wife.
"I lived in France from the age of 12, but I always remembered my nationality … I often worked with other Cambodians," she says. "And the entire time I lived abroad, I never once forgot my Cambodian identity."
Prior to becoming Minister of Women’s Affairs in 2004, Dr. Phavi served as Secretary of State of Women’s and Veterans’ Affairs (MoWVA) where she was in charge of elaborating gender responsive policies, strategies and plans of action. She also worked to ensure the management and follow-up of technical programs in health and economic empowerment and built capacity in MoWVA’s staff on financial and administrative management.
Dr. Phavi says she got where she is today with support from both her parents and her husband. "But most importantly, I achieved success with self-confidence."
She says in order to push women to participate in public administration as well as in politics, they need to not only have support from family and colleagues, but they should also have self-confidence, motivation and good management skills.
In politics, as in the home, Dr. Phavi strongly believes men and women should work and make decisions on an equal level. Few Cambodian women have had the opportunities Dr. Phavi has had, but she freely admits that.
"I am a lucky woman who was born into a middle class family. I have a very supportive husband and I have been able to work outside of the home; most Cambodian women have not had the chances I have had."
There are more females than males in Cambodia. According to the 1998 Cambodian census, Cambodia had a total population of 11,747 million (current estimates put this total at just over 13 million). Forty-eight percent were male and 51.7 percent were female. The numbers of women working in the Cambodian Government are certainly not representative of the numbers of women who make up Cambodian society: After the national election in 2003, two women became Ministers, eight became Secretaries of State and of the 123 National Assembly members, only 22 are women.
"Two out of 27 Ministers highlights the distance between men and women in the executive power of Cambodia."
She says with only a small number of women in decision-making roles in the Government, it is often "very difficult to share ideas with our male counterparts, particularly in policy-making for country development."
"Generally, when we think about equality between a man and a woman, we think everything should be about fifty-fifty, and it should. But even Western countries continue to struggle to reach that target. By the next Cambodian election, [the Ministry of Women’s Affairs] hopes that the number of women in leadership roles in the private and public sector will increase to 30 percent. We realize this number may well take a much longer time to achieve, because we need to change social vision … and our leaders.
"It is a biological fact that male and female thinking is not the same. In politics, men usually think about the importance of economics and development, more than say, welfare and social issues. In fact all of those issues are equally important and worthy of the same consideration; all are necessary for a country’s development. Women’s visions for social development are just different from men’s visions.
"These days, men earn less and so the women have to supplement the family income by working too. But as well as outside jobs, women still have to attend to their household obligations: cooking, cleaning and looking after the children," explains Dr. Phavi.
I mustn’t sit and watch television, while my wife does everything in the kitchen Dr. Phavi tells me.
I mustn’t sit and watch television, while my wife does everything in the kitchen Dr. Phavi tells me.
She is striking at 46, and looks younger than her age. She enjoys a joke. Dr. Phavi also enjoys a rare and accomplished status as a female politician in a very much male-oriented world: she is one of only two female Ministers in the Cambodian Government, following in her father’s political footsteps—H.E. Ing Keth was Minister of Public Works and Transport in the 1960s.
Dr. Phavi is often the "one of only …" Of her eight siblings, Dr. Phavi alone, decided to leave France, where she had lived for 20 years, and return to Cambodia to live.
In 1972 her family fled Cambodia’s civil war for France. She married a Cambodian-French man in 1984 and in 1990 earned a degree in medicine, working initially at a public hospital, before establishing her own clinic in Paris. Dr. Phavi was also deputy secretary general of the Association du Medecine Cambodgienne.
Dr. Phavi is often the "one of only …" Of her eight siblings, Dr. Phavi alone, decided to leave France, where she had lived for 20 years, and return to Cambodia to live.
In 1972 her family fled Cambodia’s civil war for France. She married a Cambodian-French man in 1984 and in 1990 earned a degree in medicine, working initially at a public hospital, before establishing her own clinic in Paris. Dr. Phavi was also deputy secretary general of the Association du Medecine Cambodgienne.
"I lived in France from the age of 12, but I always remembered my nationality … I often worked with other Cambodians," she says. "And the entire time I lived abroad, I never once forgot my Cambodian identity."In 1992, Dr. Phavi and her husband made the return to Southeast Asia. Initially working in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, in 1994 she qualified for a Masters in Public Administration and then from 1995 to 1997, served as technical advisor to the Ministry of Rural Development in community health.
Prior to becoming Minister of Women’s Affairs in 2004, Dr. Phavi served as Secretary of State of Women’s and Veterans’ Affairs (MoWVA) where she was in charge of elaborating gender responsive policies, strategies and plans of action. She also worked to ensure the management and follow-up of technical programs in health and economic empowerment and built capacity in MoWVA’s staff on financial and administrative management.
She has also been an active contributor to national and international seminars on gender mainstreaming in reproductive health, HIV/AIDS issues and women’s economic empowerment issues. She was directly involved in the National Poverty Reduction Strategy drafting process and has been a strong advocate for campaigns against women and child trafficking and domestic violence.
Dr. Phavi says she got where she is today with support from both her parents and her husband. "But most importantly, I achieved success with self-confidence."She says in order to push women to participate in public administration as well as in politics, they need to not only have support from family and colleagues, but they should also have self-confidence, motivation and good management skills.
In politics, as in the home, Dr. Phavi strongly believes men and women should work and make decisions on an equal level. Few Cambodian women have had the opportunities Dr. Phavi has had, but she freely admits that.
"I am a lucky woman who was born into a middle class family. I have a very supportive husband and I have been able to work outside of the home; most Cambodian women have not had the chances I have had."
There are more females than males in Cambodia. According to the 1998 Cambodian census, Cambodia had a total population of 11,747 million (current estimates put this total at just over 13 million). Forty-eight percent were male and 51.7 percent were female. The numbers of women working in the Cambodian Government are certainly not representative of the numbers of women who make up Cambodian society: After the national election in 2003, two women became Ministers, eight became Secretaries of State and of the 123 National Assembly members, only 22 are women.
"Two out of 27 Ministers highlights the distance between men and women in the executive power of Cambodia."
She says with only a small number of women in decision-making roles in the Government, it is often "very difficult to share ideas with our male counterparts, particularly in policy-making for country development."
"Generally, when we think about equality between a man and a woman, we think everything should be about fifty-fifty, and it should. But even Western countries continue to struggle to reach that target. By the next Cambodian election, [the Ministry of Women’s Affairs] hopes that the number of women in leadership roles in the private and public sector will increase to 30 percent. We realize this number may well take a much longer time to achieve, because we need to change social vision … and our leaders.
"It is a biological fact that male and female thinking is not the same. In politics, men usually think about the importance of economics and development, more than say, welfare and social issues. In fact all of those issues are equally important and worthy of the same consideration; all are necessary for a country’s development. Women’s visions for social development are just different from men’s visions.
"Economic development and social welfare are of equal importance, so both men’s and women’s ideas are valuable. When men think about how to earn money, women think about their families and children’s needs, and they save money.
"In politics, if men are busy attracting more investors into our country, women should be asking, ‘Where can we find the money for health centers and schools?’ … In order to best serve the public, male and female visions should complement one another."
Dr. Phavi is as she says she is; she is more than a female politician and gender equality promoter, she is a mother to a 14-year-old daughter and a wife.
"I think I have three roles: two in the family and one in the public eye. I am a Minister, a mother and a wife. I never forget I am a mother to my daughter and a wife to my husband, even when I am very busy at work."
"I think I have three roles: two in the family and one in the public eye. I am a Minister, a mother and a wife. I never forget I am a mother to my daughter and a wife to my husband, even when I am very busy at work."
"At the office I need to work hard for the public; I have many responsibilities as a politician, but when I am at home, I have to be a good housewife and mother, just like other women do for their families. I never talk about my work at home, together with my husband, I usually enjoy listening to classical music and sometimes we travel."
"For me, a job is a job and family is family; those two roles never clash."
"For me, a job is a job and family is family; those two roles never clash."
# posted by FunMan @ 6:24 PM 
