Ayay Song Promotion Radio FM102MHz

Mr. Doung Sokea sang a beautiful ayay song which is the Khmer traditional song in Cambodia.

Why Violence is the Favorite of the Family

Mr. Chears Tourt, from Ptash Srey village, joined the meeting of viewers’ clubs and shared his experience with domestic violence. He has two children and both of them didn’t go to school because his family is too poor. Actually in the previous time, his family was fairly rich in the village, but later on because he and his wife were drunkards, some properties were lavished. His family became poorer and poorer. Both wife and husband always got drunk when there was no work to do. Mr. Tourt said that when both are drunk they always had conflict together. He had ever beaten his wife to unconscious. Neighbors and his relatives just ignore to his behavior because it usually occurs in this family. So, domestic violence remains concerned in remote village, especially in poor and uneducated family. Local authorities remain hesitate to help their villagers. Right information of the action was not taken effectively. Fortunately, after clubs of listeners and viewers were established, this bad behavior and wrong perspective were changed, Mr. Tourt said. He is now getting to know the mistakes he had done and the committed actions would be sentenced to in prison. He added that he and wife set their tear down after watching video drama and listening to radio program about the law. He finally suggested WMC to continue the activity of the clubs not only for his village but also for other villages where people are unable to access right information and useful information for their daily life.

Gender Issues Remain Existed in Cambodia

Mr. Tes Ty, 49, a villager of Ptash Srey village in Pursat province, told that he and his wife always had quarreled together when he came from work. Because of his limited understanding of his wife’s work, he said; he always complained that he is only a person who earns money for family. He had never realized that his wife’s housework is also important in family. Both often argue when there is no enough food to feed children or themselves. Mr Ty was educated and warned by village chief many times to stop beating wife, and also one organization had ever sent a counselor to educate his family, but his actions were still remaining. However, after watching educational video drama and listening to the Road of Law programs which broadcasted by a moderator of the club, he changed his bad behavior to stop fighting with his wife anymore, he clarified. He became aware of his wife work and hoped to have happiness in his family, he added. From now, he promised to get quarrel with his wife anymore. At the end, he suggested WMC to continue broadcasting informative video and radio programs for villagers in his communities.

Violence Against Women in Cambodia

Mr. Svay Sarun, 37, a farmer living in Ptash Srey village, had experienced to fight with his wife in the case of domestic violence. He has three children. Mr. Sarun said that everyday he had quarreled together with his wife, especially when he came from work and his wife didn’t cook a food for him. When the domestic violence occurred, local authorities like village chief and commune council always warned and educated this family about the law, but no use because they didn’t what the law is; they cared only what they have for eating today. Unable to endeavor with this family situation, Mr. Sarun decided to leave his wife for a year to earn money. However, the problem in their family coherently occurred. Village chief neglected this family because they did not learn the advice and warning education. Fortunately, Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC) uses the new initiative approach to reach the remote villages by establishing Listeners’ and Viewers’ Clubs. Ptash Srey is one of ten villages in Pursat province to have a club operation. Mr. Sarun said after watching the education entitled “Deurm Kro Sang” and series of the informative radio programs, he thinks he made many mistakes with his wife in family. He added that beating the wife has no any profit for his family; in contrast, his children couldn’t study well because of domestic violence in family. At last, he told that from now on, he will help his wife work and improve the living standard in this family and he also would like to thank WMC for bringing educational video and radio programs to his village. These videos have influenced his life a lot to change his bad behavior.

Listeners' and Viewers' Clubs

On September 24, 2009, Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC) with funding from The Asia Foundation held a workshop in Pursat province to establish 10 Listeners’ and Viewers’ Clubs for re-broadcasting WMC’s productions. The workshop was presided over by Dum Kimhun, Deputy District Governor of Kandeang District and two commune councils from different communes of Pursat province. Around forty people participated in this workshop.

Deputy District Governor Mr. Dum Kimhun welcomed participants who spent their value time for joining this workshop. He also told that sources of information are really important for general people, especially people who live in the remote areas. In addition, he would like to thank WMC for bringing the useful information to the local communities and hope this implementation would help develop communication between community and government for positive changes.

Then Mr. Heng Thona, a Program Coordinator of WMC, introduced participants about the objectives of establishing clubs for listeners and viewers and the responsibilities and selecting ten voluntarily moderators who have commitment to do this job.

POEM FROM AFRICAN CHILD

THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY AN AFRICAN CHILD..
N WAS NOMINATED FOR BEST POEM OF 2005

When i born,i blackWhen i grow up,i black

When i go in sun,.i black

When i scared, i black

When i sick,i black

n when i die i am still black!!!!

AND U DA WHITE FELLA

When u born,u pink

When u grow up,u white

When u go in sun,u red

when u cold,u blue

When u scared,u yellow

When u sick,u green

AND when u die,u gray

And u call me COLORED?????

Doing Excerercise for Healthy Body

Doing exercise everyday makes ourselves healthy
Please do as pictures shown below ten times of each pictures

Doing exercise for Healthy Body

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Scales of Justice

Courting TV audiences
Thursday, 20 August 2009 15:01 Roth Meas, The Phnom Penh Post

The third series of a televised courtroom drama hits screens this weekend with hopes that its messages will educate viewers about the legal process

Dramatic tension: The WMC production crew prepare to shoot a scene for Scales of Justice. PHOTO SUPPLIED. We hope that making a law-based drama will make it easier for cambodians to engage with the subject.

LIFE imitates art. At least that is what the people behind Scales of Justice, a television courtroom drama produced by the Women's Media Centre of Cambodia(WMC), hope will occur as audiences tune in to the ongoing saga of lawyer Pich Sotheary and police official Meas Chamnan, which begins its third instalment this weekend.

Wary of its notorious corruption, impenetrable language and labyrinth of procedures, Cambodians often find their own judiciary inaccessible - something WMC hopes to change by presenting the courts as entertainment, said 29-year-old production manager Uch Thavy."This story details court procedure, which many people find difficult to understand," she said.

"We hope that making a law-based drama will make it easier for Cambodians to engage with the subject," Uch Thavy added.The original Scales of Justice, which is supported by USAID and AUSAID, was shot last year and gained widespread popularity.

Uch Thavy hopes this third instalment will continue in the same vein - presenting viewers with situations that they might encounter in real life.Several of the six, 30-minute episodes delve into the realm of domestic discord that may be familiar to audience members who have ever battled their brethren over money.

One episode follows characters as they try desperately to gain control of an inheritance following the death of the family patriarch.The second also features a family fight over money, but this time the characters are faced with dividing an inheritance after a messy divorce.

The producers of Scales of Justice focused on these scenarios because they are the most common to come before the Kingdom's courts, Uch Thavy said. "People should pay a lot of attention to their childrens' birth certificates, which are often used to clear up disputes in the event of a death," she said.

The same holds true when marriages fall apart and families begin squabbling over who gets what."The judges often consider dividing some of the inheritance, even though the parents may have been divorced," Uch Thavy added.The third episode is driven by the classic whodunit: a dead body and a murderer somewhere on the lose.

Leading man: Famed Cambodian actor Tep Rindaro adds kudos and star power to the production. PHOTO SUPPLIED Producers admit that they diverged from the more complex but common civil disputes as a way to keep the audiences interested in their message.

"The entertainment aspect is there to keep people watching it, but our main intention is to put across the messages of law that are woven into the story," Uch Thavy said. Uch Thavy said court officials from Phnom Penh and Kandal province were consulted before the scripts were penned to lend an air of credibility to the drama.The often contrived movie sets of traditional dramas were also abandoned for real courtrooms, judges' chambers and prosecutors' offices in an attempt to bring a level of gritty realism to the series, Uch Thavy said. The series was shot in Kandal, Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang provinces, she added.Star powerAlso keeping audiences tuned in should be the return of Cambodian actor Tep Rindaro as policeman Meas Chamnan.Along with dedicated young lawyer Pich Sotheary, played by Keo Sereyrath, Tep Rindaro's honest cop Meas Chamnan will "work hand-in-hand to fight for the victims and even find romance along the way", according to the WMC's Web site.

Though the pair will feature less prominently in the third instalment - the action will instead centre on Meas Chamnan's sister - they still remain the soul of the programme, producers said. Uch Thavy said she was reluctant to guess how the latest episodes would fare among Cambodian viewers. But she said that a test screening won rave reviews from Women's Media Centre presidents, donors and the Ministry of Culture's Film Art Department.Copies of previous instalments were also requested by the Senate, Uch Thavy said.The first episodes, which cost US$122,845 to produce, will be screened Saturday on TVK and Sunday on TV3, at 6pm and noon, respectively.

HIV and AIDS, the Killers of the World

HIV remains a concern of the world, and many countries have tried its best to fight against HIV epidemic transmission. Numbers of population are increased, and most of people know what HIV&AIDS is, but numbers of HIV infected people are not cut down. Cambodia is one of the few countries that has the highest prevalence of HIV&AIDS in Asia and has seen declining HIV prevalence.

According to the Cambodia Gender Assessment, MoWA 2008, HIV transmission from husbands to wives accounts for 42 percent and peri-natal transmission from mother to child account for 35 percent of all new infections. HIV prevalence among adults aged 15 to 49 decreased to 0.9% in 2006 from a revised estimate of 1.2% in 2003 the new estimate was showed by the 2006 HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS) and the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS). HIV prevalence among persons in the general population aged 15-49 years living in urban areas remains higher than among those living in rural areas, also there is higher HIV prevalence among women; 43% of new infections are occurring in married women, most of whom are believed to have been infected by their husbands. In addition, the HIV epidemic in Cambodia is concentrated in high-risk groups and is primarily driven by the sex industry, although there are indications of rising prevalence amongst injecting drug using populations and amongst men having sex with men (MSM). The increasing trend in HIV prevalence was stopped, reversed and has since steadily declined. A multi-sectoral collaboration led by the government with significant contributions from NGOs, donors, and other institutions has contributed to the reduction in HIV prevalence. Various prevention strategies tailored for different population groups included promotion of consistent use and social incorporation of HIV&AIDS in school curricula, community discussion, needle/syringe exchange, and use of media.

Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC) is one of organization, but it is known as the premier media organization working to improve status of women in Cambodia via producing TV and radio programs which are broadcast on Radio FM102, local TV channels, Contact provinces, and Mobile Broadcasting Units (MBUs). HIV&AIDS, Domestic Violence, rape, trafficking and so on are the main issues WMC has raised to contribute to the reduction of HIV/AIDS infection and to promoting the positive social change in Cambodia. In short, we hope the concern of the world will be relieved with the participation of people and the contribution of global donors as the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9) did in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia.

Empowering people, Strengthening Network

Empowering people, Strengthening Network is the main theme of the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9), which was held on 9th-13th August 2009 in Bali, Indonesia. The main focuses in the community forum to be discussed were Youth Forum, People living with HIV (PLHIV) Forum, Injecting Drug User (IDU) Forum, Women’s Forum, LGBT/IQ Forum, Men who have sex with men (MSM) Forum, Sex Workers’ Forum, Interfaith Forum, and Women’s Court. At the closing ceremony, the chair of ICAAP9 has reported that there were 5,547 participants (included 3,824 registered delegates, 2,234 abstracts, 138 abstract reviewers, 262 media delegates, 122 exhibitions, 218 volunteers, 291 security staff, and 589 technical staff) from 78 countries from around the Asia and the Pacific. 5 plenary sessions, 24 symposiums, and 2,334 abstracts were received and presented in the ICAAP9. Cambodia was one of the 10 top countries which most applicants were selected ranging as from Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Philippines. There were 487 participants receiving scholarship from the ICAAP9 included 130 full scholarships, 90 partial scholarships, and 267 free registrations.

The numbers of participants will be increased in the ICAAP10 which was supposed to be held in Busan, Korea, ASAP President Myung Hwan Cho, Min-Ki Kim of the 10th ICAAP Local Organizing Committee said at the media conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. Busan, South Korea’s second largest city will be the next host for the 10th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific with the main theme Different Voices-United Action. The 10th ICAAP will strive to bring together people of various backgrounds in the region to unite their action against HIV and AIDS. The website is being standby at www.icaap10.org . Please stay tune to visit the update information of ICAAP10.

The 9th ICAAP on the move toward an HIV free society

Today, I’m proud to be one of the ICAAP participants amongst others from the around the world. The 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) is being held from 9th-13th August 2009 in Bali, Indonesia. This ICAAP IX is attended by more than 4,000 people from 65 countries, not only in Asia and the Pacific region but also in Africa, Europe and the Americas. The main theme is “Empowering People, Strengthening Network. The largest regional events on HIV and AIDS, ICAAP, bright together people from different countries, religions, and different spheres of life working on HIV of one platform to discuss AIDS which is connected to many aspects of life. The events of ICAAP is an opportunity to fill the gaps of lacking network, low capacity and weaker links between the society and the government and looking for more collaborative future approaches. Thus, ICAAP is an important milestone to reenergize, revitalize –for what could be a long way toward an HIV free society.

At last, I hope that through this even, ICAAP will also be a chance to share experiences, wealth of knowledge and resources, and most importantly to empower people and strengthen network around the globe.

Scales of Justice-Promote

Scales of Justice were produced in addition 6 episodes more for the year 2009

Gender and Health

While health outcomes and life expectancy in Cambodia are generally improving, Cambodia continues to have some of the weakest health indicators in the region. Overall life expectancy is increasing and current estimates show that women, on average, live 6.3years longer than men. Men are twice as likely as women to suffer from injuries, accidents or physical impairment, but women have very high risk of illness or death due to pregnancy and childbearing. Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV prevalence are roughly equal for men and women. Maternal mortality is unacceptably high at 472 deaths per 100,000 live births, representing 18 percent of female deaths between 1999 and 2005.

Twenty-one percent of all women were considered to be underweight in 2000 and this only decreased slightly to 20% in 2005. The poor nutritional status of women remains a serous concern. This is particularly urgent as stunting has increased over the last five years and poor female nutrition and stunting lead to poor productivity, increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality, and increased risk of poor reproductive outcomes. Undernourished, short stature women are also more likely to deliver low birth weight babies, and such infants are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality. There are many health concerns which Cambodia should take into consideration such as HIV/AIDS, reproductive health sexual assaults, drug abuse and addiction, and so on.

I. Situation of Women Health in Cambodia
1.1. HIV/AIDS
HIV prevalence in the adult population aged 15 to 49 was estimated at 0.9% in 2006 based on data from the 2006 HSS and the 2005 CDHS. Previous estimations and forecasts, which were adjusted by using and improved methodology, show that HIV prevalence in the adult population has come down from 1.2% in 2003. HIV prevalence in young people is estimated using data from pregnant women aged 15-24 attending antenatal clinics, which is available from the HSS. The HIV prevalence among pregnant aged 15-24 attending antenatal clinics is estimated at 0.41% (HSS 2006).

The 2005 CDHS reports a HIV prevalence rate for women aged 15-24 of 0.2%. Prevalence was estimated to be 0.3% in young women and 0.36% in 2003 (HSS 2003). HIV prevalence among female sex workers was estimated at 12.7% in 2006 (HSS 2006), down from 21.4% in 2003.

a. Prevention
The 2007 update of the SRA 2007 acknowledges the success of prevention efforts in reversing the epidemic, resulting in declining HIV prevalence and incidence rates. However, the SRA 2007 update also point out that progress in scaling-up targeted prevention interventions has been less significant during the last two years and warns against complacency. Epidemiological and other risk assessment data indicate that it cannot be assumed that incidence will remain low and that there is a risk of a second-wave of HIV infections occurring in Cambodia. The main risk is related to the situation and behavior of female sex workers, their clients and sweethearts as a result of a high turnover of female sex workers and of recent changes in the structure of the sex industry. Behavior of MSM and IDU may also act as potential drivers of epidemic.

- Blood Safety
The NBTC reported that 97.3% of all blood units donated in 2007 ( 31,802 units ) were screened for HIV in blood banks that followed documented standard operating procedures and participated in an external quality assurance program. Despite this good result, blood safety still remains a concern due to the relatively limited number of voluntary blood donors (approximately 25% of all blood units) and the relatively limited use of blood components (approximately 70% of all blood use involves whole blood.

- Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission
In 2006, 311 HIV- infected pregnant women received antiretroviral to reduce the risk of mother to child transmission. In 2007, this number increased to 505. The PMTCT program of the NMCHC estimated the number of HIV infected pregnant women (the denominator) at 4,417 for 2006 and 4,509 for 2007. These estimates are based on Ministry of Health estimated concerning the number of expected pregnancies and a 1.1% HIV prevalence among pregnant women (HSS 2006).

1.2. Drug
Drug use has rapidly become a source of concern in Cambodia, and the government, UN agencies and NGOs are responding to contain its spread and mitigate its adverse impact, especially as related to HIV transmission. In 2004, an estimate of the number of illicit drug users was developed by UNAIDS using the Delphi technique. Women in the entertainment sector, including workers in the sex industry, karaoke parlors, massage parlors, clubs and beer houses, are often exposed to and subsequently become addicted to drugs (2007 workshop CPWD). This is reinforced by PSI’s recent findings during its second round HIV/AIDS tracking survey which found that 83% of women working in karaoke parlors reported having tried drugs and 7% reported having used injected drugs (PSI 2007). The impact of drug use during pregnancy can include spontaneous abortion, birth defects and developmental difficulties. Drug related damage to cognitive function and impulse control can lead to violent behavior and crime (UNDCP 1995).

1.3. Abortions
Abortion is increasing, and unsafe abortion is a key contributor to maternal mortality. As of 2005, 8% of Cambodia women 15-49 reported having had one or more abortions in their lifetime. This is an increase from 5% in 2000. Women are more likely to resort to abortion as they get older and less than 1% of women 15-19 reported having an abortion, while 15% of women over aged 34 reported having an abortion. Abortion also increases with the number of living children. Abortion rates vary significantly by location with more urban women having abortions than rural women, and the number of women reporting multiple abortions increased from 29% in 2000 (of all women reporting abortions) to 44% in 2005 (CDHS 2005).

Unwanted pregnancies can be prevented through increased availability and access to family planning services including emergency contraception and female controlled methods (female condoms), and abortion-related maternal mortality reduced through ensured availability and access to comprehensive and post-abortion care services in accordance with and in compliance with Cambodia law.

II. Women and Health Care in Cambodia
In Cambodia, five women die every day because of inadequate health care during childbirth. The government is trying to improve health services but it is proving a long slow process. Lvea village, in north-western Cambodia, is a collection of wooden stilt-houses along a dirt track, hectic with dogs, piglets and chickens. Most of the women here have been told to have their babies in the local health centre. So when one woman, Low't, went into labor recently with her ninth child, she made her way there too.

Eighty per cent of Cambodia's population living in rural areas and the public health system is weak. In recent years, the government has made it a priority to strengthen its network of trained midwives. They now attend more than half of all births - a significant increase. Many local clinics function better, even if they're still poorly equipped. But midwives are paid very little - and can be distracted by running private businesses too. In Lvea village, the women were cautious about criticizing the midwives who tried but failed to save Lout’s life.

III. Mass Media Screening
WMC has produced multi media approaches and innovation high quality radio, television and video productions that related to gender and health by broadcasting to provide educations about women health care today. It always produces many spot that educate to women in Cambodia how to take care of their health when they got disease. For instance, the maternal health care when they are pregnant, they need to go to see the doctor. The group works of WMC always go to do the fieldwork to collect any data of women health care and educate them about the women issue.

- The National Strategic ( CMDG )
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health- The proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel has remained very low throughout the last decade at round 32 percent. Using of modern contraceptives remains at modest rate of approximately 20 percent. Progress on maternal mortality has been limited.

The main challenges are the lack of trained health personnel, the high cost of health care and low education levels among pregnant women. In order to meet Goal 5, an effective response would need to improve access to health care and family planning service increase the number of trained health personnel provide information campaigns and better target and manage health expenditures.

IV. Conclusion
While data on HIV knowledge and behavior is still relatively limited, trends in condom use have been monitored for several years. Data presented here show that condom use in commercial sex settings is generally very high. However, condom use among women involved in non-commercial higher-risk sexual relations and their partners (e.g. relationships between sweethearts and other regular, but non-faithful partners) remains very low. The situation of women working in environments and professions at risk of sexual and other forms of exploitation needs more attention and in-depth study in order to prevent abuse and manipulation.

In this situation the women care are not encourage because it doesn’t have enough material and expert doctors in the rural hospital that lack of health care for women when they got disease or ill. Sometime they don’t have enough money to pay for the fee. But now most of women have known a lot how to take care themselves and our government have build more hospital near their house that make them easy to examine their health on time.

Written by: Nhim Soknea, Pannasastra University of Cambodia, PUC

To Show or Hide Files and Folders

How to disable or enable "Show hidden files and folders" in Folder Option

As you know, you can hide or show files or folders in Microsoft Windows ( to hide a file or folder , right click on file or folder >select properties and then select Hide file) But if you open Folder Option and check "Show hidden files and folders " you can see hidden files.

To disable "Show hidden files and folders" feature follow below
Steps :1
Click start -> Run > type: regedit (to run Windows Registry Editor)

Step:2
Go to following address: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced/Folder/Hidden/SHOWALL

Step:3
In the right panel double click on "CheckedValue" and change value:
- To show type number: 1
- To hide type number: 0 (To disable "Show hidden files and folders" in Folder Option)
Click ok and then exit Windows Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Step:4
Now open Explorer-> Folder Options->View tab, check "Hidden files and folders" or check "Show hidden files and folders" and then close Folder Option.

Note: incorrectly editing registry may damage your system. Please create a back up first

Gender and Education in Cambodia

Although Cambodia has made good progress in education, gender inequality still remains a major challenge in this sector. Boys and girls start schooling on equal footing in primary school education but dropout rate among girl students starts to go up with their grade improvement, particularly after completion of secondary level.

Education is one of the sectors where gender issue might be profound. It has two prong effects with relation to gender. It can address gender equality through widening women’s life choices on one hand. On the other hand, gender blind education can reinforce gender inequality through constructing gender stereotypes.

Gender issues in education sector including high illiteracy rates among women, high dropout rates of girls, and teaching of Chbab Srey in textbooks have long term implications for women’s education independence, health, decision-making capacities and their overall empowerment.

Study reveals that poverty, distant location of school, son preference of family in schooling and societal expectation that daughters should be the caregivers in the households further limit girl’s education.

1. Status, Trends and Issues

Cambodia’s female literacy rate is only slightly higher than neighboring Laos, and mean years of schooling and gross secondary school enrollment rates are the lowest in the region. Poverty is highly associated with low education: Seventy-four percent of the poor live in households where the head of the household is illiterate or has less than a complete primary education. The low education of poor children will transmit poverty from one generation to the next.

The education of girls and women has a powerful trans-generation effect and is a key determinant of social development and women’s empowerment. There is increasing awareness globally that gender inequalities in education have a broad effect on household well-being as well as constrain the ability of women to contribute to economic growth and invest in human resource development, thus constraining overall macroeconomic outcomes. There are strong positive correlations between a mother’s schooling and her children’s birth weight, health and nutritional status. A positive relationship between mother’s schooling and child immunization rates is observed broadly across world regions (world Bank 2001). Also, the probability of children being enrolled in school increases with their mother’s educational level. Everything else being equal, countries in which the ratio of female to male enrollment in primary or secondary education is less than 0.75 can expect levels of GNP that are roughly 25 percent lower than countries in which there is less gender disparity in education.

Although improving, the female share of school enrollment declines at each level of education. The female share of enrollment drops at each higher level of education. At the primary school level girl comprised 47 percent of total enrollment in 2007 -91 percent of girls vs. 93 percent of boys aged 6 to 11 were enrolled in primary school. At the lower secondary school level, girls share of total enrollment declines slightly to 45 percent -33 percent of girls vs. 34 percent of boys age 12 to 14 were enrolled in lower secondary school. At the upper secondary school level, the rate falls further to 39 percent -11 percent of girls vs. 13 percent of boys age 15 to 17 were enrolled in upper secondary school in 2006. In higher education, 35 percent of students were women in 2007. The CMDGs seek to achieve gender parity in primary and lower secondary school enrollment, and a female to male ratio of 80 percent in upper secondary education, and 70 percent in tertiary education by 2010.

Gender equity in education is improving, however, gaps remain; improvement mostly in higher income groups. Progress is being achieved in increase net enrollment of both girls and boys and reducing the gender gap at all school levels, particularly at the lower secondary school level.

At the primary school level, total net enrollment rates increased from 87 percent in 2002 to 92 percent in 2007, and girls net enrollment increased from 84 percent to 91 percent. The ratio of girls to boys in primary school increased from 87 percent in 2002 to 92 percent in 2007. This has, however, still fallen short of the CMDG target of 98 percent set for 2005.

The distribution of net enrollment by wealth quintile shows a somewhat higher proportion of poor children enrolled in primary school- a reflection of the tendency for poor children to enter school at an older age and make slower progress through school. Girls comprise a lower proportion of primary school enrollment in all wealth quintiles.

While enrollment rates at the lower secondary school level have increased substantially in recent years, albeit from a very low level, and the gender gap is narrowing, total net enrollment in 2007 at 33.7 percent was still well below the CMDG target of 50 percent set for 2005 and the ratio of girls to boys in lower secondary school was only 84 percent also well below the CMDG target of 96 percent set for 2005. There is a consistent gap between enrollment of girls and boys across income groups. Poor girls are most seriously under represented in lower secondary education. As higher returns to education are only discernable above the primary school level, shortfalls in both overall enrollment rates and gender equity in enrollment at the lower secondary school level will tend to perpetuate both income and gender inequities.

At the upper secondary school level, the ratio of girls to boys slightly exceeded the target of 60 percent in 2005 and rose to 66 percent in 2007. net enrollment was, however, only 11.3 percent of the age group, and the vast majority of the students were from higher income groups (74 percent of upper secondary school students were from households in the highest two quintiles in 2004).

At the tertiary level, women are outnumbered by men 2.1 to 1. While this is improvement over the 3.3 to1 ratio in the current work force, it means that gender disparities in professional and management occupations will persist for many years to come.

Education outcomes among recent school leavers show much less gender inequality. Education attainment-as measured by age-specific median values of highest grade completed-is nearly equal for males and females in or recently leaving school. While inequalities emerge among those aged 20 or above, and the ratio of male to female median grades for the population as a whole is high at 3.6 to 2.3, female educational status in the next generation should be much higher than in their parents generation, and much closer to that of their male contemporaries(world bank 2007).

The vast majority of adult women is illiterate or has less than a complete primary school education. Forty percent of women age 25-44 are self-reported as illiterate (vs. 22 percent of men). Although improving in younger age groups, 23 percent of young women age 15-24 are reported as illiterate (vs. 16 percent of young men). An additional 35 percent of women age 25-44 and 33 percent of women age 15-24 have less than a complete primary school education (CSES 2004).

IMPACT ON WOMEN AND EDUCATION

Education enhances a woman’s position through decision-making autonomy, control over resources, knowledge, exposure to the modern world and husband wife closeness, delays age at marriage, and increase her bargaining power and autonomy within the household and society. The access to education in Cambodia has traditionally a strong bias against girls’ schooling and literacy. Over the years, gender disparity at upper secondary and tertiary education has been declining. Cambodia was included among 63 countries reported to have achieved or nearly achieved universal primary enrolment in the 2008 Education for All (EFA) report published by UNESCO. But it was also listed among the worst performing countries with regard to literacy and was deemed at "serious risk" of not meeting the universal literacy target set for 2015.

EXPOSURE TO MASS MEDIA
The exposure to mass media is a factors or sources for empowerment. Media exposure had high impact on all the other aspect of empowerment. Access to information allows people to make informed decisions about their own lives. The exposure to mass media in rural areas has large effects on a wide range of day to day lifestyle behaviors, family hygiene, health and education. Apart from providing entertainment and drawing public attention to issues affecting the society, Mass media and in particularly TV vastly increases both the availability of information about the outside world, and exposure to other ways of life. This is especially true for remote rural villages; where television and radio is the primary channel through which households get information about life outside their villages. The popular TV programming features urban settings where lifestyles differ in prominent and salient ways from those in rural areas.

1.1 Early Childhood education
Early childhood development is an essential ingredient for the attainment of education for all. It is increasingly recognized that interventions to improve young children’s capacity to develop and learn can contribute to higher enrollment rates, less grade repetition, fewer dropouts, and higher intelligence (World Bank 2005). Expanding early childhood education opportunities in combination with parent education to support the early childhood classes is considered best practice in terms of potential of positive impact of children’s development in all areas.

Although slowly increasing access to preschool remains quite limited and most children enroll late. In 2004, the number of students aged 3 to 5 had increased by 11%, and students aged 5 increased by 20%. However, only 6% of children age were enrolled in public preschool students were older than 5, with some as old as 10 (CESE 2004).

1.2 Primary education (grade 1 to 6)

In primary school 78,4% of girls vs. 76,56% of boys were promoted to the next grade in 2006. Promotion rates have declined for both girls and boys since 2002-from 80% for girls and 81% for boys. The dropout rate was 11.9% for girlsvs.11.3% for boys, and 10.7% of girls vs. 13,1% of boys repeated grades.

The Cambodia Child Labor Survey (ILO\IPEC 2001) found that while boys and girls are equally likely to be enrolled in primary school, there is a 10% point difference in the probability of completing primary school. Gender differences emerge in grade 3, become much more marked in grade 5, and peak in the transitions to grade 6 and to lower secondary school. Kin the 12-17 age range, girls’ work is significantly more likely to interfere with schooling than boys (World Bank 2005).

Differences between the poorest and the wealthiest quintiles are even more pronounced: 89% of children in the richest quintile, but only 59% of children in the poorest quintile complete primary school.

Girls in the poorest income quintile are more likely to enter primary school late or not at all, and least likely to complete grade 6. Girls in remote areas are more likely to enter primary school late (52%), less likely to be promoted to the next grade (65% vs.77%), more likely to drop out (19% vs.12%), and therefore least likely to complete grade 6.

While the funding for education has improved, and dramatic changes are underway, a litany of problems remain. The overwhelming problems are still financial and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport admits that there is little likelihood of providing the opportunity for every child to have nine years of education in the very near future. There are still enormous problems with education service delivery, include a large gap in education quality between urban and rural or remote schools. Teachers face inadequate salaries and the need to charge students fees for services. Since they cannot live on such wages, they must supplement their income with other jobs, which often cuts into class times. In addition, the teachers must also charge students fees to attend their classes, or offer additional for fee classes outside the regular class times. This means that the poorest students are often locked out of classes where the real teaching occurs.

1.3 Lower secondary education (grade 7 to 9)
An additional 20% of girls and 28% of boys mostly older than 13 were enrolled in lower secondary school in 2006.

The survival rate from grade 1 to 9 declined from 31% in 2002 to 26.5% in 2005, and then fell further to 27% in 2006, well below the CMDG target of 52% set for 2005. Dropout rates for girls increased from 21% in 2002 to 24% in 2005, and for boys from 17%to 21%.

The reason they dropout because in the rural families who live by subsistence agriculture, education costs are the highest expense they face annually. They can not afford to educate all of their children and will have to choose certain children to attend. This is one reason why many more boys than girls attend school. Their parents would like to educate both, but if forced to choose, they choose to educate boys. Moreover, In the urban, they make with bad friends until use drug. When they addict, they do not want to go to school. Sometimes they have no money to buy drug, they rob others that why make them in the prison. They will have no future.

1.4 Upper secondary education (grade 9 to 12)
In 2007, 11.3% of girls vs. 13% of boys age 14 to 17 were enrolled in upper secondary school. An additional 6.3% of girls and 10.4% of boys, older than 17, were enrolled in upper secondary school in 2007.

Most girls can not able to attend the class because of the sexual disparity include the fact that girls are more likely to be kept at home to help with household work and to care for younger siblings. Furthermore, about personal security, girls are also not allowed to travel long because the schools are far from home and the road is bad they concerned their security.

1.5 Higher education
The number of girls and boys continuing their education to the tertiary level has increased significantly in recent years; however, significant gender and income disparities remain.

Recorded enrollment in higher education has greatly expanded from 9,228 in 2002 to 15,487 in 2005 for girls ( a 68% increase) and from 22,782 to 32,248 boys (42% increase). Ninety two percent of students enrolled in university are from households in the richest income quintile (96,5% of female and 90% of male students). Only 0.9% of female university students and 3% of male university students are from household in the three lowest income quintiles.

2. The Cause that girl enrolled in school less than boys
2.1 Access to education
Girls have extremely limited opportunities to receive education in rural areas, particularly among minority ethnic groups. Obstacles for girls going to school which arise from the gender stereotypes that girls need no education. Another obstacle is the lack of personal security in rural areas. Girls and women with disabilities are also often deprived of their right to education. The RGC’s report to the CEDAW Committee neglects to mention this problem. In rural areas, the distance girls have to travel to access lower secondary school and secondary school is also a barrier. There are not enough secondary schools for rural villages; therefore, most girls drop out of schools for fear of personal security, such as through rape and robbery, and because of high travel costs.

2.2 School drop out
The drop out rate for primary school for girls has been stable for the last eight years, between 13 % and 14%.Poverty, combined with the gender roles ascribed to girls, means that poor households often urge girls to drop out while boys can remain in school. Early marriage in rural areas also prevents girls from continuing schoolings. Unofficial payments to teachers at school for additional teaching also represent an obstacle. frequent migration makes it difficult for children to continue schooling after moving to a new place. The RGC’s report to the CEDAW Committee describes some root causes of the problem, but fails to take any action to eliminate the causes.

2.3 Curriculum
Gender stereotypes are deeply rooted in the education system in Cambodia. The Chbab Srey, which contains principles for living that bear discrimination against women, is still taught at school. Gender is not effectively mainstreamed in the curriculum; developing and reviewing the entire curriculum is one of the duties of a committee within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and it appears the committee is not functioning effectively. As a result, within the nine years of compulsory schooling, subjects such as home skills and sewing are taught only to girls, whereas carpentry is taught only to boys. There is no comprehensive strategy and no mechanism in existence to eliminate gender discriminatory views in school textbooks.

3. Obstacles

• Poverty puts pressure on poor households and deprives girls of the opportunity to go to school.
• Poor security prevents girls from going to school.
• Early marriage prevents girls from continuing schooling.
• There is no law to reprimand or fine parents who do not comply with the principle that their children have rights to receive nine years of education.
• Gender stereotypes among parents against girls and in society towards girls, that girls grow up to get married and take care of the household, still widely prevail. Girls themselves are also deeply influenced by gender based concepts and make no objections to dropping out of school.
• The government does not allocate sufficient funds or budget for salaries and administrative costs. The budget for supporting quality education inputs, such as professional development of teachers and principals, is still limited.
• Unofficial payments to school teachers put pressure on less wealthy households and force children, especially girls, to give up schooling.
• Drug use among youth is high, which leads to boys and girls dropping out from school and joining gangs.
• There is a lack of infrastructure such as roads and school buildings in rural areas.
• Frequent migration from place to place makes it difficult for girls to continue schooling after moving to a new place.

4. Recommendations

• Increase the number of awareness raising measures to overcome traditional attitudes that constitute obstacles to girls’ education, particularly targeting parents and communities, so that community pressure can encourage girls to continue schooling.
• Design and implement comprehensive and gender sensitive educational programs to change stereotyped gender roles in society. Adequate materials also need to be designed and developed to achieve this goal.
• Increase the number of comprehensive and uniform awareness raising measures to foster a better understanding of equality between women and men at all levels of society, especially targeting parents in rural areas.
• Strengthen implementation of the law against trafficking and the law on drugs to reduce the number of girls dropping out of school.
• Increase appropriate measures to keep girls in school and strengthen the implementation of reentry policies providing for girls’ return to school after dropping out.
• Provide informal literacy education to adults, especially in rural areas. Sufficient children services must be provided for female workers at garment factories so that they can attend informal education.
• Provide more security in rural areas so that girls can continue schooling.Provide more scholarships for girls in rural areas and build dormitories for girls from the provinces so they can continue higher education.

Written by Ngy Sreymom, Pannasastra University of Cambodia, 2009

Gender: Violence Against Women in Cambodia

Violence refers to any act that violates an individual’s physical, verbal, psychological, or sexual rights, by means of force, threat, battering, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty in public or in private life that results in physical or psychological harm or suffering of the abused. Violence against women is widely prevalent in Cambodia. The incidence of domestic violence has remained static over the past decade, while reporting of rape has increased. Reliable data on the incidence of sexual exploitation is unavailable; however, it appears to be entrenched in Cambodia. Data on sexual harassment is not widely available; however, recent studies indicate that it is more likely to occur in informal vulnerable occupations.

Violence against women is present in all societies; however, higher levels of violence against women tend to be correlated with high levels of general violence, and with significant gender inequalities. Gender inequality, including traditional attitudes that treat women and children as having lesser status and rights then men, and which prize women’s chastity, obedience and respect for their husbands and punish women who appear to be more sexually open, reinforce and support violence against women.

There are many problems related to violence against women, included domestic violence, trafficking, and rape.

I Domestic Violence

1.1. Definition
Domestic violence is physical, sexual, psychological (Including insults, threats and social isolation) and economic abuse or coercion by one (or more) persons in order to central another person(s) that live(s) in the same household living under one roof (MoWA 2008: Cambodia Gender Assessment).

1.2. Causes of Making Domestic Violence
There are many causes of making domestic violence which nowadays Cambodian people confront, however, some causes which occur more often are as following:
- Poverty
- Drinking alcohol
- Men and women have other special friends
- Drug Abuse
- Gambling
- No tolerance
- Arranged Marriage
- Jealous each other, etc

According to the evaluation of Ministry of Women’s Affairs (WoMA) and Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey 2008, domestic violence remains high in Cambodia, during the past decade, between one-in-four and one-in-five women reported having experienced violence from their spouse.

Domestic violence is consistently underreported by victims. The most recent of national survey, CDHS 2005, found that 22% of women had experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse from their spouse within the 12 months prior to the survey.

Domestic violence is often correlated with spousal control and attempts by husbands to control their wives’ behavior are often a precursor to violent behavior (ibid[1]:288). 85 percent of women whose husbands exercised no marital control had never experienced any violence from their husband compared to 45% of women whose husbands were very controlling.

Incidence of domestic violence is strongly correlated with alcohol use by the perpetrator. Of women interviewed in the CDHS, only 48% of those whose husbands drank very often had never experienced violence compared to 78% of all married women (ibid:296). Victims and perpetrators of domestic violence are also more likely to have witnessed violence between their parents when they were growing up. 25 percent of men and 20% of women in the baseline study had seen their father hit their mother, a further indication that prevalence levels have been static over time.

According to ADHOC report 2008, there are 1,167 cases of violence against women and children have been reported in 2008, of which 674 cases were domestic violence and in 2007, there are 632 domestic violence. It found that the numbers of violent cases have increased gradually.

II Trafficking of Women and Children
2.1. Definition
Trafficking means buying or selling something illegally included human beings and goods. Trafficking of women is illegal under the law on Suppression of Kidnapping, trafficking, Exploitation of Human Persons and the Constitution (CEDAW 2005).

2.2. Causes of Making Trafficking
Most of issues were happening when people faced situation below:
- Poverty
- Drug Abuse
- Immigration
- Astray
- Swindle from friends and other people

Reliable data on the incidence of trafficking and sexual exploitation is unavailable in Cambodia; however, NGOs report that the incidence of trafficking is increasing, particularly to overseas destinations (Licadho 2006,2007). Most women were swindled to work in abroad such as Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, China, and so on. Those had faced sexual violation when they arrived at the host country. They were forced to work in houses as waitresses. Children are trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor in organized begging rings, soliciting, street vending, and flower selling.

While national data on the prevalence of sexual exploitation is unavailable, several recent studies have estimated that around 30% of sex workers are forced. An estimated 38% of women had entered sex work through the sale of virginity; most were underage.

Despite common perceptions that clients of sex workers are predominantly Western expatriates, most clients of sex workers in Cambodia are Asian men, particularly in the virginity trade. In a recent study conducted for IOM, 49% of clients buying virginity were Cambodian men.
There are 1,167cases of violence against women and children have been reported by ADHOC in 2008, of which 74 cases of human trafficking against 46 cases of human trafficking in 2007.

III Rape of Women and Children
3.1. Definition
Rape is a physical invasion of a sexual nature on a person committed by a person under circumstances that are coercive or committed without one’s knowledge, by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (MoWA 2005).

The reported incidence of rape and sexual assault is increasing notably. Cases reported to NGOs and the media are likely to represent only a proportion of total cases. However, reports of rape to NGOs and the media are increasing from year to year. Licadho reported an increase in rape cases from 66 to 68 between 2005 and 2006, while the number of rape cases reported in the media increased from 286 to 311 (Licadho 2007). Similarly, ADHOC reported an increase from 380 to 478 rape cases between 2005 and 2006. Increased reporting of rape is likely a result of increasing awareness however the type and severity of rape cases also appears to be worsening.

Three percent of women in the CDHS 2005 reported that the first time they had intercourse it was against their will. In addition, 3% of married women reported they had been raped by their husband.
Gang rape of sex workers, garment workers and women working in vulnerable occupations such as beer promotion and karaoke bars continues to be reported to NGOs and in the media. The incidence of gang rape appears to be increasing both among sex workers and other women. Gang rape appears to be more commonly practiced by specific groups of men, including some groups of young urban men and university students, some members of the police and gang members. A recent USAID study found that 90% of sex workers had been raped in 2006 and that most of the rapes were gang-rapes.

Of growing concern is the increase in reporting of rape of under-age girls and children to NGOs and the media (Licadho 2006, 2007). More than 70% of the victims reported to ADHOC were children aged 5 to 18 years old (ADHOC 2006). There are 1,167 cases of violence against women and children have been reported by ADHOC in 2008, which 419 cases were rape. There are 1,201 cases in 2007, 523 rapes.

IV Media Mainstreaming

The Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia is a unique media organization working to improve status of women in Cambodia via producing TV and radio programs which are broadcast on Radio FM102, local TV channels, Contact provinces, and Mobile Broadcasting Units (MBUs). The issues which were raised the most are domestic violence, trafficking of women and children, and rape of women and children. For example, in the drama entitled “Bangkorng Vormeas” or in English “Golden Vine”, it mentioned about a wife who was physically and psychologically violated by her husband. Even though she was just delivered a baby, she was sexually raped by her husband. This kind of violation is called sexual abuse. At the meantime, the husband who could not understand and feel her pain tried to revenge his wife, who rejected not to sleep with, by bringing a prostitute girl to sleep at the house in front of his sick wife. Without bearing more pain, the wife committed suicide, but she was survived by the commune chief and her neighbors. Somehow, the psychological domestic violence is invisible. In this drama, it also showed the impact of migrating to other countries because of domestic violence causes.

There are still many video and radio programs which were produced to meet the need of listener audiences and viewer audiences who could learn from the drama such as “Develop women, Develop society”, “The Generosity”, “Scale of Justice” and educational radio programs such as “Women speaking out on Human Right” and “The Road of Law in Cambodia”.

According to the WMC Annual Evaluation 2008, it showed that the number of people accessed to TV and Radio in provinces and cities are different. The 90% of the respondent had to either TV or radio or both within last one month. The access to television is more than radio in Phnom Penh. The accessibly of radio and television is same in the rural area, with radio having slightly more than TV. This means that radio is still primary channel of communication due to non availability of electricity for running TV and widespread poverty in the rural area. As income of the community increases they also adopt modern lifestyle and use TV instead of radio, as in Phnom Penh where TV has more accessibility than radio. In rural area Male had more access to radio and television than female. In Phnom Penh, female has more access to both radio and television. The reason for this can be, the interviewer were instructed to do interview of only female in the household and interview the male who are outside the house either in the street, field or workplace. In Phnom Penh, interviewer must have come across many Moto taxi drivers, who have less accessibility to either radio or TV.

When the husband is angry, the wife should keep silent. Rice boiled over medium fire never burns. In Cambodia society women are expected to avoid conflict; otherwise she would be provoking him to be violent. The response from focus group discussion and interviewer feedback of the main reasons of men beating their wives is drinking and second wife.

In the WMC Annual Evaluation 2008 on 399 respondents, respondents were asked that “Do you think that violence against women is wrongful behavior and a criminal act?” The 94.6% of the respondent agreed with the statement. However, 13% female respondent and 12% male respondent answered yes to question “In the last 12months, has your husband or any other partner ever slapped, kicked, brunt, dragged or beaten up or thrown something at you that could hurt you?” The 4% female respondent told that their sexual partner physically force her to have sexual intercourse when she did not want to.

V Conclusion
In summary, the domestic violence is still the main concern which government and NGOs must pay hot attention to. More than this, the issues of rape, particularly rape of women and children are increasing year to year. People are still receiving very little information on the issues they would face in their life and in community. With strong support from donors, UN Agencies and Government Institutions, we hope the issues would solve properly and legally. At last, our country will be in a splendor.

Written by: Ms. Yorn Channita, Panhasastra University of Cambodia (PUC)

[1] India business insight database

How to Be Prepared for Impromptu Speaking

On occasion we find ourselves in situations where we must speak extemporaneously. It could be a business meeting, a gathering, or an issue of importance to us personally at the city council level. There are ways to be prepared for such moments.
Things You Will Need:

1. Practiced Articulation
2. Anger Control
3. Knowledge of the Subject
4. Self-confidence

Step 1:

Practice articulation daily - When speaking, enunciate so you can be understood. Avoid mumbling and using extra words or pauses like er and ah. If you have a fondness for four letter words, try to eliminate them from your daily speech. This builds your confidence in your ability to speak in a proper manner.

Step 2:

Practice speaking calmly and knowledgeably about a topic - In your daily life, practice keeping calm when people press your hot buttons. The more you practice at home and at work, the better you will become at anger control. When someone hits your hot button, take a deep breath or two before you respond. You may also need to give yourself a slow count of three before your respond. Deep breathing gives oxygen to your brain and is a quick release for rising anger.

Step 3:

Be Prepared and keep Learning - When you put yourself in a situation of a group at a gathering, at work or at a meeting, you should prepare so you will be able to address the subject at hand intelligently. This means putting a little study into your life. As long as we live we should be learning. This is an opportunity to learn whether or not you are called on to speak. When uncomfortable, you can always state that you do not have enough information on this subject to speak knowledgeably.

Step 4:

Exude self-confidence - Self-confidence comes from preparation and knowing you are able to meet the challenge of speaking on a particular subject.

Worst comes to Worst learn to gracefully decline. If you are not prepared, there is no shame in turning the floor over to someone else who is prepared. Of course, if you were asked in advance to speak, then this is not extemporaneous and you should meet your obligation.