Women for climate resilience in Cambodia

October 2, 2018

Climate resilience is essential to building sustainable communities.  Women play a key role in local adaptation and mitigation efforts with regard to climate change, but in Cambodia they have limited access to decision-making processes. The Cambodian Development Resource Institute under its UNDEF grant is empowering women and women’s groups to promote and advocate for climate change adaptation initiatives. The project started in 2017 and focuses on four provinces in the country aiming to train local women, and form climate change groups to analyze the climate change risks to their communities and to propose ways to enhance resilience against negative effects of natural disasters such as landslides, floods, and droughts. Women groups are encouraged to submit specific proposals to commune councils and are also implementing independent small-scale initiatives that are funded through small grants. Mikiko Sawanishi, UNDEF Deputy Head, visited Rong Domrey and Rakchey communes, Prey Veng Province, and met with women’s climate change leadership groups identifying challenges and possible actions to adapt to the effects of climate change in their communes.