Women's economic empowerment is essential for more inclusive growth in Cambodia. This study takes stock of major gender issues in the Cambodian economy seen through the lens of women's participation, benefit, and agency---the three prerequisites for a fairer distribution of growth benefits. It examines labor market trends and obstacles to women's economic empowerment---particularly in agriculture, business development, and wage employment. Labor migration and vulnerability to shocks are highlighted as special themes. The study makes a series of policy recommendations, identifies areas for further research, and highlights how Asian Development Bank investments can promote women's economic empowerment.

This report analyzes gender equality in the labor market and related policies and legislation in Cambodia, and concludes with recommendations to promote gender equality. Despite a decline in the gender gap in human capital, the gender gap in productive and decent work persists in Cambodia. The gender employment gap has a profound and compounding effect on women in the labor market, not only because they are subject to the deficits of less available work, more vulnerable work, and the unpaid work burden, but also because they are paid at a lower rate than men even when they do find work. The main constraints on women in the labor market are domestic work and care burdens, and women's more limited access to resources, including education, training, government services, credit, and financial services. Women also face pervasive discrimination and lack of social protection in most aspects of their employment and work. Cambodia faces the task of generating employment growth, reducing vulnerable employment, and improving decent work opportunities. This will require broad macroeconomic responses to expand employment opportunities, as well as policies and legislation to improve decent work, social protection, and active labor market support for men and women alike.

This book investigates the barriers to women’s economic empowerment in the Global South. Drawing on evidence from a wide range of countries, the book outlines important lessons and practical solutions for promoting gender equality. Despite global progress in closing gender gaps in education and health, women’s economic empowerment has lagged behind, with little evidence that economic growth promotes gender equality. International Development Research Centre’s (IDRC) Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) programme was set up to provide policy lessons, insights, and concrete solutions that could lead to advances in gender equality, particularly on the role of institutions and macroeconomic growth, barriers to labour market access for women, and the impact of women’s care responsibilities. This book showcases rigorous and multi-disciplinary research emerging from this ground-breaking programme, covering topics such as the school-to-work transition, child marriage, unpaid domestic work and childcare, labour market segregation, and the power of social and cultural norms that prevent women from fully participating in better paid sectors of the economy. With a range of rich case studies from Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Uganda, this book is perfect for students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in the Global South.

The National Gender Profile of Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Cambodia provides findings of an assessment of men’s and women’s roles, gender division of labour and gender gaps, including women’s needs and constraints in the agriculture and rural development sectors in Cambodia. It also presents findings from the assessment of policies and frameworks pertaining to gender equality in agricultural and rural development. The assessment reveals that girls and women farmers have been more recognized and given opportunities in Cambodian political and economic activities compared to the past two decades. However, it also unveils the fact that gender inequalities still remain. These include the persisting gender and social norms that place men and boys as superior to women and girls, limited representation and opportunities in leadership tasks and roles and limited educational access to agricultural skills and related technologies. Rural women in particular face limited access to and control over productive and natural resources, services, and to markets and other opportunities to scale up their businesses. It also uncovers that there are still few women holding high-ranking positions at government level, with lower representation in decision-making positions as compared to men.Through a detailed analysis of the various sub-sectors, the policy framework and the main national stakeholders, concrete recommendations are provided for Government, FAO and other relevant partners for strengthening the integration of gender equality dimensions in agricultural and rural development policies and programmes.

Trade can dramatically improve women’s lives, creating new jobs, enhancing consumer choices, and increasing women’s bargaining power in society. It can also lead to job losses and a concentration of work in low-skilled employment. Given the complexity and specificity of the relationship between trade and gender, it is essential to assess the potential impact of trade policy on both women and men and to develop appropriate, evidence-based policies to ensure that trade helps to enhance opportunities for all. Research on gender equality and trade has been constrained by limited data and a lack of understanding of the connections among the economic roles that women play as workers, consumers, and decision makers. Building on new analyses and new sex-disaggregated data, Women and Trade: The Role of Trade in Promoting Gender Equality aims to advance the understanding of the relationship between trade and gender equality and to identify a series of opportunities through which trade can improve the lives of women.