About this project
The CARE-Minority Initiative builds the capacity and agency of minority and Indigenous women and girls in Cambodia to stand up for their rights, while fostering a safe, gender-equitable, and nonviolent environment around them by engaging family members, men, and local authorities. Building on Women Peace Makers' long-term engagement with minority communities, the initiative works with Indigenous women, Cham women, and ethnic minority Vietnamese women in Mondulkiri, Rattanakiri, and Kampong Chhnang provinces to address gender-based violence, discrimination, exclusion, and unequal access to rights and opportunities. The initiative combines leadership development, women circles, community change initiatives, intergenerational dialogue, and participatory research to foster safer and more equitable environments for women and girls. CARE-Minority also responds to emerging challenges facing minority women and girls, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence, limited access to legal protection, barriers to education, harmful gender norms, and restricted civic participation. T Women's Circle participants receive sisterhood mentorship from the Weaving Women's Leadership Network (WWLN), tailored to their personal goals in areas such as education, leadership, and economic security. The project further contributes to evidence-based advocacy through community surveys, public engagement, and stakeholder briefings focused on gender equality and the rights of minority women and girls in Cambodia.
Current focus areas
- Training women Community Representatives and Community Resource People on CEDAW, sexual and reproductive health and rights, legal protection and gender-based violence, digital literacy, technology-facilitated GBV, and project management
- Establishment of women circles and peer support spaces within minority communities
- Sisterhood mentorship support through the Weaving Women's Leadership Network (WWLN)
- Community-led change initiatives designed and budgeted by the women themselves, including forum theatre, storytelling, and panel discussions with local authorities
- Participatory community study on rising gender issues, includingtechnology-facilitated gender-based violence, with trained community women as field data collectors
- Intergenerational dialogues that bring parents, caregivers, and young people together to discuss gender and human rights
- Public awareness raising and advocacy on gender equality, minority inclusion, and violence prevention
Emerging outputs
- A community-generated evidence base on rising gender issues, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence gathered by trained community women
- Community change initiatives such as the "Forum Theatre and Dialogue" event in the Cham community and the "Women Talk" storytelling feature, engaging women, men, youth, and village and commune authorities
- Regular Women's Circles meetings and mentorship structures supporting long-term peer leadership and community engagement
- Policy briefings and stakeholder engagement related to minority women's rights and gender equality
- Written commitments by parents and caregivers, signed during intergenerational dialogues, pledging to foster open communication and support gender equality at home
- FAIR AFSC