Cambodia’s gender policy: An analysis of women and girls’ education strategies under the Neary Rattanak IV Strategic Plan (2014-2018)

Abstract

In 1999, Cambodia’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs established the first Neary Rattanak Strategic Plan to build Cambodian women’s capacity by offering them more opportunities and access to education. From early 1998 to 2017, Cambodia showed good progress in increasing girls’ school enrolment. Later in 2018, the final year of Neary Rattanak IV’s implementation, the percentage of girls’ enrolment in Cambodia’s primary schools declined. This study analyzes the implementation of education strategies in Neary Rattanak IV by using the seven steps of Mintrom’s (2012) policy implementation analysis to examine whether the strategies have been well implemented. From the analysis, it seems that the education strategies have indeed been successful in their implementation and have reached their targets. However, the study has discovered some potential obstacles and shortcomings that the government may have to act upon through its education and gender policy. Those shortcomings and difficulties, including traditional norms, discrimination against women in employment, and safety issues, have impacted the implementation of the education of women and girls in the Neary Rattanak IV Strategic Plan.