Women Entrepreneurs Act in Cambodia

WE Act is a five-year project funded by USAID that supports young women in Cambodia's urban centers to realize their path toward empowerment and success as entrepreneurs and leaders in their communities. Learn more

Union Agriculture Cooperative

Success story from Ms. Sok Lay, who is the board member of Union Agriculture Cooperative in Siem Reap.

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SEPAK

In Cambodia, Khmer Handicraft producers currently struggle to find a market to sell their products. We have created SEPAK (from the word Handicraft) which is an online marketplace for producers to post their products and for customers and supporters to buy their products more easily and efficiently. We believe that our work will allow Khmer handicraft producers to continue their work and gain more income rather than emigrating to other countries.

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Keiy Tambanh Khmer

Keiy Tambanh Khmer which has brand name KTK has been established in June 1, 2015 by Ms. Sopheap CHEN with 10 women weavers and we aim to increase to 500 families by the end of 2025.

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OUR INSPIRATION

The inspiration that drives WE Act is the passion, commitment, dreams and unmet potential of Cambodia’s young women entrepreneurs. Fundamental to harnessing this inspiration is the recognition that there isn’t one standard experience for all entrepreneurs, but rather that every journey is unique, and that the better we understand those journeys, the better we can all design and deliver support services that meet specific needs in practical and relevant ways.

To inform our project strategy, we spoke with a wide variety of entrepreneurs and system actors to understand some of the most common experiences and journeys for young women entrepreneurs in Cambodia. We listened to stories about educational opportunities, access to information, language abilities, family and community support structures, access to networks, access to finance and entrepreneur experiences. Commonalities helped us form three overarching archetypes that we will look to for continued inspiration.

Get to know the WE Act archetypes

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OUR APPROACH

Empowerment

Empowering young women is at the core of WE Act and cuts across all of our work.

Our understanding of what constitutes empowerment comes from the social economist Naila Kabeer, who speaks of women’s empowerment across three key domains: resources, agency and achievements.

Women are empowered when they have access to resources that enable them to have viable choices in their lives, they have personal agency to define their goals and to act on them, and they realize achievements that are aligned with their chosen goals. This is WE Act’s ultimate objective.

Resources enhance women’s ability to make choices, and include a range of different material, human and social resources that they may draw on in pursuit of their goals. Accessing appropriate resources is a precondition for empowerment. For young women entrepreneurs, this includes information, skills building, financing, social capital and the physical assets that make enterprises viable.

Agency is a woman’s capacity to define her own life choices and to act on those choices. Agency is the process of empowerment, and for young women entrepreneurs this includes ability to use their voice, participate, influence, and ultimately to take ownership of decisions that impact their life opportunities.

Achievements are the outcomes of choice, otherwise seen as living the life one wants to live. For young women entrepreneurs, this may be increased incomes or healthier and more prosperous families.

1

OUR APPROACH

Empowerment

Empowering young women is at the core of WE Act and cuts across all of our work.

Our understanding of what constitutes empowerment comes from the social economist Naila Kabeer, who speaks of women’s empowerment across three key domains: resources, agency and achievements.

Women are empowered when they have access to resources that enable them to have viable choices in their lives, they have personal agency to define their goals and to act on them, and they realize achievements that are aligned with their chosen goals. This is WE Act’s ultimate objective.

Resources enhance women’s ability to make choices, and include a range of different material, human and social resources that they may draw on in pursuit of their goals. Accessing appropriate resources is a precondition for empowerment. For young women entrepreneurs, this includes information, skills building, financing, social capital and the physical assets that make enterprises viable.

Agency is a woman’s capacity to define her own life choices and to act on those choices. Agency is the process of empowerment, and for young women entrepreneurs this includes ability to use their voice, participate, influence, and ultimately to take ownership of decisions that impact their life opportunities.

Achievements are the outcomes of choice, otherwise seen as living the life one wants to live. For young women entrepreneurs, this may be increased incomes or healthier and more prosperous families.

1

OUR APPROACH

Empowerment

Empowering young women is at the core of WE Act and cuts across all of our work.

Our understanding of what constitutes empowerment comes from the social economist Naila Kabeer, who speaks of women’s empowerment across three key domains: resources, agency and achievements.

Women are empowered when they have access to resources that enable them to have viable choices in their lives, they have personal agency to define their goals and to act on them, and they realize achievements that are aligned with their chosen goals. This is WE Act’s ultimate objective.

Resources enhance women’s ability to make choices, and include a range of different material, human and social resources that they may draw on in pursuit of their goals. Accessing appropriate resources is a precondition for empowerment. For young women entrepreneurs, this includes information, skills building, financing, social capital and the physical assets that make enterprises viable.

Agency is a woman’s capacity to define her own life choices and to act on those choices. Agency is the process of empowerment, and for young women entrepreneurs this includes ability to use their voice, participate, influence, and ultimately to take ownership of decisions that impact their life opportunities.

Achievements are the outcomes of choice, otherwise seen as living the life one wants to live. For young women entrepreneurs, this may be increased incomes or healthier and more prosperous families.

Entrepreneurship Platform for Engagement and Exchange

“In Cambodia, we have seen the increasing desire from government to be supporting the startup ecosystem in Cambodia,” remarks Melanie Mossard, Director of Venture Support of Impact Hub Phnom Penh (IHPP). “We also see that entrepreneurs have the desire to voice their needs, their challenges and to interact with the government in a more informal
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Women with Disabilities Learn to Amplify Their Voices

From July to December 2019, Agile Development Group designed and delivered a unique “Amplifying Voices of Young Women with Disability’ program. The program trained women with disabilities to be capable of utilizing ICT and improve decision-making skills in order to have more economic opportunities, and amplify their voices, empowering them to advocate for their rights,
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UPCOMING EVENT

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RECENT EVENTS

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Event | 15 Jul 2020
By:

My future in Siem Reap

 Phum Impact is coming to Siem Reap! If you are a student, fresh graduate, volunteer, youth group member or a young entrepreneur living in Siemreap, Impact Hub would love to meet you and learn about your experience of living here, your perspective around the challenges and opportunities, and especially your dream for the bright future
14
Jul 2020

Building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Siem Reap
4:00PM-6:00PM | By:
Phum Impact is coming to Siemreap! Phum Impact is a grassroots initiative by Impact Hub Phnom Penh, Khmer Enterprise – សហគ្រិនខ្មែរ and WE Act Cambodia in order to launch locally rooted communities across Cambodia. Through intensive training, coaching and seed funding from Impact Hub Phnom Penh, Phum Impact will play an active role in engaging
13
Jul 2020

The future of my Battambang: Voice of Young people
10:00AM-12:00AM | By:
If you are a student, fresh graduate, volunteer, youth group member or a young entrepreneur living in Battambang, Impact Hub would love to meet you and learn about your experience of living here, your perspective around the challenges and opportunities, and especially your dream for the bright future of your beloved province. — Phum Impact
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