• Society

The Girl-Take-Over Program Is Meant to Empower Cambodian Women

• By Teng Yalirozy
• October 8, 2023 12:30 PM

PHNOM PENH – “It's okay to have a big dream because I believe that you can figure out how to make your dream come true,” said Nann Pechpheary as “British Ambassador,” adding that women must play leadership roles in an inclusive society.

Pechpheary is a young woman who took on the role of British Ambassador for a day as part of the Plan International Cambodia’s GirlsTakeOver program. Its aim: to empower young women in Cambodia to assume for a day decision-making roles such as ambassadors, teachers or provincial officials. This, to encourage them to dream big for their future.

On Oct. 4, Pechpheary led some activities and discussions as an ambassador, which included a climate change discussion with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a meeting with women leaders in Cambodia, a media interview, and a reception.

“I have learned about the leadership role and that, as an ambassador, we have to lead the discussion, we have to prepare, be ready before we have a meeting,” Pechpheary said. “As an ambassador, you work with a lot of partners. So, communication skill is very important so that your work can go smoothly. Another thing is diplomatic relations.”

During a meeting with women leaders, Pechpheary said she heard inspiring stories about women leaders who faced numerous challenges. She was inspired to work hard and strive to one day be a leader.

British Ambassador Dominic Williams, who attended the program, said that, all day, he just sat back because Pechpheary knew what she was doing as an ambassador.

“I obviously had to respect the ambassador in her role and in her duties,” he said. “So I tried to stay out of things, but did give occasional words of advice.”

Williams said that he hopes the GirlsTakeOver program will challenge the perceptions that people have of the roles that women can take on.

“In seeing someone like Ambassador Pheary do the role, young girls can see themselves in that role and they can visualize themselves being an ambassador,” he said. “So I hope for young girls and young women, it gives them an example that they can follow and show that they can do exactly the same and better than men can.”

Girls at the heart of decision-making

“I think that you can't make good decisions if you don't put girls and women at the heart of your decision-making process, because women and girls do have different needs and different perspectives,” Ambassador Williams said.

Organizations must consider both men's and women's perspectives in decision-making processes for effective development and progress:  Without women's involvement, opportunities for country development and progress are missed, he stressed.

Nana Pechpheary is a girl from the province who just graduated. In the past, she did not believe that she could do work that would involve making decisions or leading a group. This GirlsTakeOver experience has changed her perspective, she said.

“I hope that I can share my story and be someone's role model,” Pechpheary said. “Right now, going back to my community, I believe that not many girls are living in a city or moving to the city to pursue higher education because most of us have been told that we should stay home or should not leave our families.”

Williams​ said that having women in the government and civil organizations will help design inclusive programs and policies.

“When you think of civil society, organizations and groups that work with poor communities, or do humanitarian work or work on the environment, they should also be thinking about how they build women into the design of those programs, right from the start,” he said. “They have women implementing them because then they can reach all parts of a community.”

Not only Cambodia, Williams said, but the United Kingdom and every country in the world need to work on building women’s perspectives and participation in all fields as well as having more women represented at senior levels of business.

“But I would say that in Cambodia, I would like to see being more women in the cabinet, for example,” he said. “[T]here are three women, cabinet ministers and they're doing excellent jobs. I've been lucky enough to meet all three of them.

“I think again, there's more that can be done to make sure that all organizations are thinking about how they bring on the talented women that they have, and help them achieve the senior positions,” he said.

“Men didn't wake up one day and decide that we're going to share all of our power that we have with women,” Ambassador Williams said. “Women stood up one day and said we are taking power. And men have given more space to women because women have demanded it.”