CWCC - Girls Access to Education

The CWCC recognises that poverty and lack of employable skills are high risk factors for girls, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The Girls Access to Education was begun in direct response to this, assisting at-risk girls by enabling them to continue with their education.

Scholarship Program

This program provides financial support to poor families who would otherwise have to remove their girls from school due to their inability to pay transport and other costs associated with schooling. 335 at risk girls in Banteay Meanchey province received financial support, school materials and regular monitoring over a three year period. Girls deemed at greatest risk of trafficking, or who have previously dropped out of school are particularly targeted for assistance. The results have been impressive, of the 335 recipients, only 2% have dropped out of school.

Vocational Skills and Literacy Training

In order to address the issues of economic dependency faced by most of the clients of the CWCC, vocational skills training and literacy training have become important services provided by the CWCC. Training in hair dressing, sewing, silk and mat weaving, cooking, screen printing and literacy classes are on offer so as to provide clients with a way of providing for themselves and their families. Not only does this empower women by giving them financial independence, but importantly it also helps build their self esteem and self respect.

Community Advocacy/Youth Club

Along with the CWCC's programs to meet the immediate needs of women and children facing violence, the CWCC also seeks to raise community awareness and change community attitudes, addressing the root causes of the problem. These programs build a grassroots constituent base, provide advocacy and leadership skills, and support public education to raise awareness of the problem and to counter the social norms that condone violence against women in Cambodia.

Recognising that the problems faced by women are fundamentally due to unequal gender relations, the CWCC's education and awareness raising efforts are inclusive of both men and women, as real positive change can only be achieved when both men and women work together to chart a future that achieves equality, peace, development, and happiness for all.

Specifically, the community advocacy program train's two members of each community about the issues surrounding violence against women as well as how to conduct education sessions to other communities in the surrounding area. The CWCC has found this to be a timely and effective way of reaching deep into communities and across large numbers of villages.

Education sessions are also conducted for local police in the same villages on the law pertaining to violence against women, how to deal with victims sensitively, how to effectively build coalitions with community groups, and how to uncover cases of violence against women and maintain appropriate records.

Networking

The CWCC knows that the most effective way to counter the issues facing women in Cambodia is to work together with all NGO's (national and international), community groups and Government Ministries working to eliminate violence and discrimination against women. As such, it works hard to build partnerships and foster relationships with these groups whether it be in service provision or on advocacy efforts. Working in partnership in this way ensures that women have access to the services that meet their specific needs. It also helps to foster the growth and build the capacity of civil society.

Southy wants to be a teacher and plans to study hard to achieve this goal; she proudly recounts that she achieved 20th place in a class of 53. Her parents are poor rice farmers; her father cannot read, her mum can read a little. They are so happy that she has this opportunity to go to school and they don't want her to stop, they want her to be a teacher but say it is also up to her; "when CWCC helped us I was so happy because I am poor and never expected that my daughter could go to high school." If not for the scholarship programme Southy would have stopped school already because of the 13km distance between their house and school.