Based on the evolving context in Cambodia and informed by the ActionAid International’s global strategy of Rights to end poverty (2005-2010), a five-year Country Strategy Paper (CSP 2008-2012) has been developed. The first CSP outlines five overarching strategic objectives, to create space and environment for our social groups to claim and enjoy their rights.
As a new country programme, for the first five strategic years, we want to lay out a strong foundation. All our interventions and social actions are directed to advance the rights of the social groups and our programme and policy work is built around the following three thematic deliverables:
• Food rights:
We will work to ensure that such rights are recognised by state and non-state actors. This thematic priority aims for social groups’ ownership over resources, income through state safeguard, health rights and education rights.
• Women’s rights:
Women’s rights is an overarching priority of all our work across themes. To strengthen the position of women, our strategies will also have exclusive priority on women’s rights to address gender inequality and injustice and ensure equal footage and space of women for their participation and representation. This deliverable aims for social groups’ ownership over resources and property; state safeguard against violence and political education; their rise into leadership role.
• Governance:
Governance which is accountable to all citizens. This requires engagement with the larder civil society beyond identified social groups in the process of building nation state, which is accountable, responsive and affirmative to promote human rights.
These three rights, which are cross-cutting, encompass a broad range of interlinked issues and intersection of themes including HIV/AIDS, education and human security. The three priorities are central to any intervention in Cambodia. Under each of the thematic priorities, our interventions focus on five objectives as follows:
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Addressing the immediate and pressing poverty needs of the most poor and marginalised people, individuals, women and children
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Strengthening organisation and alliance of the poor and marginalised people with equal representation of all excluded groups, primarily women to work collectively to claim and use rights
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Ensuring enforcement of rights particularly of women and girls to enable them to enjoy equal position and rights in the society
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Strengthening pro-poor policies in favour of the poor and excluded communities, particularly the women to claim and enjoy rights
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Diversifying resources through civil society engagements and ethical international partnership
Association with Austcare
The happening association with
Austcare brings in new prospects to leverage on the expertise and experience of Austcare to work with landmines survivors and their families in new isolated poverty pockets.
This will also enable us to deepen our work with the poor landless, migrant communities and the persons with disabilities. While recognising the added value of the association, we also understand the need of an effective association strategy to accommodate the new demands emerging from the association.
Thus, we will require additional regular giving income provision for the Country Programme over and above our current financial projection to take up at least six more Development Areas (DAs) to extend our work to Austcare project areas with a long-term development strategy.