Phnom Penh: two days devoted to women’s leadership at RULE

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On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 November, the Royal University of Law and Economics hosts the Forum of Influential Women. Judges, researchers, business leaders and senior officials will take the floor, ten days before the opening of the 20th Francophonie Summit.

*The Forum of Influential Women brings researchers, lawyers and executives together for two days at RULE*

A forum in the run-up to the Francophonie Summit

The event takes place in Lecture Hall G at RULE (known in French as URDSE). It is organised by the Francophone Observatory for Gender Inclusive Development (OFDIG), hosted by the Université du Québec à Montréal, together with RULE and the consultancy Confluences. Simultaneous interpretation between Khmer and French will be provided on both days.

The aim is to give French-speaking women working in research, higher education, business and education across the Asia-Pacific more visibility, and to strengthen their networks. Discussions will cover women’s place in decision-making bodies, human rights and climate change in the Indo-Pacific.

The timing is deliberate. Phnom Penh hosts the 20th Francophonie Summit on 15 and 16 November, and gender equality is one of the issues the organisation champions.

A country of contrasts

The figures echo the forum’s programme: Cambodia is moving forward, but unevenly. In the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap ranking, Cambodia scores 0.682, behind the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The breakdown says more. The country ranks 57th out of 148 for economic participation, but 119th for educational attainment and 127th for political empowerment.

Cambodian women are nonetheless very present in the workforce. According to UNDP, 74% of them are economically active, the highest rate in the region, against 86.5% of men. UNDP also ranks Cambodia 136th out of 193 countries on its Gender Inequality Index, which measures reproductive health, empowerment and access to work.

Thursday 5 November: rights, education and power

Registration opens at 8:30 am in the lecture hall lobby. At 9 am, the opening ceremony will bring together RULE rector Luy Channa, OFDIG director Marie Langevin, Canadian Ambassador to Cambodia Christian DesRoches and Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi.

At 9:30 am, a report will be presented by Long Sonita of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee, Judge Chaing Sinath of the Supreme Court, and Mom Sokcha, director of the NGO Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW). Phal Theany, doctor of law and lecturer at RULE, will chair the session.

A round table follows at 10:30 am on legal equality for women and girls in Cambodia and the Asia-Pacific. Progress, obstacles, prospects: consultant Nith Nitikar will be among the speakers.

The afternoon opens at 1 pm with a harder question: how feminist theory and activism find their place in Cambodian society. Or Vandine, Secretary of State for Health, Sisowath Men Chandevy, vice-rector of the Royal University of Fine Arts, and law doctoral student Rémicard Sereme will debate it. Caterine Bourassa-Dansereau, professor at UQAM and OFDIG’s scientific lead, will moderate.

At 2:30 pm, a final panel will look at women’s power of influence. The subject is anything but abstract. Before the 2023 general election, women held 26 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly, or 20.8%. After the vote, their share fell to 12.8%, having hovered around 20% in previous cycles. The picture has its nuances. That same year, Khuon Sudary became the first woman to preside over the National Assembly. In the civil service, women made up 42% of staff in 2019, but far fewer held decision-making posts.

Seng Rothsethamony, founder and CEO of Bamnang, Chem Srey Oeun, director of public and institutional affairs at Smart Axiata, and Prum Nysovannak, national representative of France Volontaires, will discuss these issues. Dara N. Van, head of market access at Confluences, will lead the discussion.

Friday 6 November: careers, perspectives and the business world

Day two starts with a networking coffee at 8:30 am. At 9 am, four women will talk about their careers in universities, teaching and research.

Their stories matter all the more because women drop out along the way. In 2021-2022, about 46% of the 206,893 students in higher education were women. At master’s level, the figure fell to 28.6%. Among university staff, women accounted for only 21.4% of the 16,438 employees. Science and technology remain the weak spot. A study by the Asian Development Bank and CDRI found that women make up just 17% of tertiary STEM students, and leave STEM careers more often than men.

Khuon Vichheka, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and director general of teacher training, Prum Sophea, who holds a doctorate from La Rochelle University and specialises in artificial intelligence, Norng Many, doctor in language sciences and researcher at the SOSORO Museum, and Iv Sophea, epidemiologist at Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, will speak. Magali Bigaud, associate researcher at the CNRS Arènes laboratory, will moderate.

At 10:30 am, the panel will turn to the place of women in Cambodian society, drawing on field projects. Sovann Vannaroth, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, Ann Chansopheak, programme officer at the FAO, Leakhéna Des Pallières, director general of Pour un Sourire d’Enfant (PSE), and Chhay Chhunly, project analyst at UN Women Cambodia, will share their experience. Eric-Normand Thibeault of OFDIG will chair the panel.

At 1 pm, four business leaders will talk about their work. They stand out in a landscape where female entrepreneurship is widespread but small-scale. According to the Asian Development Bank, women own 70% of firms in the country, many of them microenterprises. The same study notes that their businesses are less likely to join business associations or apply for bank loans.

Tea Kaliane, marketing director of SOMA Group, Rapytha Bonamy, managing director of Newrest Catering Cambodia, Hep Seka, partner at DFDL Cambodia, and Tep Mona, head of Pharmacie de la Gare and Monaparady Ltd, will take part. Soreasmey Ke Bin, CEO of Confluences, will lead the discussion.

A wrap-up session is scheduled for 3 pm. Christian DesRoches, Nicolas Mainetti, Asia-Pacific regional director of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, and Caterine Bourassa-Dansereau will deliver the closing remarks. The forum ends at 4 pm. The day will also see the symbolic signing of a framework cooperation agreement between OFDIG and RULE.