This project will enable two young women living at the Cambodian Women's Development Agency's safe-house to gain a university education. Through living at the CWDA safe house, Chhaya and Sopheak (not their real names) have gained self-esteem, ambition and confidence and now seek to further their education by studying Accountancy and Management at university respectively. We aim to pay for the course fees, the required course textbooks and stationary needed to complete the 4-year degree.
Gender inequality is still rife in Cambodia. The country ranks 96th out of 148 in the 2013 Human Development Report's Gender Inequality Index. Often girls do not finish their formal education, being forced to drop out or miss school days to care for siblings or work to provide income for the family. Through obtaining a university education, this gender disparity is directly addressed; women are able to become financially independent, and able to fulfil their educational goals.
Educating women helps break the cycle of poverty that disproportionally affects women. Through empowering women with knowledge, women are less likely to become victims of trafficking, a huge problem throughout Cambodian society today.
Enabling young women to gain not only knowledge but confidence and self-esteem through education addresses the gender disparity within Cambodian society that traditionally sees boys and men gaining high-school diplomas and degrees, while often girls are often not permitted any more than a very basic level of education. Through altering this tradition, the gender gap becomes less significant.