The ratio of girls to boys attending upper secondary school is 7:10. This is a great improvement from 2001 when half as many girls as boys attended upper secondary education, but there is still a long way to go before the targets to reduce gender disparities in upper secondary and tertiary education are met.

Cambodia has made progress in narrowing the gender gap in the youth literacy rate, and the female share of wage employment has increased. Women’s representation in elected positions has increased as well as in deputy positions, but women are still seriously underrepresented in top decision making positions.

The main challenges in achieving CMDG 3 are to increase girls' and women's access to tertiary education, increase the share of women in decision-making positions, and enhance their capacity to find jobs or to create income generating activities. Additionally traditional gender attitudes still prevail and are reflected in discrimination, women’s low nutritional status and high maternal mortality rates. While legislation to prevent violence against women has been adopted, the extent of its implementation is not clear and violence against women is still widespread and tolerated, with weak prevention and support.

It may be possible, with major changes and focused attention, for Cambodia to achieve CMDG 3. However, if the issue of domestic violence is not vigorously addressed, CMDG 3 may fall in the “off-track” category.