Avy on the street

If she could do anything, she would open up a small shop in a neighbourhood and sell normal things - toiletries, foodstuffs. But before she can plan for a future, she needs to pay back her boss. She has borrowed money from him to send to her family in Kampong Cham, and is at least US$50 in debt.

Still, she likes living in Phnom Penh more that her home village, she says. She likes to see the people walking by; she likes to watch people sing karaoke; she likes hanging out with the people around her. She hates her work and would like to change jobs. It's dangerous: sometimes they refuse to use condoms, sometimes they bring friends. But for right now she has no choice. When she talks about what she does for a living, she becomes suddenly more serious, her head lowers, her voice becomes inaudible.

Life is not easy for women and girls in Cambodia. Social attitudes and tradition deem women to be of lower status. As a result, there are significant gender inequities -- they go to work younger, they go to school less, they have little representation at high levels, and they are vulnerable to trafficking and high-risk professions such as prostitution. They also have little legal protection in a place where there's a high incidence of domestic violence and rape.

For these reasons, UNDP works hard to implement programmes that will benefit the women of the country. UNDP's gender equity projects focus on ensuring that all national policies and projects are gender responsive -- that they promote gender mainstreaming in Ministries and increase women's participation in decisions on policies to benefit women. UNDP projects also mean better research and teaching on gender issues, better on-the-ground programmes to help women, communication and media campaigns, more women leaders, a model Women's Development Center for skills training and business development services and, hopefully, more women in elected bodies at both national and sub-national levels.

Perhaps, with time and continued effort, Avytouch will be able to open a shop and support her family on her own.