Yoeun Sothea had just got off his fishing boat and could have certainly used a rest. But knowing that a meeting with local councilors was underway to discuss community planning, he rushed to join it – shirtless, with just a towel wrapped around his fishing shorts.“For me, I would very much like to have an expert to teach us techniques to do fish farming and raise livestock,” said Yoeun Sothea, 50, a resident of Ream village in Preah Sihanouk province in southwestern Cambodia.

Peng Sotheany was relaxing at home one February afternoon when the phone rang. “I passed!” She shouted with happiness. The caller had just told her that she was accepted to work at UNDP – as a driver. “My heart was pounding so hard,” she recalled the moment that made her the first female driver at the UNDP Cambodia Country Office. In a male-dominated occupation, many people may find it unusual to see her in this role. But that doesn’t bother her; she beat 58 other applicants – 54 of them were men – who vied for the job.“If men can do it, so can I, “the 21-year-old woman said confidently.

UNDP Cambodia and the National Television of Cambodia (TVK) embarked on an ambitious series of television programmes about Cambodia’s oil, gas and mining sectors with the launch of the “Workshop on Informed and Balanced Coverage: Strengthening Equity Weekly’s Capacity to Cover the Extractive Industry” on June 29th and 30th in Phnom Penh.

Luck wasn’t on her side as Chan Thi, a villager, laboriously navigated her fishing basket in the water trying to catch fish in Choam Prei lake. She moved from spot to spot, making her bet by scooping the basket in the water. But each time she lifted it, mud was all she caught. “Disappointing,” moaned the 55-year-old, a resident of Romchek village, Romney commune, Preah Vihear province in northern Cambodia.

Accountability – what is it? Many Cambodians in the countryside would respond with such a question when asked what they think about the local authorities they are living under. Their feedback was among the recently released findings of the studies to gauge citizen’s perceptions of local governance in 25 communes of five Cambodian provinces. Still limited in scope, the findings shed some light on the progress of local governance in the surveyed communes as well as challenges that will need further attention by the government as it works toward deepening democratic reforms.