Gendering ICT Transfers in Cambodia

Transcription

1 Master s Thesis Gendering ICT Transfers in Cambodia The Case of Development NGOs February 2018 Graduate School of International Studies Seoul National University International Cooperation Major Chami Park

2 캄보디아에서의정보통신기술전이의젠더화 개발 NGO 의사례 지도교수김태균 이논문을국제학석사학위논문으로제출함 2018 년 1 월 서울대학교국제대학원 국제협력전공 박차미 박차미의석사학위논문을인준함 2018 년 1 월 위원장김종섭 ( 인 ) 부위원장송지연 ( 인 ) 위원김태균 ( 인 )

3 Gendering ICT Transfers in Cambodia The Case of Development NGOs Academic advisor Taekyoon Kim Submitting a master s thesis of International Studies February 2018 Graduate School of International Studies Seoul National University International Cooperation Major Chami Park Confirming the master s thesis written by Chami Park February 2018 Chair Chong-Sup Kim (Seal) Vice Chair Jiyeoun Song (Seal) Examiner Taekyoon Kim (Seal)

4 Abstract With the growing interest in the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a catalyst in the field of international development, mobile phones in particular, are considered vital to advance socio-economic development for women. In accordance with the attempts to identify the impact of ICTs in the developing world, this paper investigates whether the access to and use of mobile technology contributes to the empowerment of women in Cambodia. Drawing on Amartya Sen s capability approach, the paper analyzes whether enhanced agency and resources are converted into capabilities and further lead to improvements in women s lives through information access and use. Two case studies at the micro level are presented to understand the potentials and constraints of mobile-based interventions in womentargeted development practices. In conclusion, this paper argues that improved accessibility to and usage of mobile phones enhances women s capabilities along psychological and social dimensions at the individual level. Furthermore, it is found out that a particular socio-cultural context in which ICTs are transferred as well as a role of intermediary organizations in the process of development activities are critical to bringing out desired outcomes and thus need to be analyzed in a more systematic and empirical way. Keywords: ICT4D, Mobile Technology, Gender, Empowerment, Capability Approach, NGOs, Cambodia Student Number:

5 Table of Contents I. Introduction... 1 II. Literature Review.. 6 III. Theoretical Framework IV. Case Studies Women in Cambodia ICTs and Women in Cambodia Case 1. Mobile Phones for Strengthening Female Community Leadership Case 2. Mobile Applications for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls V. Analysis Self-confidence Knowledge and Information Mobility Social Networking and Participation Structural Barriers VI. Conclusion VII. References... 39

6 I. Introduction Since the initial stage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), they have long been considered to be indispensible for advancing the social and economic development for women. It was in the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 that the use of ICTs as an instrument to empower women was recognized for the first time. Later, the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) drew our attention to the potentials of ICT for Development (ICT4D) to narrow the gap in gender inequality and deprivation. Since the global consensus recognized that the technology would create new opportunities for income generation and social participation for women all over the world, extensive discussions have been held on the nexus between gender and technology. In line with these initiatives, more recently the Sustainable Development Goal 5 calls for women s empowerment and gender equality focusing on promoting the betterment of gender-related issues by enhancing ICT diffusion and use. As the development in ICT infrastructure and access has been dramatic, ICTs are now seen as an enabler for women s decision-making and participation both in the public and private spheres. Including traditional means such as television and radio, ICTs in recent years encompass devices used to produce and disseminate information and knowledge like mobile phones and the internet (Kwami, Monteiro, & Steeves, 2011). Of these newly introduced means, the growth of mobile phone use has been accelerating in the developing world. The development contribution of mobile telephony is thereby easy to trace due to its high usage rates (Heeks, 2010). This is, by and large, attributable to mobile technologies which have become more affordable, portable, and adaptable to use and the initial cost for the investment in mobile infrastructure is relatively 1

7 reasonable compared to other types of ICTs such as fixed lines and the internet (United Nations Development Programme, 2012). However, a number of people with lower income and education still do not have access to a mobile phone and its derived services. In particular, women are less likely to have ownership of cell phones, leading to substantial gender gaps in mobile phone ownership and use (International Telecommunication Union, 2016a). In spite of the gender digital divide, copious studies illustrate the positive role of ICTs that influence women within a broader causal relationship between ICTs and development. Some stress that ICTs could have the possibility of providing women better opportunities to education and healthcare as well as higher income and employment, yet women have the tendency of being less engaged with technology owing to a range of institutional and societal impediments compared to men (Hilbert, 2011; Antonio & Tuffely, 2014; Nath 2001). Critics of ICTs, on the contrary, take a pessimistic view and underscore that it could do more harm than good to women by reinforcing unequal access to and use of ICTs in the given structure of male dominance (Hafkin & Huyer, 2007; Huyer & Sikoska, 2003). What is more emphasized in their studies is the fact that the initiating point of ICT for development should be to tackle fundamental gender inequality in a locally peculiar context in which the technology is transferred. While ICT4D initiatives and efforts have received considerable attention from development researchers and practitioners, there is an undeniable paucity of studies done on gender-based ICT development. Particularly, the empirical evidence revealing whether mobile phones improve women s quality of life at the micro level remains scarce. This is mainly attributed to the direct and indirect effects of ICT4D mobile phones specifically on people s well-being which are still in question, if not 2

8 conundrum. In other words, it is not just difficult to capture the impact of ICTs but problematic to measure the degree of ICTs development contribution. In fact, the scope of ICT use is not confined to simply one sphere of people s lives but rather the technology simultaneously affects the well-being of the general public as a whole (Gigler, 2004). This multipurpose characteristic of ICTs leads to unintended impacts. In this sense, Amartya Sen s capability approach is suitable for evaluating the effects of ICT interventions in such a way that it allows a broad consideration of non-income factors instead of giving weight to income factors. Furthermore, the analytical approach is particularly applicable to micro level cases because it is possible to specify components of capabilities that are appropriate to illustrate descriptive cases and contexts in the ICT4D field. Therefore, given the need to investigate into the impact of mobile technologies on women in contextualized circumstances that may attest to embedded gender norms, values, and practices; and gender inequalities in income, health, education, and political participation, this study aims to understand the potentials and constraints of mobilebased interventions for empowering women in the particular context of Cambodia. The rationale for choosing Cambodia in focus is that Cambodia exemplifies ICTs development in a relatively short period of time. This has been made possible by government-driven policies and their subsequent implementation by key private stakeholders. Particularly, the acceleration of ICTs development manifests itself in the high penetration of mobile phones and has been conducive to bridging the digital divide in Cambodian society in general. Adding to this, the stiff competition among telecommunications companies has drastically resulted in a lower and affordable price for the general public, thus financially permitting the socio-economically underprivileged in the society to have easy accessibility. Moreover, various activities 3

9 utilizing the latest technology such as Hackathon and BarCamp 1 held by private stakeholders and development agencies are regarded as a clear-cut evidence of ICTs development in Cambodia. In this paper, the research question is twofold: does mobile technology empower women in Cambodia? What are the benefits and constraints of womentargeted mobile technology interventions? My argument is that improved accessibility to and usage of mobile phones enhances women s capabilities in psychological and social dimensions at the individual level. This study confines its scope and limitation as follows: first, this paper deals with mobile technology and thus uses the term mobile technology as cellular phone based devices, including feature phones and smartphones, with a range of services such as voice calling, text messaging, , wireless internet access, games, digital photography, GPS navigation and so on. Second, while admitting that empowerment is a multifaceted and transformational process, I investigate the dimensions of empowerment restricted to the social domain pertinent to education, health, social network and participation. Economic and political aspects of empowerment are not dismissed; nonetheless, the main focus of analysis is developed on grounds of the outputs and outcomes obtained from the cases. Third, this study adopts a generally interpretive methodology instead of analyzing in a quantitative way. The reason for being interpretive in the study is necessitated in the locally specific situation in which the outcome of the cases has not been duly and visually quantifiable. In the next section, I briefly review the mixed studies on the impact of mobile technologies on women in developing economies. In the third section, the concept of 1 Both Hackathon and BarCamp are software development events held all over the world on an irregular basis for the purpose of providing a platform for encouraging participatory technological solutions. 4

10 women s empowerment is outlined subsequently followed by Amartya Sen s capability approach as a main theoretical framework. The fifth section presents cases studies based on the specific socio-cultural circumstances of Cambodia in terms of ICTs and gender. The selected two cases are women-targeted mobile-based development projects: mobile phones for strengthening the leadership of female community leaders and mobile applications for protecting women and girls from violence. Applying the capability framework to the individual cases, this study analyzes the effects of mobile technology in the processes of empowering women and what factors enable and hinder the outcomes within target communities in Cambodia. Finally, by way of conclusion, I sum up the resultant findings of the cases in point and further discuss the implications of the findings. 5

11 II. Literature Review By virtue of the increasing penetration of mobile telephony, there have been numerous works on whether a mobile phone contributes to economic growth or well-being in developing countries. As mobiles have become intertwined with various aspects of everyday life, these studies seek to assess the role of mobile-based communication technologies in social and economic development with regards to education, agriculture, health, governance, and livelihood. A well-known example of economic development through mobiles is M-PESA, a mobile-based banking and microfinance service that has been a huge success in some African countries represented by Kenya, Tanzania, and the Republic of South Africa. Studying the impact of the M-PESA application, Morawczynski (2009) asserts that the service reduces vulnerability in the livelihoods of poor people by allowing them to solicit and accumulate financial capital as well as maintain social networks. Among the recipients of remittances, rural women in particular, are reported to have gained more autonomy in controlling their finance away from their husbands. The Village Phone Program (VPP) by Grameen Bank is another good example. Primarily for women, the program offers loans to purchase cell phones so that they can operate telephone services in villages. In a study evaluating the VPP outcomes, Aminuzzaman, Baldersheim, and Jamil (2003) emphasize that the use of mobile phones gives rural women better opportunities to income generation at the individual level. In addition to that, it is found out that women have gained improved social appearance by the ownership of phones at the community level. Meanwhile, some researchers investigate into non-economic outcomes of mobile use. As the two studies above point out, financial resources are of central 6

12 importance to women s empowerment but nonetheless it is essential to recognize a wide variety of livelihood dimensions that mobile phones influence. In that respect, Tenhunen (2008) finds that cell phones have benefitted villagers in rural India to call for help, to find market information, and to save time. In her empirical study, access to mobile phones increases women s contacts and communication with their families and acquaintances, consequently bringing about changes in unequal gender relationships in the village. She further states that most outstanding outcomes for women are improved opportunities to education and visible representation in politics. More precisely looking at the role of mobile phone use in promoting women s empowerment, Chew, Ilavarasa, and Levy (2015) suggest that as female micro-entrepreneurs use the mobile phone to access and maintain family and social networks, they are likely to be empowered. The findings of the study show that women s agency assets increase when they feel that their business is important to their family and friends; that males in their social networks perceive their business success; and that family members and friends rely on them for support. In this sense, mobile technology facilitates the sharing and exchanging of information and knowledge, capacitating women to have personalized channels and spaces by being an independent agent (UNDP, 2012). Despite the claims that mobile phones facilitate positive development impacts for women s empowerment, mobile technology adoption and use is not without problems. In fact, it can reinforce existing structures of gender inequality. Tacchi, Kitner, and Crawford (2012) revisit the overemphasized role of mobile phones for development. Drawing attention to wider social relations and power structures within which mobile communications are used, they argue that mobile handsets can amplify existing tensions in addition to that they are not a one-size-fits-all development solution. The need for understanding underlying gender inequality is iterated in the empirical 7

13 research of Wakunuma (2012). Evidence from Zambia indicates that differential access to and use of mobile telephony between women and men not just perpetuates gender stereotypes but aggravates unequal power relations within the household, which result in violence against women. In light of limitations and challenges of Mobiles for Development (M4D) rather than its potential impact, Chib and Chen (2011) study the mobile phone use of female midwives in rural Indonesia. They address that socio-organizational resistance and obstacles can frustrate women even in the case that the use of mobile phones reduces lack of self-confidence. The focal point of the authors discovery is that empowerment is not entirely beneficial or constrained and for this reason, women experience constant struggles between benefits and barriers. In a similar vein, Ling and Horst (2011) argue that the adoption of mobile phones reshapes the interactions between men and women, yet it is not sufficiently fundamental to transform the existing gender inequity as a manifestation that men take precedence over women in various societal domains. For the Village Phone Program in Bangladesh, Hossain and Beresford (2012) contradict what has been previously discussed in terms of the program s success highlighting that gender neutrality assumed in the program design at the outset is a fundamental error that excludes more women. They claim that mobile telephones are beneficial to women insofar as such interventions entail the disruption of social and cultural practices and institutions that curb women s information needs and subsequent actions they take with the knowledge. As a third opinion, the main argument of the comparative studies carried out in Uganda and India by Masika and Bailur (2015) is that women make a strategic choice whether to use mobile phones within the confines of specific socio-cultural constraints. As the authors note, women s acceptance of and responses to ICTs are constructed 8

14 through the processes of bargaining and preferences formation further reproducing patriarchal systems and gendered ideologies to a certain extent. In short, it is crucial to take into account context and individual circumstances for enabling control over ICTs. In accordance with the aforementioned studies, the conclusion of their observation is that empowerment requires substantive changes in norms and behaviors. Despite the merits and demerits of these works, empowerment mentioned in previous studies is not conceptually formulated into a systematic framework for ICT4D or M4D, in other words, the very concept of empowerment is devoid of explanatory power as a theoretical ground. The weakness necessitates us to draw upon the capability framework for the reason that it can be complementary to empowerment. The complementarity between capability and empowerment to a varying degree reinforces the possibility of being applied in the field of ICT4D. The concept of capabilities is adequate for encapsulating that of empowerment and can thus be more comprehensive in terms of its practicability. In a nutshell, this literature review sheds light on the fact that mobile technologies are not intrinsically gender neutral. Besides, M4D proves to be remarkably context-specific; thus the conditions empowering women in the global south are not at disposal. It is therefore of significant importance to pinpoint a community on focus and this claim buttresses up community specific situations and contexts. That the interrelationships between mobile technology and people, that is to say, the ways that the features and functions of mobiles are adopted and appropriated (Donner, 2008) is reflected in my approach. 9

15 III. Theoretical Framework While acknowledging the conceptual functionality of empowerment, it is not sufficient to use empowerment as a theoretical tool. This insufficiency calls for the reliance on the alternative approach that enables a more nuanced analysis of the contributions to women s agency and capacities made possible by ICTs. In this regard, the main theoretical framework to be employed in the study is the capability approach elaborated by Amartya Sen (1999). The capability framework provides us with the fundamental elements of empowerment. However, it is indispensable to grasp the core conceptions of empowerment which allow us to delve into gender relations at the crossroads of gender and development. For this reason, prior to explicating the capability approach, this section outlines the concept of empowerment. There are some general aspects adopted in the works concerning women s empowerment. While empowerment has a variety of different definitions and the meanings vary depending on the context, I mainly address three significant points. First and foremost, empowerment is not a static entity. This assumes that empowerment cannot be simply dubbed as a conclusive goal but rather can be a transitory accomplishment in the whole process. Mosedale (2005) points out that women s empowerment is the ongoing process by which women identify and expand their capabilities in a situation where their choices to be and do what they pursue have been constrained by men. Second, in any form, a shift in power relations between women and men is fundamental. Central to this transformation of power are changes in norms and beliefs, access to resources, and institutions that deepen and widen structural inequalities of gender (Batliwala, 2007). The last point to be emphasized is that these aspects can be observed on the premise that women s empowerment is inseparably 10

16 interconnected with raising the critical mentality in women s mindset. In this vein, one cannot empower others nor can be empowered by others. While a clear definition of empowerment is yet to appear, this paper uses the commonly cited definition of empowerment by Kabeer (1999). In her seminal work, empowerment is defined as the expansion of people s ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them (Kabeer, 1999, p. 437). Kabeer s definition encompasses three dimensions of empowerment: resources, agency, and achievements. Resources are referred to as actual possession or future claims of economic, social, and human resources as a precondition. Agency includes the capacity to define one s life choices and take action accordingly while achievements are outcomes produced by the agency. These three dimensions are closely interconnected. Furthermore, it is essential to stress that agency has the duality of positivity and negativity inasmuch as power is exerted in both ways. As a central source of empowerment, agency may take diverse types of power. For instance, it can take a form of decision-making or manipulation. As Rowlands (1995) illustrates in detail, there are four categorizations whereby power is exercised in the process of empowerment: Power over is interpreted as zero-sum power relations that one exerts control over the other against their will; Power to is referred to as the abilities to take action and gain control over one s life choices; Power with means collectivized actions and solidarity with one s contemporaries; and Power within indicates the generation of internal assets such as self-respect and self-esteem. The perception of agency precedes all other forms of power, leading to gaining the power to act as agents alongside with other agents to substantiate power with. 11

17 Agency and resources together are constitutive of what is described as capabilities by Amartya Sen. Challenging a conventional view of development focusing on economic outcomes, Sen suggests a more human-centered and holistic approach to development. In Sen (1989, 1999) s capability approach, poverty can be seen as a matter of deprivation of capabilities rather than income lowness. Put simply, the capability approach emphasizes that social and economic arrangements and political and civil rights are indispensable determinants contributing to human development. In his account, the processes of development should expand individuals capabilities of such as obtaining access to treatment of illness, adequate education, and decent work. In the capability approach, understanding the notion of functionings, that is, what people are able to be and do is the basis for conceptualizing capability. While people s beings and doings can be identical, the circumstances in which choices are made can be different. The commonly used example is the difference between fasting and starving. Two people may look alike in the way that they do not eat, yet one has the option to eat or reject and the other is without such options. Therefore, the core concept of capability is not just about the exercise of functions but one s ability to choose different functions she or he values. A further assumption in Sen s framework is that this substantive freedom combined with a set of functionings is of central importance for people to attain a fruitful and meaningful life. In this regard, the end and means of development are viewed as an expansion of freedom that allows individual agency to enjoy the life that one values. Within Sen s paradigm of development, while the focus is on the ability to convert resources into agency to achieve functionings, resources can be strengthened contributing to people s freedom. This enhancement of resources and capabilities occurs at both individual and collective levels. In the case of women s empowerment, 12

18 increased resources in such as skills and knowledge can enhance women s influence over the domestic economy and family decisions conferring better status on them within the family and community. According to Sen, this further reinforces women s voice and agency, thereby reducing fertility rates and childbearing frequency. In Nussbaum (1999) s account on capability, she urges the need to formulate a well-defined set of basic capabilities for the pursuit of women s quality life. To support human worth and dignity, she introduces a list of central human functional capabilities pertaining to components of: life; bodily health; bodily integrity; sense, imagination, and thought; emotions; practical reason; affiliation; other species; play; and control over one s environment in accordance with Sen s criteria of freedoms. More importantly, as represented on the list, combined capabilities in Nussbaum s conceptualization highlight the hardships which women experience in many ways. In other words, it is crucial to note the external social, economic, and political environment with which internal capabilities of a person are associated. For example, women who work all day to come home to look after their family would be unable to play regardless of possessing the capacity for play. From the opposing point of view, however, Alkire (2005) claims when assessing people s well-being their functionings should be considered on the ground simply because each evaluation would be related to different functionings. Similarly, in an attempt to measure gender inequality in capabilities, Robeyns (2003) disagrees with Nussbaum s suggestion on the definite list arguing that the processes of selecting relevant capabilities are integral to the capability approach even though in general women are worse off than men across several dimensions. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that reflecting relevant capabilities based on the local context and individual experiences is one of the merits of the capability analysis. 13

19 In spite of the practical difficulties in operationalizing capabilities, Sen s approach still provides us with a comprehensive lens for the practice of complex and context-dependent development projects by being left open and incomplete. In assessing ICT impact on a micro level, thus it is feasible to appropriate the flexibility the capability approach offers. Among the earlier work linking ICTs to Sen s approach, Gigler (2011) introduces the concept of informational capabilities highlighting people s ability to make meaningful use of information to expand their human and social capabilities rather than looking into mere access to information and the ability to use ICTs. He proposes to evaluate the ability to use ICTs, to find and filter information, to communicate with others, and to produce and share local content in a given context. By virtue of the discussed mentioned above, I attempt to explain how the capability perspective can be applied in ICTs linked to the empowerment of women in the study. As a first step, to elucidate what a person is actually able to be and do, it is necessary to specify capabilities that are relevant to the context. Due to the fact that the principal point of this study is mainly concerned with the direct and indirect gains from access to and use of ICTs in the social sphere of women s lives, capability indicators to be examined in this paper are proposed as follows: psychological well-being as being able to be self-confident; bodily health as being able to be safe from illness and violence; mobility as being able to move freely; skills and knowledge as being able to be educated including gaining ICT literacy; information as being able to access, produce, and share information; social networking as being able to communicate with friends, family, and others; and social participation as being able to engage in social and political issues in a community. In doing so, functionings are proxy measures of capabilities owing to the difficulty in capability measurement. Furthermore, the study analyzes structural conditions and contexts that aid or constrain individual agency to a 14

20 varying degree in the form of representation as norms and customs, finance, education, work and time, infrastructure, and institutions. Finally, this study explores how the whole process has its subsequent causation on the individuals in a targeted community. To summarize, it leads to the logical reasoning that women may be aware of their agency and make decisions to use the resources to lead a life they value on the premise that human, social, and material resources are available to them. Therefore, in the socially conditioned domain of empowerment, in order to verify that empowerment is materialized in reality, it is a prerequisite that, with the access to and the use of ICTs, a woman be given the potential to exercise agency to increase her knowledge and skills, share information and ideas for making decisions, deepen social networks with others, redefine their self-value and social status, and find other opportunities for capacity building. Despite the fact that empowerment inherently is not confined to one domain of life, by and large, at the core of social empowerment lies the substantive change in social norms and institutions that were previously accepted and as such women can fully benefit from improved social representation and better access to health, education, and work (Pettit, 2012). In accordance with the capability approach, this paper underscores that ICTs can be seen as new media that enable women s beings and doings by increasing awareness of their rights and agency and encouraging participation in the public sphere (Gurumurthy, 2008). It attempts to broaden and deepen an understanding of how women s capabilities are enhanced by access to and use of ICTs and consequently how they exercise agency to make choices by using resources. A new sort of mindset about empowerment needs to be reinterpreted in consideration of community specific particularities. 15

21 IV. Case Studies For either ICT4D or M4D, few studies have been conducted with a specified emphasis upon Cambodia. For instance, Grunfeld, Hak, and Pin (2011) explore whether and how a Cambodian ICT project entitled as ireach contributes to the livelihood and wellbeing of community members in two local sites. They point out that the operation of nine small community-managed telecenters results in overall improvements in education, health, and farming with a minor but positive impact on women s empowerment. Yet, there is limited evidence unpacking a causal link between mobile technology and women s empowerment. M4D practices in Cambodia have not been adequately evaluated to reflect the reality and potentiality of this field of development. In this regard, based on the theoretical foundation discussed above, this section focuses on two case studies of mobile adoption and use by women in Cambodia. The rationale for choosing can be summed up as follows: case study 1 is put on the ground that female local community leaders take advantage of mobile phones for improving and strengthening leadership skills. Even though it is a relatively simple intervention, it is often showcased as a successful exemplification of ICT development designed for making women more self-reliant in enhancing their life satisfaction in the real-life situation and righteously claiming their rights. In contrast to case study 1, case study 2 is a cutting-edge project initiated through mobile-based software applications for preventing violence directed at women and girls and it is accordingly evaluated to be implemental and innovative compared with other recently inaugurated projects. Since the constant and rapid expansion in the use of ICTs is one of the fastest growing social phenomena that has far-reaching impacts and implications, it is thus 16

22 opportune to investigate into conventional interventions as well as the initiatives for practice that reflect the latest innovations in technology. The most striking difference between these two cases is that case 1 uses mobile technology for the sake of its instrumentality coming from the integration into the established project, while case 2 is considered to be typical of the project characteristic of self-standing technology that makes the on-site implementation possible. This study, based on the comparison of these two cases, aims at making a searching inquiry into the advantages and disadvantages of two targeted development activities in addition to empirically analyzing the ultimate effects of ICTs. The case studies rely on secondary sources such as project progress monitoring and evaluation reports and publications from Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) including research articles and publications by international organizations and government agencies. Before proceeding to introduce the cases, I first turn to broader local circumstances of Cambodia in which women-targeted mobile interventions are carried out. 1. Women in Cambodia In general, gender disparity still remains striking in most sectors of Cambodia. In its largely patriarchal and hierarchical society, women s economic, social, and political rights are often neglected. Despite much progress towards gender equity made by the Royal Government of Cambodia over the years, according to the Human Development Report (HDR), Cambodia ranks 112th out of 159 countries in 2015 on the Gender Inequality Index (GII) which measures three dimensions of gender inequalities: reproductive health, education, and participation in politics and the labor market (UNDP, 2016). 17

23 In the 2008 General Population Census, women make up 51.4 percent of the country s total population of 13.4 million (Cambodia National Institute of Statistics, 2009). Of the total, 80.5 percent of Cambodians live in rural areas and earn their livelihood from agriculture. Agriculture undoubtedly stands as the backbone of the country s economy. In connection with the gender gap in the labor market, as in Table 1, the HRD indicates that 75.5 percent of women and 86.7 percent of men over above 15 years of age are engaged in economic activities. In recent years, with the expansion of the garment industry in which women comprise a vast majority, more women have entered formal employment (United Nations Development Fund for Women et al., 2004). Still, more men than women are paid employees in the formal sector; in other words, the proportion of women in unpaid family work (61.0 percent) is more than twice that of men (25.3 percent). In addition to that, men are paid 27 percent more than women for the same work on average (Asia Development Bank, 2013). This imbalance in the labor market is caused by the gender disparity in educational attainment. In most cases, wage differences occur based on the level of education: it is likely that women with a low level of educational attainment end up with a low paying job. As reported by the census, in fact, men are in comparison literate than their female counterparts, 85.1 percent and 70.9 percent respectively. While gender disparity is not visible in primary education, the share of women who completed lower secondary education (13.2 percent) is far lower than it is for men (26.1 percent) (see Table 1). 18

24 Table 1. GII for Cambodia relative to selected countries and groups in 2015 Maternal mortality ratio Adolescent birth rate Female seats in parliament (%) Population with at least some secondary education (%) Labor force participation rate (%) Female Male Female Male Cambodia Lao People s Democratic Republic Myanmar East Asia and the Pacific Medium GII Note: Maternal mortality ratio is expressed in number of deaths per 100,000 live births and adolescent birth rate is expressed in number of births per 1,000 women ages Source: adapted from Human Development Report 2016 (UNDP, 2016) In the same vein, women are underrepresented in politics and public administration at both the central and provincial levels. Women hold only 19 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. Indeed, for women, participation in decisionmaking processes at all levels is severely limited due to traditional gender roles emphasizing women as household managers and men as resource providers (ADB, 2012). Along with low levels of educational attainment and literacy rates, this prevents women taking a leadership role in public affairs. In addition, few women in politics also make it difficult for them to support each other and keep their positions of power (United States Agency for International Development, 2010). With regards to gender-related health issues, Cambodia has made significant progress on maternal health over the past decade. Maternal mortality ratio accounts for 19

25 161 per 100,000 live births, which shows a noticeable decline from 472 per 100,000 live births in the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (Cambodia National Institute of Statistics & Directorate General for Health, 2015). In contrast to the achievement in maternal health, Violence against Women (VAW), also known as Gender-based Violence (GBV), is prevalent across the country. As an indicator representing how women are perceived and treated in a certain society, VAW directly threatens women s health and limits their opportunities for education, employment, and social and political participation. Violence that women experience in real-life situation includes various types of perpetrations such as sexual harassment, rape, assault, verbal abuse, emotional manipulation, and financial control. In Cambodia, 25 percent of women are reported to have experienced at least one form of physical or sexual violence or both by their male partners (Fulu et al., 2013). It is attributable to the social tolerance that maintains the status quo of gender-based violence as well as gender discrimination. The causes of persistent gender inequalities are deeply rooted in socio-cultural norms. A famous Khmer proverb: Men are gold and women are cloth, implying that the former is easily cleaned; the latter is easily stained reflects entrenched ideas toward gender in Cambodian society. This gender-biased perception as well as gender norms and practices have stemmed from the traditional Chbap codes of conduct for both women and men. The normative ideal for women is termed as Chbap Srei (Code for women). The rules are disseminated by mothers from generation to generation and embedded through the processes of socialization and education (Brickell, 2011). Abiding by the principles, a woman should always be gentle, submissive, and obedient to her husband as well as other family members; she should never confront her husband; and she should be responsible for housework. On the contrary to this, rules for men are 20

26 called as Chbap Proh (Code for men), which simply stipulates that men should avoid gambling, drinking, and committing adultery (Brickell, 2008). While collective attitudes and behaviors conventionally associated with gender are changing slowly in a positive way over time, the rules of Chbap Srei are still taught, encouraged, and justified at home, at school, and in a community. In essence, these strong expectations of gender roles engender the subordinate status of women and reinforce notions of male dominance; consequently, women enjoy less independence and autonomy with restricted access to human, social, and material resources and opportunities in every aspect of their lives relative to male counterparts. 2. ICTs and Women in Cambodia The Royal Government of Cambodia under the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) has been focused on physical infrastructure development for ICTs in its pursuit of promoting good governance. Over the recent years, steady progress has been made in Cambodia s ICT sector that comprises telecommunications, mass media, and postal services. With particular reference to communication technologies, like many other developing countries, mobile phones have become widespread throughout the country at a relatively rapid pace. According to the ITU (2016a), Cambodia ranks in 125th position among 175 countries with an ICT Development Index (IDI) value of 3.12 in Considering that the IDI measures ICT improvements in terms of access, usage, and skills, least developed countries show a poor performance in the IDI in most cases. These countries have relatively high values for mobile telephone subscriptions but extremely low values for fixed phone subscriptions; comparatively high levels for international internet bandwidth per internet user but low values for fixed broadband subscriptions; and 21

27 relatively high levels of secondary education but low levels of tertiary enrolment (ITU, 2016a). Indeed, Cambodia in the lower middle quartile of the ranking displays a similar pattern with other least developed countries. As shown in Figure 1, users have a strong preference for mobile uptake over fixed phone and fixed internet access subscriptions in Cambodia. For instance, the number of mobile telephone subscribers in 2015 has reached 20,850,543 which equals to 133 percent of the country s total population, while fixed phone subscription has remained low as 256,387 (ITU, 2016b). It should be noted that figures imply that duplicate subscriptions exist in mobile usage. In fact, one-quarter of Cambodians have said to use more than one mobile operator (Kimchhoy, Lihol, & Sola, 2016) meaning that Cambodians have multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards to use multiple phone numbers. Figure 1. IDI values for Cambodia in 2015 and 2016 (adapted from ITU, 2016a) 22

28 In the same vein, market share in the internet service demonstrates a large gap between mobile internet and fixed internet, 98.8 percent and 1.2 percent respectively (Cambodia Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, 2016). It is presumed that uptake in mobile devices is closely linked to the growth of the internet penetration. Given the trend in ICT development, it is also noteworthy that Cambodia s telecommunications market is growing fast with a fierce competition among 9 registered mobile operators and 33 internet service providers. Precisely due to the mobile market competition, Cambodia has both the lowest prepaid handset-based and lowest postpaid computer-based mobile access service prices in the world (ITU, 2016a). Mobile data service is affordable with an average price range from five to eight cents per minute for calls and from two to five cents per minute for Short Message Service (SMS) as well as with a monthly average price of five dollars for internet. This affordability would be a key driver for the further phenomenal growth by the country s young population that is keener to adopt new technological devices and motivated to learn up-to-date ICT skills. In regard to the gender gap in access to and usage of mobile technologies in general, women in low and middle income countries are not only 14 percent less likely to own mobile phones but use them less frequently and intensively than men on average (GSM Association, 2015). Broadly speaking, a woman with low income and low education levels, especially those who live in rural areas, are less likely to own a mobile phone. While comprehensive sex-disaggregated data on access to and use of ICTs do not currently exist at the national level in Cambodia, a recent study estimated that nearly 95 percent of Cambodian women claimed to own mobile phones compared to 98 percent of men, yet more men than women own Khmer enabled phones, write and read 23

29 in Khmer script, and use internet and social media such as Facebook on their mobiles (Kimchhoy et al., 2016). This demonstrates that, regardless of mobile ownership, men are better equipped with both material (i.e. adequate devices) and non-material resources (i.e. literacy), which results in the actual use of mobile technology. In addition to the inter-gender disparities in mobile uptake, it is important to note that mobile uptake is driven by a complex interplay of individual and contextual factors within the same sex. These intra-gender differences are perceivable in mobile telephone adoption and use between urban and rural, less educated and more educated, and young and old. Despite these differences and disparities, over the recent years, it appears that women who have been already connected to basic mobile handsets are becoming new and active users of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging through smartphones. Particularly targeting young and educated urban dwellers who are economically affluent in relative terms, these online communications tools can be effective in disseminating information and knowledge about women s rights and raising awareness on gender equality (Cambodia Ministry of Women s Affairs, 2014). 3. Case 1. Mobile Phones for Strengthening Female Community Leadership Since the Royal Government of Cambodia introduced the decentralization policy in 2001, the elections have been held at the lowest level of local government which is called as Sangkat. In recognition of the importance of women s participation in the grassroots level decision-making that would reflect local development priorities, since 2004, Women for Prosperity (WfP) a local NGO working for the promotion of women s rights, has been focused on the support of elected Female Commune Councilors (FCCs) as well as the preparation of potential women candidates in partnership with Oxfam, an international NGO, and other donors. WfP established a 24

30 national level women s network and provided participants with training at the Female Councilor Forums (FCFs), aiming at improving the work performance of female councilors a the local government level. Implementing a series of the FCF projects, WfP has been recognized for its contribution to strengthening self-confidence and leadership skills of women councilors who previously had low visibility in public affairs, enabling them to better carry out the duties of policymakers in their communities. In this context, in 2010, WfP, supported by Oxfam, launched the Pink Phone Revolution project that is part of the existing women s economic leadership program on which WfP has been successfully working. The initial objective of the project was to build the capacity of women to participate in public affairs by providing mobile phones and training in ICT literacy as well as communication skills. The project was a demonstration of an ICT intervention integrated into a broader livelihood enhancement program promoting gender equality; thus the role of the mobile technology was instrumental in nature to reinforce the use of information and knowledge in communication, decision-making and participation rather than exclusively focusing on the ICT capacity building. At the outset of the project, the total of 45 women councilors was selected from 14 districts within three provinces Kampong Thom, Kratie, and Stung Treng, all of which are regarded as particularly poor regions. As a first step, the participants were given feature phones preprogrammed in the Khmer language and received technology literacy training on the input of Khmer characters and the use of key functions of mobile phones including sending and receiving messages. A series of workshops were also organized, where the participants learned how to identify and respond to problems and needs within their communes and to communicate with other council members and community members. In the implementation phase, most 25

31 communication from WfP to the FCCs living in different villages was done by text messages utilizing online bulk message software called FrontlineSMS. In this respect, all participants were asked to reply to the daily text messages from WfP to ensure that they are capable of using the technology. As a result, distribution of mobile phones was simply the main output of the project. For this reason, the phones were painted in pink as an indication of women s possession to refrain men from using the cellular phones. Above all, mobiles phones were used as a facilitating means to communication while saving time and efforts to physically convene a meeting for council affairs. Another important output is the timely information on agricultural trends, market prices, and disaster warnings that women received through mobile phones. Beyond what was planned and expected in the initial design of the project, the mobile technology proved more effective instruments than merely being a tool for meeting coordination and information dissemination. The cell phones also allowed the women councilors to immediately intervene in the cases of domestic violence and childbirth to support other village women in urgent need of help. To summarize, the project enabled the female councilors to respond to the needs of their communities in regard to livelihoods, health, education, and domestic violence, thereby not just taking the roles of elected leaders to a higher standard but competing with male councilors in improved relations. Due to the strong demand from many women in other positions working with the community, Oxfam continued to raise funds for mobile phone purchase as well as related service provision. Overall, throughout the course of the project, critical problems were not observed due to the simplicity of the project content while an operational issue was raised for using a new tool such as FrontlineSMS that had technical flaws in its stability and speed. It is therefore often stressed that the technical set up requires frequent 26