As part of the FMM sub-programme on “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition”, FAO is promoting the Dimitra Clubs’ approach in 20 villages of the Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap Provinces. The sub-programme aims at contributing to closing the gender gap in agriculture by enhancing rural women’s economic empowerment and strengthening their crucial role in rural development, decision-making and in resilience building, as agents of transformative change. Gender transformative approaches, such as the Dimitra Clubs and the WE-FBS (another approach promoted by this initiative), are a pathway proposed by the sub-programme to achieve lasting results. 

The clubs are community-led informal spaces for participatory discussion, analysis, and action over locally based problems. No one is left behind in this process as the approach puts a strong emphasis on gender and social inclusion.  The approach is key in overcoming intersecting inequalities and patterns of marginalization as everyone is invited to participate as a volunteer regardless of sex, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, ability/disability, membership in other informal/formal groups, etc.

Mr Oum Kosal, Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) explained that Dimitra Clubs are informal groups of rural women, men and youths who decide to meet regularly to discuss the challenges they face in daily lives in their community, make decisions together and take collective action to solve community problems with their own means.

“With this community-led and gender transformative approach, the Dimitra Clubs will improve local governance and collective action while enhancing women’s agency, participation, and voice in decision-making processes.”

To promote this approach in Cambodia, FAO is partnering with a local partner - Village Support Group (VSG). In the last four months, FAO has facilitated three virtual real time trainings in order to develop the facilitators’ capacities to implement the Dimitra Clubs’ approach. These trainings have included sessions on gender equality, Dimitra Clubs’ life cycle, the participatory use of ICTs as well as how to improve communication, conflict management and leadership skills. To encourage a learning by doing process, the training curricula also envisaged one hands-on practice exercise in September 2021 in two villages (Prech Kei and Pong Ror). This gave the opportunity to the facilitators to apply what they had learnt during the first training.

The facilitators have been equipped with appropriate information, knowledge, and guidance regarding the process and the key methodological steps needed to set-up the Dimitra Clubs in the 20 targeted villages.

“We have learnt a lot about participation and gender in practice thanks to these trainings. We are confident that we will be able to apply all this knowledge and transfer it to the members of the Dimitra Clubs,” said Mrs Ros Chhorvivorn, Executive Director of VSG.  

Facilitators have been able to deliver more than 80 community sensitization meetings and mobilize 1 307 villagers (women, men, and local authorities) to form 40 Dimitra Clubs.

In addition, there are 90 Dimitra Club’s leaders that have been selected by the Dimitra Clubs’ members to lead the implementation of the action plans developed by the 40 Dimitra Clubs. At the same time, the Dimitra Club’s leaders are expected to lead and to learn throughout the process, as they have expressed themselves that they have never been leading nor receiving any training about leadership before.

The members of the newly created Dimitra Clubs in Cambodia have already identified a total of 41 development issues that they consider important, ranging from village road issue, poor waste management, lack of necessary infrastructure and technical know-how to support their agricultural activities, lack of clean water for drinking, domestic violence to children dropping our of school.  The majority of the Clubs highlighted that “Poor waste management at households and public places” is a problem that they can be overcome by using their own capacities and resources. Additionally, some Clubs have also expressed the need to put an end to domestic violence.

“We see with great enthusiasm the expansion of this approach in Cambodia. The promising results are already evident, leading the path to enhanced gender equality and women’s socio-economic empowerment,” said Mrs Christiane Monsieur, Lead Technical Officer of FMM project.