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Time is Now: Take action, be a role model, and unlock a full potential of women!
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ដោយ: ថ្មីៗ
Do you consider gender equality as not your problem? You might feel it is too big an issue for you to handle by yourself. Yet, Ms. Khun and her friends believe differently; they are female university students who initiated and led action to help raise awareness and support women’s health issues in rural Cambodia.
In Tbaeng village in Takeo province, villagers have limited accessibility to medical check-ups due to geographic and economic obstacles. This challenge exists not only in this village; it is common in rural Cambodia, leaving many women with untreated gynecological health issues. “Although most of the gynecological issues can be prevented with appropriate knowledge, women in rural areas lack information about gynecological health, hygiene and available medical services,” explains Ms. Monalisa Khun, a 21-year-old student at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Together with her peers, Ms. Chumey Tat and Ms. Chheang, she stood up to help address women’s health problems in rural areas.
They formed a team and applied to the Community Action Challenge 2017 (CAC), an initiative launched by the Cambodia Volunteering Network (VolCam), a group of volunteer involving organizations working together to support volunteerism and currently chaired by the United Nations Volunteers. The aim of the Community Action Challenge is to encourage young people in Cambodia to analyze a problem in their community, design a solution and turn it into real action through a seed fund and capacity-building training.
With the support, Ms. Khun’s team organized a session in which women could privately consult their health problems with female medical students who provided information about gynecological diseases and symptoms, prevention methods and contact information on affordable, NGO-run hospitals and consultation services for 54 participants.
To share the information to a wider audience, the team also distributed posters to a school in the village. "I used to hide my problem considering it as an embarrassing topic that women shouldn't talk about,” notes one of the participants. “However, after the session, the consultation and meeting other people who have same problems, I was encouraged to go to hospital.” The team also conducted a follow-up survey, and found 50 per cent of the participants independently started seeking professional consultations and obtained medical treatment for their health problems.
Realizing the impact that her actions could make, Ms. Khun plans to keep holding such sessions in different rural areas in cooperation with professional doctors and nurses. Through this new cycle of awareness, rural women are empowered to take active steps to protect their health and improve their well-being.
It was not only the rural women who benefited from participation in this project, but also the volunteers themselves. Ms. Khun shared that “Lots of unexpected problems happened during my project. Through the experience, however, I became more confident in dealing with similar situations at my workplace effectively. I developed many skills through the CAC.” She validated that young women can develop their skills and be more confident in their potential by making an impact in their community.
March 8th marked International Women’s day. People all over the world recognize and celebrate the activists working to promote gender equality and call for further action. Through her volunteerism, Ms. Khun is a role model showing how young women can play an important role on empowering themselves and inspiring others. Everyone can be an actor to bring gender equality to their communities: their home, work place and school. Inequality can be reduced by individual action. It is your turn to start taking action in your daily lives to eliminate gender equality ― the time is now.
By: Remo Sugimoto
UNV UN University Volunteer in Advocacy and Mobilization on Youth
United Nations Volunteers
In Tbaeng village in Takeo province, villagers have limited accessibility to medical check-ups due to geographic and economic obstacles. This challenge exists not only in this village; it is common in rural Cambodia, leaving many women with untreated gynecological health issues. “Although most of the gynecological issues can be prevented with appropriate knowledge, women in rural areas lack information about gynecological health, hygiene and available medical services,” explains Ms. Monalisa Khun, a 21-year-old student at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Together with her peers, Ms. Chumey Tat and Ms. Chheang, she stood up to help address women’s health problems in rural areas.
They formed a team and applied to the Community Action Challenge 2017 (CAC), an initiative launched by the Cambodia Volunteering Network (VolCam), a group of volunteer involving organizations working together to support volunteerism and currently chaired by the United Nations Volunteers. The aim of the Community Action Challenge is to encourage young people in Cambodia to analyze a problem in their community, design a solution and turn it into real action through a seed fund and capacity-building training.
With the support, Ms. Khun’s team organized a session in which women could privately consult their health problems with female medical students who provided information about gynecological diseases and symptoms, prevention methods and contact information on affordable, NGO-run hospitals and consultation services for 54 participants.
To share the information to a wider audience, the team also distributed posters to a school in the village. "I used to hide my problem considering it as an embarrassing topic that women shouldn't talk about,” notes one of the participants. “However, after the session, the consultation and meeting other people who have same problems, I was encouraged to go to hospital.” The team also conducted a follow-up survey, and found 50 per cent of the participants independently started seeking professional consultations and obtained medical treatment for their health problems.
Realizing the impact that her actions could make, Ms. Khun plans to keep holding such sessions in different rural areas in cooperation with professional doctors and nurses. Through this new cycle of awareness, rural women are empowered to take active steps to protect their health and improve their well-being.
It was not only the rural women who benefited from participation in this project, but also the volunteers themselves. Ms. Khun shared that “Lots of unexpected problems happened during my project. Through the experience, however, I became more confident in dealing with similar situations at my workplace effectively. I developed many skills through the CAC.” She validated that young women can develop their skills and be more confident in their potential by making an impact in their community.
March 8th marked International Women’s day. People all over the world recognize and celebrate the activists working to promote gender equality and call for further action. Through her volunteerism, Ms. Khun is a role model showing how young women can play an important role on empowering themselves and inspiring others. Everyone can be an actor to bring gender equality to their communities: their home, work place and school. Inequality can be reduced by individual action. It is your turn to start taking action in your daily lives to eliminate gender equality ― the time is now.
By: Remo Sugimoto
UNV UN University Volunteer in Advocacy and Mobilization on Youth
United Nations Volunteers
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