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Senate President Hun Sen has called for greater representation of women in Cambodia’s political leadership, urging the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to place women in electable positions ahead of next year’s commune elections, while election monitor Comfrel said clearer and more ambitious quotas are needed to turn the pledge into meaningful representation.
In a meeting with a delegation from the National Council for Women of Cambodia at the Senate’s Samdech Hun Sen Hall on August 14, 2026, Hun Sen, also CPP president, said empowering women economically is crucial for Cambodia because it would also strengthen women’s political participation.
He said about 49% of women have received vocational training organized by the government, while women account for 54% of the education sector.
He stressed that without sufficient access to knowledge and skills, women would not be able to participate fully in politics and the economy. When women have jobs and income, he said, they gain economic power. The government and private sector therefore need to work together on the issue.
“I call on the Royal Government and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport to pay attention to building accommodation for female students. Some provinces also have universities, so accommodation needs to be arranged for them,” he said.
Hun Sen also called for more women to be appointed to leadership positions at both national and subnational institutions, particularly placing women in electable positions, with at least one woman elected in each commune, and to field female candidates for provincial, city and district councils.
He said his administration had established quotas for women at the national level, including at least one secretary of state and deputy secretaries of state, while subnational administrations also have quotas for women.
During his visit to all 23 provinces, he said he found that some commune and sangkat administrations still lacked women in leadership positions.
As a general principle, each commune should have at least one elected woman, he said. Female candidates should also receive training to ensure they have the skills needed to serve their communities in next year’s commune and sangkat council elections.
Currently, 176 commune chiefs are women, compared with about 1,400 men, he said.
“As the president of the Cambodian People’s Party, I have set a requirement for women to be placed in electable positions. We want every commune to have women represented, because some places have many while others have none.”
“We want to expand women’s representation to every commune, just as we have expanded it at the provincial and district levels. In the future, provincial and district councils will also need to have women elected,” Hun Sen said.
He also encouraged women to compete for commune clerk positions. The government should aim to have women making up 50% of commune clerks by 2050, with appropriate training provided.
“Helping women and investing in women is helping ourselves,” he said.
Sonket Sereyleak, education and gender coordinator at Comfrel, said the ruling party’s target of 50% of women making up commune clerks by 2050, appears “too distant”.
However, she said, the push to place women in electable positions in upcoming elections is a positive step. The key question is what percentage of commune and sangkat chiefs will be women, given that women currently hold only 10.5% of those positions.
As of now, women make up 22% of commune council members, while only 10.5% of commune chiefs are women. At the national level, women hold 14.4% of seats in Parliament, while only three women serve as ministers, accounting for 10%. At the subnational level, only two women hold leadership positions, she said.
“We urge the government to set a specific target of 35%, meaning at least nine of the 25 provincial governors should be women. For the ministerial level, the quota should be set at between 35% and 50% so women can become ministers,” she mentioned.
Sereyleak added that women serving as commune chiefs have performed their duties effectively. Increasing women’s representation would promote more inclusive decision-making and ensure that the concerns and needs of women and girls are reflected in local governance and development.
“I think setting a quota is important and it is good that Samdech has made this statement. But there should be a specific requirement to ensure women are placed in electable positions near the top of candidate lists. That means 50% of candidates in the No. 1 position should be women across all political parties,” she said.
Sereyleak said clear quotas and support to strengthen women’s capacity to take on leadership positions are important. At the national level, policies and laws should be discussed and adopted comprehensively to address the interests of different genders.
“When women are present as leaders in shaping laws and developing policies, they bring different perspectives from men, helping ensure a more comprehensive approach and sustainable development,” she said.
