Background
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs convened a final consultation on 20 August 2026 to validate the strategic roadmap for Cambodia’s first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP-WPS) under the leadership of Minister Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi.
The workshop on 20 August 2026 gathered 102 participants, including representatives from line ministries, institutions, and development partners. The strategic roadmap sets out priority sectors and pathways to develop a draft NAP-WPS designed to address both traditional and non-traditional security challenges.
Scope of Application
The strategic roadmap and the resulting NAP-WPS are intended as a national-level framework to guide government institutions, sectoral agencies and development partners involved in security, disaster management, and gender-responsive policy planning. Specific sectors named in the consultation include defence and security forces, peacekeeping operations, diplomatic services, law enforcement addressing trafficking and transnational crime, media and digital-security actors, climate and disaster management agencies, and economic and social protection bodies.
Key Provisions or Decisions
The workshop, organised in cooperation with The Asia Foundation and UN Women at the Cambodiana Hotel, validated the strategic roadmap and affirmed a process to develop a draft NAP-WPS for Cambodia. Participants identified five priority areas for the draft plan: (1) women in defence, security, peacekeeping and diplomacy; (2) women, trafficking in persons and transnational crime; (3) women in the media and digital security; (4) women in climate and disaster security; and (5) women in economic security and human security. The consultation emphasised national ownership, policy coherence across ministries, and inclusive participation of women in crisis and conflict response.
Implications for Investors, Businesses, or Compliance
The validated roadmap signals forthcoming national policy guidance that will influence public-sector programming and multi-stakeholder initiatives related to gender and security. Private-sector actors operating in media, digital platforms, humanitarian services, or climate and disaster response may encounter new coordination opportunities with government programmes and development partners as the NAP-WPS moves from roadmap to draft plan. Organisations engaging on these themes should monitor formal adoption processes and sectoral implementation plans for operational guidance.
Official Source
Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Workshop on Final Consultation for the Strategic Roadmap towards Cambodia’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP-WPS), 20 August 2026. Partners: The Asia Foundation and UN Women. Source: Ministry of Women’s Affairs Facebook post (link above).
