CCHR Press Release Phnom Penh, 01 August 2012 CCHR Releases Map and Data of Womens Political Representation

n in Commune Councils in 2012 The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) today 01 August 2012 publishes a map and data analysis of womens political representation in Commune Councils in Cambodia. The results of the Commune/Sangkat Elections, which took place on 3 June 2012, were released on 24 June 2012 by the National Election Committee (NEC). The results show that women were elected to 2,038 Commune Council seats around the country, amounting to 17.79% of the total number of seats. A great majority of the women elected, however, were elected to low-ranking positions, with only 4.6% being elected as Commune Chief. Moreover, there are large discrepancies between parties, with some of the smaller parties achieving very low female representation. Using the NECs data, CCHR has provided an analysis of womens representation in candidate lists as well as of the number of women elected. The data is available both for the whole country and for individual provinces, and for individual political parties. The data is hosted by the award-winning CCHR-hosted Cambodia Human Rights Portal at http://sithi.org/commune_election_map Chor Chanthyda, Project Coordinator of the Project to Promote Womens Political Representation, commented on the launch of the map, as follows: By incorporating data analysis of women candidates and women elected to commune councils in 2012 into an interactive map, we are able to present a full picture of womens political representation at the commune level. We hope that both the Royal Government of Cambodia and political parties will use the data in their efforts to promote women in politics. While there is a clear need for national legislation requiring specific quotas of women on candidate lists, the lack of such legislation should not stop individual parties from undertaking initiatives to increase the level of female representation within their own parties. For more information, please contact Chor Chanthyda, Project Coordinator, tel: +855 (0) 12 515 506 or email: thyda@cchrcambodia.org. Notes to Editor: CCHR, founded in November 2002, is a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization (NGO) that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia,

CCHR is a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), the global network for freedom of expression. The Cambodian Human Rights Portal www.sithi.org is the 2011 winner of the Information Society Innovation Fund Award in the category of Rights and Freedoms. CCHRs Project to Promote Womens Political Representation in Cambodia is part of the regional program Building Sustainable Partnerships to Promote Womens Political Representation in Southeast Asia (IKAT Program) which is managed by the Indonesian NGO Kemitraan in cooperation with the National Democracy Institute based in Indonesia and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.