Phnom Penh (September 09, 2014) – The ‘Women: Hope and Growth’ project was found to be successful and responsive to the needs at the community level. The project design and implementation is relevant and has been mostly effective and efficiently implemented, according to the findings of the final evaluation on the project presented at a half-day workshop today.
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LWD Executive Director Mr. Min Sor expressed his satisfaction with the positive results of the evaluation conducted by an independent consulting team. He was impressed by the findings that the daily income of the rural poor households increased to $4 plus, up from $1.20 as found in the baseline data collection before the project started. “This is the success of the project,” he said.
The women group under the project became active. They had the gut to express their concerns and provided comments/feedback for the Commune Councilors and convinced them to include women’s needs into the commune investment plan, he referred to the presentation.
Through the establishment of agriculture cooperatives, now women groups supported by the project have their own independent capital although it is in a small amount, if compared to past years. It’s the best starting point, he said.
“It is also the obligation of LWD and we cannot stop our work at this stage. We will continue our work in cooperation with our donors in order to improve women’s capacity and livelihoods in the rural areas,” he said, adding that challenges found by the team were opportunities for LWD to improve its performance and design new projects.
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Mr. Min Sor expressed deep gratitude for all donors’ support which enabled LWD to carry out its development work in the rural areas to date. “I hope that all donors will continue to provide funding so that LWD can continue its mission to develop the society and community in rural Cambodia,” he said. He also deeply thanked the local authority at all levels and the community for their good cooperation with LWD. “LWD cannot achieve its goal successfully without such good cooperation, and I hope this good cooperation will continue.”
“Women: Hope and Growth” is a 4-year project funded by Women’s Bank/Finn Church Aid (FCA) and has been implemented by LWD since Jan 2011 and expected to be completed by the end of 2014. The project cost 660,000 Euros.
The project was designed to address challenges of poor and vulnerable women in rural Cambodia, aiming to improve women’s economic status through income generation activities, including the establishment of village banks, small businesses and agricultural cooperatives. The project also aimed to build women’s capacity and confidence, and increase their participation in the decision making at the household and community levels.
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Ms. Anu Riikonen, FCA Regional Representative for Asia, said, “FCA will further focus on developing capacities and opportunities for viable, profitable enterprise and decent employment for poor women and youth and the landless.”
The evaluation was conducted to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project. The samples for data collection included 39 focus group discussions, 47 key informants, and 80 household respondents.
The evaluation team found a number of challenges and set out some recommendations for LWD as reference for designing its new project.