Meeting of the the Minds: Lower Mekong Initiative Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Policy Dialogue

On July 13, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton participated in the  first-ever Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy Dialogue as part of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) which was held in Siem Reap, Cambodia on the 12-13th July 2012. Her visit was part of the official visit to participate in various regional conferences, to both chair and attend ministerial events and to participate in bilateral meetings with Cambodian officials including   the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting, and the  U.S.-ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference.  Secretary Clinton will co-chair the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial as well as chair the Friends of the Lower Mekong Ministerial Meeting. Secretary Clinton will also participate in bilateral meetings with senior Cambodian leadership. After Phnom Penh, Secretary Clinton will travel to Siem Reap to lead the largest delegation of U.S. business representatives to Cambodia for an ASEAN event at the ‘Commitment to Connectivity - U.S.-ASEAN Business Forum.’

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) with the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in 2009 to enhance cooperation among the countries in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure development. Burma formally joined the initiative in July 2012.

More than 200 representatives of government and civil society from the five countries as well as Australia, Japan and New Zealand gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to find ways to ensure that women are fully integrated both as change agents and beneficiaries in the development activities of the LMI. Discussion topics included expanding women’s political and economic participation, combating gender-based violence, including human trafficking, forging public-private partnerships, promoting women’s education and health, and engaging women as environmental leaders. Secretary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An, and Cambodian Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi all participated in the conference. 

During her poignant keynote address, Secretary Clinton reaffirmed The United States commitment towards advancing the status of women in the Asia region  by addressing global gender issues in particular gender equality.

Several key topics addressed included strengthening networks of women leaders in the Lower Mekong Region in particular the strengthening and supporting various networks such as Cambodia Women's Leadership Network, and  Network of Women, Peace, and Security Fellows, Lower Mekong Women’s Network. Also, stressed the importance of investing  in Women Scientists and Engineers,  and supports initiative to provide opportunities to women including offering Scholarships for Women Engineers, and Exchanges for Female Scientists from LMI.

The dialogue also explored the need to encourage the facilitating Technical Exchange among LMI Partner countries to Improve Women’s Health Women’s Health Leadership in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). This exchange will enhance the focus on gender in health policies and institutional structures, within the greater vision of improving health outcomes for men, women, girls, and boys.

Also Public -Private Partnership for Women and Girls were addressed including the creation of Small grants to benefit women and girls. Such grants will enable NGOS to continue, expand, or scale efforts that benefit women. The US Embassy will work to identify eligible NGOs and worthy projects.

Secretary Clinton's official visit to Cambodia was a momentous one and marked a milestone in The United States continued commitment to maintaining global dialogue to address regional and global issues on gender. It will be advantageous to see the impact it will have on the development of gender policies within the region.