Project profile

Female Construction Workers

CARE's Female Construction Workers project engages with civil society, the MInistry of Labour & Vocational Training and private sector businesses with the aim of ensuring safe and secure work environments for women in Cambodia's construction industry.

Cambodia’s booming construction industry employs between 175,000 and 200,000 workers, many of whom are unskilled and work informally as day labourers. An estimated 20–40% of the construction workers are female; many have relocated from rural areas of Cambodia to find work in the construction sector in the growing capital of Phnom Penh.

Assumptions about women’s skills and capabilities mean women and men are treated differently; women are often relegated to the most lowly paid work and are not valued or recognised. These women workers often have little knowledge of how Cambodian law applies to them and how to stay safe at work. For women these problems are exacerbated by social norms which place additional family responsibilities on them.

CARE is working to raise awareness of women workers and address assumptions about women’s capabilities so that female construction workers in Cambodia can have safer workplaces and increased opportunity. The overall goal for this project is for women in the construction sector to be valued and respected by their colleagues, employers and the society in which they live.

Objective

To strengthen capacity of female construction workers, civil society, and government on ensuring women construction workers are safe and valued equally in the workplace.

Key activities

Project activities include:

Capacity building of female peer leaders
Training private sector employers on the needs of female workers
Providing opportunities for workers to share information with private sector employers
Relationship building with key private sector construction associations

Learn more about women in Cambodia's construction industry thorugh CARE's videos

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