Organizational Profile and History
On November 30, 1993, five women in Kampong Thom province established the Cambodian Association for Women Support or CAWS. This membership organization was developed in response to widespread poverty, gender inequality, increasing cases of domestic violence, poor health and absence of development opportunities especially among women inCambodiaand foremost Kampon
g Thom province. CAWS first project was to assist in the distribution of relief goods sponsored by World Food Program and World Vision. In 1998, with a handful of volunteer staff, CAWS received funding support from GTZ and Church World Service (CWS) to implement pig banks and piloted self-help groups in one village in Kampong Thom, which over the course of the year increased to five villages. CWS continued its support on the wide array of community development projects ranging from gender, health, sanitation, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence to women and children’s rights. The projects, which lasted for 7 years enabled COWS to organize 39 self-help groups, 29 rice banks, dispersed 53 heads of cattle and provided 30 ring wells. On October 17, 2002, CAWS was registered with the Ministry of Interior as a Non-Government Organization under the new name Cambodian Organization for Women Support or COWS. Faced with multi-faceted issues and problems in the communities, COWS expanded its area of operation as well as its development interventions to focus not only on women but to the whole range of community issues affecting underprivileged and marginalized people. From 2003 to 2007, COWS, in partnership with GTZ implemented the decentralization project in more than 90 villages in 9 communes and two districts. In 2007 until mid 2008, COWS implemented a biodiversity conservation project in three Community fisheries in Santuk district covering 12 villages in three communes. COWS recognizes the importance of establishing networks and alliances with government agencies, like-minded NGOs and organizations that support women and community development. Currently, COWS is an active member of NGO Forum, a network of Cambodian development NGOs, NGO Good Practice Project (NGO GPP) and Cambodian NGO Coordination Network in Kampong Thom (CNK). COWS organization is also an active partner of Advocacy and Policy Institute (API). COWS has also been a VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) partner for three years and is now working with its second advisor to help the organization strengthen management and staff capacity. COWS has received Certification of Compliance for the Code of Ethical Principles and Minimum Standards for NGOs inCambodiaissued by NGO Code Compliance Committee for a 3-years period valid from August 10, 2010 to August 09, 2013.
