[…] First, I would like to express my admiration for the efforts of the Cambodian National Council for Women (CNCW) in fulfilling its duties over the past year or so, since we last met in June up to the present. At the same time, we should also examine the areas that represent both progress and challenges. What was raised in the report as well as in the presentations regarding the decisions of the Royal Government indicates that those recommendations are being continued. I would like to thank the Royal Government for continuing to implement my 12 recommendations.
Let us take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Her Majesty the Queen Mother for continuing to serve as Honorary President. Her Majesty is truly wise in appointing the honorary vice presidents. Back when I was Prime Minister, she appointed Prime Minister Hun Sen as the First Honorary Vice President. When a new Prime Minister comes along, she appointed him vice president because the effectiveness depends on whether the government actually implements things or not. Therefore, Her Majesty arranged this structure to ensure sustainability and accelerate investment for women.
Looking at the progress we have made in the past, we see a lot of developments, including in training and increasing women’s participation in state work. However, what I want to focus on now — and which I am allowing to be broadcast — is to send a message to national institutions as well as to the citizens.
Firstly, I want to talk about continuing to strengthen women’s economic empowerment. The President of the Council probably already knows about this. I have emphasized the role of women’s economic empowerment from the very beginning. This work is extremely important for Cambodia — and not just Cambodia, any country needs this. If we can empower women economically, we can also empower women politically. If women’s economic empowerment is not promoted, women’s political influence within the family or the community will not be promoted either. Therefore, we must continue our efforts on this [to strengthen women’s economic empowerment] to encourage women to strive to strengthen themselves within a framework of security and self-reliance, rather than depending solely on their husbands.
Regarding husbands, I used to say that men spend money without knowing how much is gone. It is women who actually think about how much to spend on food, how much on children’s clothes, and how much on their children’s education. Men asked about these things do not know the costs. Not all men — I am not praising myself, but a man like me is also a thoughtful man who knows how much to spend on children’s education and other expenses. However, if women in each family strengthen their economic power, gender equality principles will likely be strengthened through that as well. Please continue this work.
In organizing women’s entrepreneurship and training, it was mentioned that up to 49% of trainees in vocational training are women. We should encourage this. In technical skills training provided to students, youth, and pupils over the past period, 49% have been women. This is a point we must continue. Without training, we cannot respond to strengthening women’s roles in the economy. If they lack skills, where can they find work? When women find work, earn an income, or hold economic power, they do not depend solely on their husbands, which would otherwise give husbands overwhelming influence within the family. However, this is a matter of compromise within family life.
Another point I want to raise, and will continue to raise wherever I go, is strengthening women’s capacity regarding education. Earlier, the report mentioned that more than half of current students — up to 54% — are women. This is a proud figure. I have raised this issue since I was Prime Minister. I think it was shortly after 2010 when I spoke about the balance between men and women in continuing education to the bachelor’s degree level. From primary school up to the bachelor’s level, women seem to outnumber men. However, from master’s degrees to doctorates, the number of women declines. Nevertheless, there has been notable progress with an increase from 23.5% to 26.72% […]
What needs attention is my continued call to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, as well as to the government, to continue building dormitories for women. In Phnom Penh, my wife, my partners, and I are currently constructing a dormitory for poor female students, which is more than 70% complete. It is strictly for women. Men, please do not mind. Men have plenty of dormitories. What are men’s dormitories? Male students can stay in pagodas. You cannot house women in a pagoda; female students cannot stay in pagodas. Therefore, year after year, we must arrange living spaces.
The dormitory is designed for 400 people, but we can accommodate more when it opens in the near future. This is something that must continue. However, let us not forget that several provinces also have universities. Therefore, we should arrange dormitories in provinces that have universities. When I toured and inspected them 10 years ago in 2016, the high schools I built all featured dormitories for students coming from afar and for teachers. There were housing units for teachers and dormitories for students. By doing this, we reduce the hardships faced by students, especially women. We have come a long way from the days when our mothers’ generation and elders did not allow women to study for fear of correspondence with men. It is not like that nowadays. We must strive to increase dormitories for women.
I also take this opportunity to thank landlords who always provide convenience for poor students from rural areas, regardless of whether they are male or female. I appealed over 10 years ago to landlords who rented rooms to workers and students. I also received information because I used to support and house some rural youths in rental rooms, so I would ask through them. They said some places offer convenience and safety for female and male students studying there. I continue to make this appeal. If we do not make a joint effort, the number of our women receiving education will not increase because investment is insufficient.
Therefore, this investment must be comprehensive, with both the state and the private sector participating. I ask that this work continue to strengthen women’s capacities. We see that among students, women achieve good results. Let us look at the high school diploma exam scores from a few days ago — how many women passed? I still believe that this year, women may pass more than men. Young women passed in higher numbers. I will wait to see the comparison of Grade A holders and across all grades to see how many are women and how many are men.
Every year, I look at these figures. At every university where I hand out degrees, I always check the number of women versus men. We do not shift responsibility by saying attention wasn’t paid, but the drop in female student numbers past higher education — specifically at the master’s and doctoral levels — is due to objective and traditional factors where women at that age are expected to get married. Once married, husbands may not allow them to study further, or they have children. This is what reduces the number of women pursuing post-graduate studies.
I also appeal to husbands to allow their wives to receive additional education. Once married, they should be encouraged to continue their studies because pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree does not require staying at school all the time. Master’s programs require research time. With family permission, more women will earn master’s and doctoral degrees. Therefore, such conditions must be provided for them to receive training, to elevate women’s roles in politics and all fields, including modern technology. Now, I am also proud to see women training as pilots flying airplanes. Let our country have all those resources.
Besides this, there are other issues I should speak about publicly. We should also look at the issue of social morality. I want to speak very frankly – regarding disputes between husbands and wives leading to divorce, or the breakup of lovers, why is it necessary to air their dirty laundry on social media? Previously, I spoke about this once using a microphone. Now I want to speak about it once again. Although I am no longer Prime Minister, I still hold a role in society. I appeal to all women and men – if you break up, can you please not wash your dirty linen in public on social media? Keep that dignity for your children and grandchildren. If we air everything, how will these children suffer in the future?
What happens in our homes regarding our love should not be exposed on social media. If we have no shame for ourselves, we should feel shame for our children. I appeal to all women and men – if there is a broken relationship or divorce for any reason, do not display it on social media. Nowadays, within just 1 or 2 minutes, or 1 or 2 hours, crowds of people come to watch. I must state once more – marital disputes should be kept private so you can still respect each other in the future. At the very least, preserve dignity for your children. If you do not care about your own dignity, you must think of your children’s dignity. I feel compelled to talk about this and appeal to men and women nationwide.
I never listen to ABC [radio], but sometimes I see clips pop up on TikTok and elsewhere. There are phone conversations [on ABC radio] where husbands and wives talk back and forth, accusing each other. All sorts of stories are made into issues. It shouldn’t be like that. I also appeal to the radio station, ABC Radio, and especially the female host – please do not ask questions too aggressively. When such issues happen, you should say that it is inappropriate to air husbands’ and wives’ private matters on the radio. That is a message to ABC Radio, and especially to that female host who is skilled at questioning women and interacting with them throughout the broadcast.
I only watch on TikTok because I do not have time to listen. Sometimes I take a moment to look at TikTok, and as I scroll, I see people exposing each other. It has reached that level — stripping each other’s reputations bare from way back when. Sometimes they strip away reputations down to parents-in-law, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law, creating endless drama. This should not be allowed to continue. We have the Cambodian National Council for Women, and we have the Committee for the Promotion of Social Morality, Women’s Value, and Khmer Family. That committee and council should work on this. My wife used to serve as Honorary President; now let the First Lady serve as Honorary President and take up this work.
The media outlets love this, especially ABC radio. We are not shutting down the program; we are just saying, “please do not air dirty laundry on the radio”. Yet we act like we are rushing to grab that news to broadcast it. That is what I say to the ABC Radio and the host of the ABC program, so that if our skirt is slightly torn, should we patch it together or rip it further? But it starts with the individuals themselves — between husbands and wives or lovers. If you break up, part ways quietly and keep mutual respect. If you cannot respect each other, keep it quiet. At the very least, leave some dignity for your children.
That is the first point I wanted to state clearly into the microphone and have broadcast on television. I still have the right to speak on television. No one can strip me of that right because constitutionally, even though I do not hold executive power like the Royal Government, I still have the right to speak on social issues. Morality seems to have dropped regarding this matter. Sometimes lovers break up before they even have a husband. That is why some people say they would rather marry a widow than a maiden, because you never know if she is really a maiden. They call them “Miss,” but are they really Misses? It is wrong to air these things on social media. If you break up, part ways quietly.
The second issue I want to address is some past insults. Last night, I pointed out and ordered the apprehension of a woman who insulted ministers and government institutions. I had the police summon her. Anyone has the right to act because this is not a private dispute, it affects social morality. I had both the husband and wife called to the police station to make an apology, and then let them go. I request that from now on, the Cambodian National Council for Women, and especially the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, act as plaintiffs whenever social morality is violated.
Even if the insult is directed at an individual, such behavior cannot be tolerated. Why don’t they take action? The language used is so foul that I had to point it out. Phone calls were made, but she wouldn’t pick up. They called her children and then instructed the police commissioner to summon her to make a report. I am not issuing an administrative order, but [relevant institutions] must seek guidance from the Prime Minister and heads of institutions. They have the right to act and have the police invite them in to make a report or call them to the institution. If they don’t answer calls, have the police track them down.
How low has social morality fallen when people resort to insults — insulting even a Secretary of State at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs? They insult whoever they want on Facebook and post it on TikTok and everywhere else, and people share it. Can we accept this? We struggle so hard to promote women and social morality, yet a couple of individuals do this. Did anyone hear about a woman insulting the military? She had been taken for a height measurement (detained/punished). No, this cannot be permitted. If they haven’t been taken for a height measurement yet, they must be — just over a phone, she insulted a soldier. I heard they were taken for a height measurement. We cannot remain indifferent. Let alone being a soldier, even a construction worker should not be insulted this way. It is unacceptable, especially when she is a woman.
From today onward … I ask the Ministry of Information to monitor things closely. I must say, sometimes we are far too lenient. When it comes to Facebook’s code of conduct, TikTok’s code of conduct, and AI’s code of conduct, they are much stricter than we are. Why can’t a state institution do this? Do people say we are blocking rights? If you want to complain about blocked rights, go blame Facebook, TikTok, and AI. AI is extremely strict. There is a photo I searched for from a visit to Japan in 2007. Back then, my hair was gray — not white like it is now, because my wife didn’t want me to dye it. I simply asked AI to change the hair of this man in the photo from gray to black. It replied that AI policy does not allow it. See that? In case it impersonates people.
I asked AI to create an image of my wife and me, asking it to make me look like a monk and have my wife come to pay respects to the monk, just to see if AI would catch it. It immediately issued a warning – Cambodian morality prohibits men and women from holding hands or touching. They have their policies. If you post it carelessly, Facebook warns you, and eventually blocks you. TikTok does the same, issuing warning messages. Why can’t we do this? The Ministry of Women’s Affairs should take the lead on this and file lawsuits. If the courts fail to act on this […] I believe the courts do act […] I call on the courts to handle all case files concerning individuals who violate social morality and destroy our dignity and social morality.
These platforms all have their principles. I won’t say much, but look at AI, Facebook, and TikTok — they all have rules. TikTok won’t even allow you to post anything with blood. AI is crystal clear – it wouldn’t even change my hair from gray to black. Yet here, incidents go on for days without any action. If orders aren’t issued […] But no matter what, I still have the right to give an opinion in case the Prime Minister or ministers don’t see it. However, when I see such things, I cannot accept it. I told the police commissioner to summon her. She spent last night locked up because she was summoned late, and why? Because it was a flagrant offense. She can be called at any time. Where was the flagrant offense? Right on her own Facebook page — insulting people there. At that time, I sent it to General Choun Narin […] It was too outrageous to accept.
Now, where have all the national institutions gone? Where are the provincial governors? People talk about provincial governors, but this issue should be overseen by multiple institutions. It goes beyond the code of conduct. Therefore, the Ministry of Interior can handle it, and judicial police can handle it — bring them in for an immediate height measurement. Don’t call it dictatorship. If you want to talk about dictatorship, go tell Facebook, TikTok, and AI because they have their rules. Why don’t we do it? Don’t say I speak more fiercely than the Prime Minister. I don’t know how to speak in circles – the Prime Minister can speak strongly while keeping a smile on his face.
As for my words, even though I am no longer in a position to give direct orders, I still speak strongly because this cannot be allowed to continue. From now on, please monitor this closely. There should be a group tracking all these cases. People insulting each other on Facebook, or online sellers attacking one another — let’s put a stop to it. Discuss this with the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of Culture to set up a mechanism to track these cases to protect dignity and promote women’s morality and Khmer women’s values.
This ruins the youth. That’s how severe it is. This is already a leniency; otherwise, they would be in prison. Now it is treated as a first offense with just a signed contract. If it happens again, legal action will be taken. Even though it is a civil matter, it is far too severe. I emphasize – monitor every aspect. We speak out and work hard, but in the end, 3, 4, or 5 people ruin the work. I have said before that I dare to eliminate a few people who destroy things in order to protect millions. “Eliminate” doesn’t mean killing, but rather taking legal action against a few individuals to protect millions. Now, do we dare to do this regarding the issue mentioned earlier? Perhaps some of you haven’t been following, so you don’t know how much they insult others. They might say the insults happen abroad, about which we can’t do anything — this happened in Phnom Penh. Call them in for a height measurement. Society abhors this.
People might say, “Hun Sen is just coming out to shut down people’s rights”. Look! This is not shutting down rights; it is protecting national dignity. Khmers are not like that. Such foul abuse is not Khmer. To put it another way, it is barbaric. How can someone have the nerve to utter such filth with her husband standing right beside her? I did not bother to tell Choun Narin that the husband should be invited to come along and apologize too. The wife talks while her husband stands nearby adding fuel to the fire. Can society accept this? If society cannot accept it, why the administration doesn’t take actions? I don’t need to ask the Prime Minister as he may have no time to watch. So, let’s deal with it directly, because anyone has the right to act as a plaintiff since it concerns the country. Do not do this in the future.
Regarding the arrangement of women’s representation, I congratulate the Royal Government for continuously increasing the number of women. According to the report, female civil servants have increased steadily. As of 2025, the percentage of female civil servants stands at 42%. This is an encouraging figure. During my tenure, I established direct quotas at the national level requiring at least one female Secretary of State and at least one female Undersecretary of State, continuing down through the ranks. At the sub-national administration level — provincial and district — quotas were set for women, requiring at least one female deputy governor.
However, commune levels do not have this yet. Over the past period, I have visited 23 out of 25 provinces, though tours are currently paused due to the rain. Across those 23 provinces, I observed that our women are not yet well represented at the commune level. Therefore, in transmitting the Cambodian People’s Party’s instructions to grassroots committees for the preparation of commune-sangkat elections, the code of conduct for candidate selection also specifies the inclusion of women. I provided specific instructions. When asked, some provinces said they had plenty of female candidates on the voter lists, but placed them in unelectable ranks. Now, the general principle is to ensure that in every commune, at least one woman is elected.
His Excellency Thon Vaddhana, Second Vice President of the Senate, suggested enacting a law for political parties to follow. I said there is no need for a law; it depends on each party to decide for itself. Let me reminisce a bit about some other parties. Do you remember? Son Sann’s Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party boasted about women, but when establishing the Secretariat for Women’s Affairs, they sent His Excellency Keat Sokun to serve as Secretary of State. When attending a meeting in Beijing, Madame Keat Sokun was invited to give a speech, but out walked Monsieur Keat Sokun? What do you make of that? Political parties should not just talk. What we have done is still not enough. Merely having names on voter lists is useless. As President of the People’s Party, I have mandated that women be placed in winnable candidate ranks.
In contrast, a commune in Kampong Speu province has 4 women out of 7 council members — 3 from the Cambodian People’s Party and 1 from the Candlelight Party, making 4. Thus, some communes, districts, and provinces pay close attention. Now, how do we realize the “at least one woman elected” rule? If the rule is “at least one,” but there are 9 seats and 7 are women, men become the minority. Therefore, this work must be organized to carefully select female candidates when drawing up candidate lists. Those women should receive training and be capable of serving the people. I believe that in every commune, there is no shortage of at least one capable woman to represent the commune-Sangkat council in future elections […]
Generally speaking, our basic request right now is to ensure that every commune has women. Some places have many, but some communes have none at all. Therefore, we want to deploy female representation across all communes, just as we did at provincial and district levels. In the future, provincial and district councils must have elected women, because administratively there are already female deputy district and provincial governors, but female representation on district and commune-Sangkat councils is still incomplete. Therefore, we must strive to accomplish this.
Moreover, I encourage women to compete for the position of commune clerk. When I went to Kampong Speu, I was proud to see many women holding positions as commune clerks. When I asked those female commune clerks about their education level, they held bachelor’s and master’s degrees, having passed the civil service exam for commune clerks. Therefore, we should set a goal to achieve 50% female commune clerks by 2030. We should set that plan. 2030 is just around the corner though. When commune clerks retire, new ones must be recruited through examinations. Thus, we encourage our women to become commune clerks because they are employees of the Ministry of Interior, and they must receive training. Ideally, if they belong to a certain commune, they should take the exam for that commune to make work easier, as they are local administrative officials […] Do we have figures for commune clerks (none)?
In the future, encourage women to sit for the commune clerk exams. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs or the Cambodian National Council for Women should set a national plan targeting 2040, 2045, or 2050 to achieve the goal of having women fill commune clerk positions — but do not artificially boost scores. Giving a 15% to 20% boost is not enough; we want commune clerk posts to expand women’s numbers based purely on merit without score boosting. Otherwise, it would be unfair to men, and we would have to create a National Council for the Protection of Men too. If scores are boosted for women, a National Council to Protect Men would have to be created.
I think this is achievable. Nowadays, students studying in remote areas also have the capability to pass exams for commune positions when clerks retire. Retirements happen regularly, and those vacancies are filled through exams where we encourage women, but the principle of no score boosting must hold. Score boosting used to happen in the northeastern provinces — Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, and Koh Kong (in the south-west). Those five provinces used to have score boosting, especially for medical school entrance exams. But back then we were wrong. Score boosting was meant to help ethnic minority youths come study in Phnom Penh, but those who passed turned out to be children of Phnom Penh residents who got provincial governors to sign off. I was fooled once. During the People’s Republic of Kampuchea era, I was tricked because when I started as Prime Minister, I began looking at human resources.
At that time, I brought over 100 teachers from Takeo and sent them to Ratanakiri. In the end, only 6 remained; the rest all returned because living conditions were difficult, with no roads or anything — not like today. Now, driving is easy. I just went there recently; I left Mondulkiri at 4 am and arrived in Ratanakiri straight for a meeting, traveling through the night. In the past, bullets were flying and there were no roads. Today, human resource training there is no worse than in Phnom Penh as long as people study hard. I ask that this goal be set to encourage women to apply for commune clerk exams when vacancies open up due to retirement. This is part of increasing women’s numbers in all roles — formal and informal economic frameworks, families, state institutions. I have even brought women into the Senate and encouraged them to work abroad. Senate staff members have even gone to work at the ILO in Geneva.
After finishing their studies here, they join the Senate staff. After finishing bachelor’s degrees in Korea, they go to represent the WTO in Geneva and continue their studies there. When they finish studying, because we lack language-proficient personnel, so we bring them in. However, when the ILO needs people and they work hard, we end up with one Cambodian working there permanently. I want the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to increase the number of female ambassadors. How many female ambassadors do we currently have? (7 out of 30). This is a process to further promote women’s roles. Remember! I always say, “Investing in women is helping oneself”. Men, please remember this clearly.
(Female commune clerks number 315, equal to 19.7% of the nationwide total). So let’s set out a plan. The Ministry of Interior itself can assist the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in setting a target for 2030 — which might be too soon — or extend it to 2040 or 2050 to achieve the goal of having 50% or more than 50% of commune clerks be women. These are Ministry of Interior officials, and the sustainability of each commune does not depend on commune-Sangkat councils that change every 5 years. Commune clerks are administrative officers managing the locality. Let me reiterate – investing in women is investing in oneself and in society. Helping women is helping oneself. For example, helping your wife become educated — isn’t that convenient for you? Because once she is educated, she can even help you.
Helping our children get an education — isn’t that beneficial to us? Helping our grandchildren get educated — isn’t that convenient for us? Helping women is helping oneself. All men, please remember my words. If you see your wife lacking something or wanting to study something, you should encourage her to take up study. If you leave her uneducated, life remains difficult for you, but when she is educated, she helps you back. Why would you need to help her with everything else?
That is the point I want to request. Today, I will speak to the public just this much, so let us conclude. Please broadcast up to the point where I said to broadcast. This is the message I want to follow up on briefly. The most important message is aimed at the decline in morality, insulting each other on Facebook and on ABC radio program. That issue must be dealt with […]./.