For Ou Sokphanna, who lost her leg to a landmine explosion when she was young, opportunities for income generation have always been limited, with widespread discrimination preventing her from entering into wage employment. Despite this, Sokphanna is the primary breadwinner for her family, shouldering the responsibility for supporting her three children and her husband, who also lives with a disability. Having lost both her parents from a young age, Sokphanna is no stranger to self-reliance, and has demonstrated a high level of resilience in the face of adversity. 

Today, from her home in a small village located an hour outside of Siem Reap City in Cambodia, Sokphanna plys her trade in wood carving. “Starting my own business was a good option. I no longer face discrimination, I’m able to support my family and I’ve grown in confidence,” she explained.

Previously, Sokphanna and her family lived in the city, where the mother of three worked selling noodles. However, ongoing discrimination and financial constraints pushed the family to make a new life for themselves in a small nearby village. Seeing increased opportunities for income generation in the handicraft trade, Sokphanna developed her skills in carving with support from her husband, and took her products to the local market, where they sold well. Sokphanna’s home is a hive of industry, with blocks of wood piled high, and a wide array of intricately carved statuettes displayed with pride.

Despite her resilience and determination, the enterprising entrepreneur still faces numerous challenges. In particular, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the business hard, leading Sokphanna to take out a loan with high interest rates to make ends meet. Consequently, the burden of indebtedness adds an additional layer of complexity to her already challenging circumstances. 

To support Sokphanna to manage the debt and expand her business, local NGO, Vulnerability and Illiteracy Reduction (VIR), stepped in. In partnership with ESCAP’s Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship programme, VIR has provided support to 60 indebted women entrepreneurs in the community, including Sokphanna, through the provision of business development and financial literacy training, and seed funding for their businesses.

Through the project, Sokphanna has gained knowledge of saving, budgeting and market techniques, has put the grant to use to invest in more tools and raw materials to grow her business. As a result, she has expanded her customer base to new markets, and now feels more empowered to manage her expenditures.

Looking to the future with a renewed sense of hope, Sokphanna has aspirations to develop her business model and diversify her income, with plans to start producing chopsticks and develop a mobile vending business to supplement her income. Sokphanna also plans to team up with the other women entrepreneurs in the community who were supported by the project and start a local savings group, pooling their newfound knowledge and resources from the project. 

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Since 2018, the Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship programme implemented by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) with funding from Global Affairs Canada has mobilized over US$90 million in capital for women-owned and led businesses, and directly supported over 178,000 women entrepreneurs such as Sokphanna through access to finance and enhanced skills to grow their businesses.