ASIA

Nanda Pok

Returns to Cambodia to Empower Women

“We are educating women ahead of the election so they will be aware of important issues that empower women…”

Nanda Pok’s family fled to France and then to the United States in 1975, when she was 14 years old, just before Pol Pot took control of Cambodia. In the 1980s, Pok’s mother began a refugee resettlement program in Houston, Texas. Following her mother’s example, Pok returned to Cambodia in 1992 in order to be part of the reconstruction and development of her homeland.

She is the founder and executive director of Women for Prosperity, an organization that promotes women’s political participation in Cambodia. She has trained more than 5,500 women to run for political office; in February 2002, two-thirds of the nearly 1,000 women elected were trained by her organization.

Pok acted as an official monitor during the general election in 1998 and chaired the Coordinating Committee for the Commune Council Election, which provided voter education to the public and trained and placed observers at every polling station during the 2002 election.

Pok has also taken a courageous stance against the trafficking of women and girls in Asia, and is working to ensure that her own government and the international community take action.