Can Structured Planning Frameworks Fulfill the Needs of Cambodia's Rural Poor?

摘要

Walking several kilometers every day to fetch clean drinking water is not a common experience to most policymakers. For many Cambodian women, however, this is a daily reality. This time-consuming activity places a high extra burden on these women's already heavy workload and often hampers their development as well as that of their families. The Cambodian government, supported by national and international organizations, has made efforts to alleviate the workload of these women by developing more water wells and creating a better maintenance of the existing ones. Cambodian government officials are usually not familiar with the situations in Cambodia's rural areas; therefore the decisions they make do not always meet the real needs of the Cambodian poor (Ramaekers, 2004).