Outcome KHM_D_1.3

By 2028, people in Cambodia, especially those at risk of being left behind, benefit from and contribute to a productive, diversified, gender equal, formalized and low carbon and climate adapted economy (UNSDCF Outcome 2, SP Outcome 1 & SP Outcome 2)

Inclusive participation in private sector innovation was strengthened under the Gender Action Lab (GAL) and the first cohort of the Women’s Empowerment Principles Corporate Action Lab ( WEPsCAL ), contributing to more equitable access to economic participation and reinforcing the contribution of diverse actors to Cambodia’s economic development. In line with the Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principle, the cohort included a women-led social enterprise run by women with disabilities, ensuring that women with disabilities were actively represented in leadership, innovation, and solution-design processes within the private sector ecosystem. Beyond this specific example, GAL fostered a more inclusive innovation environment by engaging di Beyond this specific example, GAL fostered an inclusive innovation environment by engaging diverse private sector actors, including women and men, people of diverse gender identities, persons with disabilities, women-owned businesses, enterprises operating at provincial and national levels, and companies of different sizes and ownership models. This broadened participation base strengthens institutional commitment to gender-responsive business practices and supports more inclusive economic growth. Overall, GAL contributes to this outcome by enabling inclusive participation in private sector-led solutions, supporting organisations to adopt gender-responsive practices, and ensuring that people at risk of being left behind are meaningfully engaged in efforts to build a more productive, diversified, and gender-equal economy. Through the WRT 2.0 project, stakeholder awareness, policy coherence, and ecosystem readiness for Gender Responsive Procurement (GRP) and inclusive market practices were measurably strengthened. Engagements at regional, national, and private-sector levels resulted in increased cross-sector understanding of GRP principles and clearer alignment between policy objectives and market realities. More than 100 stakeholders—including line ministries, regulators, state-owned enterprises, private companies, business chambers, enterprise support organizations, and women entrepreneurs—were actively engaged, contributing to a more coordinated and inclusive procurement ecosystem. Women-Owned Businesses (WOBs) and Gender Responsive Enterprises (GREs) gained greater visibility and voice in policy and market discussions, ensuring that women entrepreneurs’ perspectives informed emerging reforms and institutional practices. As a result, dialogue between WOBs/GREs and public- and private-sector buyers improved, leading to stronger mutual understanding of procurement requirements, buyer expectations, and supplier capabilities. These exchanges reduced information asymmetries and strengthened trust between buyers and women-led suppliers. At the national level, government counterparts increasingly recognized public procurement as a strategic instrument for advancing inclusive economic growth and gender equality. This shift contributed to stronger commitment to embedding GRP principles within policy frameworks and procurement systems. In parallel, private-sector actors and enterprise support organizations reached greater consensus on key capacity gaps and readiness constraints affecting WOBs and GREs, laying the groundwork for more targeted and effective support mechanisms. Collectively, these outcomes strengthened cross-sector commitment to inclusive procurement and improved institutional readiness to operationalize GRP. The project has established a more enabling environment for subsequent technical assistance, capacity development, and market linkage interventions under WRT 2.0, positioning WOBs and GREs to more effectively access procurement opportunities and participate in inclusive markets in subsequent phases of implementation.