EuroCham
For this week’s interview, we spoke with Shouly Chann, Program Analyst at UN Women Cambodia’s Gender Action Lab about the launch of Cambodia’s first national Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards.
In the conversation, Shouly discusses how the awards recognise businesses taking measurable action on gender equality, the growing connection between inclusion and long-term business performance, and why Cambodia’s private sector has an opportunity to join a wider regional movement around responsible and inclusive business practices.
This year marks the first time that the National WEPs awards will be held in Cambodia. For those who may be unfamiliar with them, what are the WEPs Awards, and why are they such an important platform for recognising progress on gender equality in the private sector?
Shouly: The WEPs Awards are the only regional platform in Asia-Pacific that recognises businesses, of any size and from any sector, for taking real action on gender equality across the value chain. Not for having good intentions. Not for a policy that has been written but not fully implemented but for concrete actions that a company has taken, who it has impacted, and what results it can show.
This year, Cambodia hosts its own national ceremony for the first time, joining China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. That means Cambodian businesses will be recognised on home ground in October, with the winners also considered for the Asia-Pacific Regional Awards Ceremony in December. Since 2020, the Awards have received more than 2,000 applications from over 1,500 companies and have recognised more than 300 leaders and companies for their impact across the region.
The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) that underpin the Awards are seven principles developed by the UN Women in collaboration with UN Global Compact and together with private sector actors, that give businesses a practical framework to advance gender equality across their workplace, marketplace, and community, regardless of size, sector, or geography. The Awards are how UN Women recognises the companies that are putting those principles into practice.
The Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards are organised as part of the UN Women Gender Action Lab (GAL): Innovation and Impact for Gender Equality in Asia-Pacific, supported by the Government of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The WE RISE Together (WRT) program, funded by the Mekong-Australia Partnership (MAP), promotes women’s economic empowerment through inclusive procurement in the Mekong subregion. As part of this mission, WRT proudly champions the Inclusive Procurement category at the WEPs Awards.
Along with spotlighting leadership, innovation, and accountability in gender equality in the private sector, this edition will explore timely themes, including tech and AI. What are the other award categories and why were they chosen?
Shouly: The six categories were designed so that any business can find where its work fits. You do not need to be doing everything. You need to be doing something meaningful in at least one area. Companies can apply for up to two categories.
Leadership Commitment is for individual leaders at any level, not just the CEO, who have driven real gender equality commitments inside their company and made them stick. It is the only category awarded to a person rather than an organisation.
Gender-Inclusive Workplace is for companies that have taken concrete steps inside their own organisation. This can be equal pay, fair recruitment, flexible work arrangements, safety policies, and creating clear pathways for women to move into management and leadership.
Gender-Responsive Marketplace goes beyond internal HR. It is for businesses that have embedded a gender lens into how they work with suppliers, how they design products and services, and how they market to their customers.
Inclusive Procurement recognises corporates and SMEs that champion gender equality through inclusive procurement practices, from setting spend targets for women-owned businesses to supporting women entrepreneurs in accessing corporate contracts and empowering diverse suppliers including businesses led by women with disabilities, ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ people and rural women.
Community Engagement and Partnerships is for companies advancing gender equality through CSR, community programs, or multi-stakeholder partnerships and advocacy beyond their own business operations.
Tech and AI for Gender Equality is a new category in 2026, for organisations using technology or AI to expand opportunities and remove barriers for women and underrepresented groups across the workplace, marketplace, or community. We added it because digital transformation is reshaping how business works, and it matters who gets included in that shift and who gets left behind.
For companies not sure which category is most suitable, review where your results are strongest. You can also reach out to the UNW Cambodia team to discuss which award category you should apply to.
There are also three SME Champions awards specifically for businesses with fewer than 200 employees, so smaller companies are not competing on the same footing as large corporates. Additional Special Mentions are awarded for Youth Leadership (leaders under 35), Transparency and Reporting, and Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion.
Many businesses may still see gender equality initiatives as purely social or CSR-driven. How are the WEPs Awards helping shift the conversation toward business performance, leadership, and long-term competitiveness?
Shouly: I’d invite any business leader to go through the application; it’s hard to come away thinking this is just a CSR exercise.
The application asks you to name a specific initiative, describe what you did, who it reached, and what changed as a result. You do not need a polished impact report, but you do need to showcase something real. That level of specificity pushes leadership to treat gender equality as a performance area with actual indicators, not a background initiative that no one measures.
For companies that win, the recognition carries direct business value. Winners are featured through UN Women and WEPs communication channels globally, receive a dedicated awardee profile on UN Women media channels and the official WEPs website, and are guaranteed recognition at the 2027 Asia-Pacific WEPs Forum. At a time when investors, procurement partners, and talent are paying closer attention to ESG performance, having that track record publicly documented is a real asset.
Every applicant, whether they win or not, also gains access to the WEPs Community of Practice, free online training, self-diagnostic tools, and guidance on building a gender action plan. The value starts the moment you apply.
We regularly hear from companies who say they did not think they were ready. A startup that improved its gender ratio through fairer hiring. A factory that introduced flexible working and tracked retention. A bank that started sourcing from women-owned suppliers. Those are all exactly what this award is designed to recognise.
Cambodia’s private sector is evolving rapidly, with more companies engaging on ESG, inclusion, and responsible business practices. How do initiatives like the WEPs Awards encourage Cambodian businesses to become part of that wider regional conversation?
Shouly: Many Cambodian businesses are already doing work that qualifies for this award. They just have not had a formal platform to document it, verify it, and put it in front of a regional audience. That is exactly what the WEPs Awards now provide.
A company in Cambodia working on fair hiring, inclusive supply chains, or gender-responsive community programs can have that work assessed and recognised at the national ceremony, then considered for the Asia-Pacific Regional Awards Ceremony in December. Your work gets assessed by an expert jury panel drawn from across the business ecosystem and recognised at a regional stage where the audience includes industry peers, investors, and procurement decision-makers from across Asia-Pacific. That is a room worth being in.
The entry bar is lower than most companies expect. Any for-profit entity registered or operating in Cambodia can apply, from a sole entrepreneur to a large state-owned enterprise or multinational. There is no application fee. The application is available in Khmer. You do not need to be a WEPs signatory to apply. And if your company participated in a previous Awards cycle, you are welcome to apply again in 2026 with a different or meaningfully expanded initiative.
When Cambodian companies document and share what is working, it raises the standard for the whole market. Peers take notice and partners expect more. That is how Cambodia’s private sector builds a track record that is visible and credible to regional investors and partners.
Looking ahead, what would success look like for this year’s WEPs Awards, and what message would you like to share with businesses that may be considering applying or attending the event?
Shouly: Success means broad participation from Cambodian businesses. Not just companies with established gender equality records, but also those doing meaningful work quietly who wonder if it is good enough to submit. It almost always is. Every good action deserves to be seen.
This is Cambodia’s first national WEPs Awards ceremony. The companies that apply this year are setting the benchmark for what private sector leadership on gender equality looks like in this country. That is worth being part of.
To any business on the fence, my message is this: do not wait until your gender equality work is perfect. The Awards recognise real action with real results, not a perfect program.
The application is simple and can be completed in stages. Three sections: company information, multiple choices on your policies, and a short description of your initiative.
- Visit the official site for the Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards to apply and for the Guidance Download
- Download the guidance, gather your materials, and you can save and return at any time.
- Watch the recording of our Cambodia information session on YouTube for a full walkthrough of the process.
For any questions, reach our team at wee.asiapacific@unwomen.org.
