The Australia-Cambodia Cooperation for Equitable Sustainable Services (ACCESS) program is a three-year (2018-2021) Australian Government initiative. Over three years, Australia will commit AUD 15 million through ACCESS to improve the sustainability, quality and inclusiveness of services for persons with disabilities and for women affected by gender-based violence (GBV).
ACCESS reflects Australia’s strong commitment to supporting human rights, gender equality and disability-inclusive development in our region.
ACCESS builds on the achievements and lessons from more than a decade of collaboration between the Government of Australia, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and local partners on services and reforms to benefit Cambodians with disabilities or affected by gender-based violence, for example:
- delivering shelter, counselling, legal aid, health and peer support services to 12,907 women and their families affected by violence between 2012 and 2017.
- supporting the RGC to develop the Physical Rehabilitation Transition Plan (2018-2022), the Rehabilitation Sector Strategic Plan (2018-2022) and supporting delivery of community-based rehabilitation services to 10,489 persons with disabilities between 2013 and 2018.
ACCESS recognises Cambodia’s transition to (lower) middle-income status and increasing access to public and private sector funding. ACCESS works with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA), Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSVY), the Disability Action Council (DAC) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to plan and use resources more effectively for GBV and disability-related services. This includes more efficient use of existing resources through improvements in coordination, oversight, planning and reporting, in line with National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women (NAPVAW) and National Disability Strategic Plan (NDSP) priorities.
For more information, please visit: https://accesscambodia.org/access-program/
