Bo Sophea leads a community fishery youth group in the riverside village of Sandan in northeastern Cambodia, where hydropower dams upstream and widespread illegal fishing are affecting the fish catch.
“I want to mobilize other youth to raise awareness about illegal fishing,” she says. “We spread information and encourage people to report any illegal fishing on the river.”
People in this area, known as Sambo District, learned about a proposed hydropower dam that would stretch across the Mekong River to Rogniev Island, forcing villages like Sandan to relocate and potentially altering the river’s flow. The dam could also affect the fish population, including rare Irrawaddy dolphins.
Sophea say training with Oxfam partner Northeast Rural on gender, youth leadership, and other skills is helping her lead. “I recently conducted a training on community rights to free prior and informed consent,” she says, adding that she hopes this knowledge will help her community assert its right to information about the dam.
Bo Sophea is one of the women Oxfam works with who are leading the charge for equal rights and representation around the globe.
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