Pun Chhorvy: A leader through persistence

Date: Thursday, 16 July 2026

A woman stands in a field of tall, dry grass, looking to the side. She wears a light pink shirt and holds some grass in her hand. Green trees are in the background.

Pun Chhorvy is a widely respected leader in her remote community in Mondulkiri Province. Photo: UN Women/Lim Sophorn

Pun Chhorvy still remembers the first time she asked to go to school. In her remote Indigenous Bunong community in Mondulkiri Province in north-eastern Cambodia, there was no classroom nearby and no road that made learning easy.

“I saw others reading and I wanted to know; I wanted to learn too.”

She was 16 when she finally began grade 1. It was unusual to see a young woman sitting among small children.

“I wasn’t ashamed,” she recalls. “I was small in body, but old in age. So, I persevered and tried hard.”

When girls grow up without roads, schools or services, their ambition meets barriers at every step. Each morning, she walked long distances, crossing water and rough paths, facing questions from others about why she tried so hard. Her father’s answer stayed with her. If she loved learning, she should continue.

Her family had very little. Her father was ageing, and her mother had been blind since Chhorvy was born. After years of trying to keep pace with younger classmates, she left school in grade 5.

“The family livelihood was difficult,” she explains.

A person walks carefully across a fallen tree over a dry, rocky stream in a rural area, with surrounding vegetation showing signs of heat and limited water flow.

Pun Chhorvy works in one of the most remote parts of Cambodia, reaching out directly to communities to discuss women’s rights, maternal health and gender-based violence. Photo: UN Women/Lim Sophorn

But leaving school did not mark the end of her education. It simply shifted it beyond the classroom walls. Chhorvy began serving as a village health volunteer, recognizing that some long-held practices could delay access to life-saving care, particularly during childbirth. She worked to connect community traditions with safe, modern medical support.

“In the past, women giving birth did not go to find a doctor. They found a traditional midwife,” she explains.

In some households, strict norms limited what a woman could do after delivery. Chhorvy remembers speaking firmly to community elders when a woman was in danger who needed urgent transport to a health centre.

“If we leave her, she will die. [After she was transported for care,] nothing bad happened. The medics could help.”

Pun Chhorvy | Cambodian Gender Champions Changing Public Life

That work deepened her standing in the community and opened another path. Chhorvy began to set her sights on working in local government. She started with small tasks at the district hall, cleaning, boiling water and learning by observing. When women were later encouraged to take on local government roles, she hesitated. The recruitment process involved computers, something she had never used.

“How do I take the exam when I don’t even know how to use a computer?” she asked. Again, her father encouraged her, saying: “My child, be persistent and do it. In our whole village, there is no one else doing it.”

Over time, she moved into community-facing roles supporting women and children, then became a civil servant. When asked to step into leadership, she doubted herself, but others insisted she was ready.

“They kept saying, ‘Sister, do it,’” she recalls.

Inside a modest rural home, a woman holding her baby sits on a mat and speaks with a caregiver. Their conversation reflects ongoing support for maternal and child health, highlighting the importance of community-based care, guidance, and safe spaces for women and families.

Pun Chhorvy has worked tirelessly to improve maternal health in Indigenous communities, where distance from health centres and traditional birth practices can place women at greater risk. Photo: UN Women/Lim Sophorn

Today, Chhorvy serves as Chief of the Office of Social Affairs and Social Welfare for Pech Chreada District, Mondulkiri Province. She moved from sweeping the halls to helping shape the policies within them.

For Chhorvy, leadership is not about title. It is about ensuring women in her community can learn, earn and live free from violence. In her role, she speaks out against domestic violence and the belief that it can be settled informally.

“I based my work on the law,” she says. “If a man beats once, he can beat forever if there is no real consequence.”

She also advocates for women’s economic independence: “We can strive for ourselves. We should not rely only on a husband to feed us.”

In an open community space, a woman in uniform stands with confidence, representing public service at the local level. Her presence highlights the role of women in leadership and community engagement, contributing to safety, trust, and inclusive governance.

Today, Pun Chhorvy serves as Chief of the Office of Social Affairs and Social Welfare for Pech Chreada District, Mondulkiri Province. Photo: UN Woomen/Lim Sophorn

Now a respected Indigenous leader, Chhorvy’s story is shared by parents across the province to inspire their daughters.

“Now they use my story to teach their own children,” she says. “I’m the person who persevered.”

Accelerating the achievement of women's full and equal decision-making power in private and public domains, and at all levels of government, is a priority action area of the Beijing+30 Action Agenda. This Gender Champions series is part of the UN Women project Beijing+30 Activation: Strengthening Women's Leadership to Accelerate Progress on Women's Rights in South and South-East Asia supported by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.