From 8–11 December, under the SCOPE-PFM project funded by the EU, Oxfam in Cambodia and its partners organized a training on the Fair Tax Monitor (FTM) for 31 participants including 14 women.

Those present were from NGOs who are representing the Budget Working Group, Access to Information Working Group, Social Protection for All coalition, Anti-Corruption Working Group, and Social Accountability Working Group. This initiative marks an important step toward advancing fiscal justice and fair taxation in Cambodia and Make Tax Fair was very happy to be there and play a role in this important moment.

Image of participants at the Fair Tax Monitor training organised by Oxfam Cambodia, December 2025

The Budget Working Group is a national coalition that work together to ensure a collective approach towards budget transparency and accountability in Cambodia. It advocates for access to budget information and democratic participation in the budget process. It also exchanges budget related information and analyses and discusses critical issues related to the national budget.

In 2026 the BWG and those groups who attended the training will play a central role in carrying out a Fair Tax Monitor assessment in Cambodia and so it is with great pleasure that Make Tax Fair was there to help build the technical capacity of BWG members and other partners to implement the FTM methodology and use its findings for evidence-based advocacy.

More specifically the training introduced the Cambodian tax system, the FTM framework, methodology, and indicators. It helped build participants’ capacity to assess Cambodia’s national fiscal system through a fairness perspective, identify the connections between fiscal policy and gender inequalities, conduct FTM research and data collection and contextualize the FTM to Cambodia’s tax and public finance system. The training also aimed to develop a shared understanding of the roles and responsibilities of BWG members and partners in the FTM process and plan the next steps for the FTM implementation in Cambodia, including campaigning.

At the end of the training, participants were equipped to understand the six FTM pillars and their relevance to Cambodia and were furnished with tools and techniques for data collection and analysis. Among those participating in the training, apart form the afore-mentioned NGO representatives, were also Cambodian tax experts (as resource persons), researchers, policy officers, and advocacy leads.

Updates on the progress of the Cambodia Fair Tax report and its publication later in 2026 will be shared on our website.