This presentation highlights how gender-responsive micro-insurance systems, such as Community Revolving Funds (CRFs), can effectively build climate resilience in Cambodian communities. The approach prioritises community ownership, management, and leadership, with a strong focus on integrating women into decision-making processes and economic activities. By aligning with government policy and conducting sex-disaggregated needs assessments, the initiative ensures inclusive participation and sustainable impact. Through Save the Earth Cambodia’s Resilience Framework, resilience is viewed as a long-term process that begins after the project phase ends, transitioning through stages of formation, visibility, and community ownership.

Key lessons reveal that gender mainstreaming is critical to project sustainability—initiatives that deliberately included women in planning and accountability showed long-term success, while those that did not saw resources mismanaged after the project ended. The micro-insurance fund grew significantly over time, showing economic benefits of inclusive design. The presentation recommends embedding gender-responsive leadership in all levels of decision-making and stresses the importance of having measurable resilience indicators to assess the cost-effectiveness of gender-integrated climate adaptation strategies.