ABSTRACT
Health sector development in Cambodia has largely been conditioned by external players, beginning with the colonial French and continuing with the Vietnamese and international development agents. Following Clayton’s framework, this chapter aims to elaborate how, and under which conditions, civil society is in a position to contribute to healthcare development and, in particular, to the struggle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Domestically, the first generation of social activists envisioned civil society as a supplementary means for ensuring that the national government invests in qualitative, affordable, equitable and accessible healthcare and treatment. The socio-cultural and political context implies different interpretations of mobilization, which, in addition to local dynamics, need to be understood and adjusted in order to facilitate successful implementation. Based on the idea that civil society must participate in order to reinforce the bold process of democratization, one goal was to involve organized citizens in national governance and possibly a few decision-making processes.
