December 10, 2008Opinion by A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News (Guam)
With a history of violence and violations of human rights, Cambodia has nevertheless been blessed with the development of a civil society and the assistance of non-governmental organizations, both of which have struggled to survive under the autocratic regime run by what has become -- in intent and purpose since the flawed 1991 Peace Accords -- a monolithic government dominated by the dictates of one man, Hun Sen.
There are local Cambodian NGOs that have given themselves the often thankless task of preparing the groundwork for the country's better future. The Chinese say, one generation plants trees, the next generation gets the shade.
The trouble is, as we're in an age that demands instant gratification, people are generally impatient to wait, especially when they live in a world of self-interested nations that speak of helping the world's poor and underprivileged while through actions they actually strengthen the dictators in power.
This column examines the 1999 Alliance for Conflict Transformation, or ACT, which describes its task of "providing skills and knowledge in the area of conflict resolution and peace-building" (see www.actcambodia.org), and the 1992 Youth Resource Development Program, or YRDP, which states as its program goal to "enable youth to participate actively in building a culture of peace, justice and sustainable development of Cambodia" (see www.yrdp.org), and which aims to support the development of civil society in the country.
Soth Plai Ngarm, the successful Ksach Ploy community organizer and a peace worker about whom I wrote in this space last week, cautioned, "the same conditions, which led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge, ... (are) increasing." He talked about "the massive gap between rich and poor; between provincial (rural) Cambodia and (urban) Phnom Penh," and that "Cambodians hold deep prejudices against one another along ethnic and religious lines."
Working with other local and international NGOs, ACT, now under executive director Ngann Thanak -- Ngarm is now vice chairman of its board of trustees -- says it works to develop a "culture of dialogue, cooperation and peace in Cambodia through innovative training programmes, research, networking and education." It describes its vision of a "positive peace in Cambodia, where basic human needs and human rights are protected and respected by every level of society." It says all its actions are "motivated by a deep commitment to positive change."
"Cambodian society is vulnerable to violent conflict at individual, communal, national, and regional levels," ACT says in its program review, and includes "national reconciliation and healing" as one of the issues it "seeks to empower communities to address."
It's a very tall order, but it's a start. My Oct. 8 "Cambodian reconciliation a slow dance" shows the monumental task Cambodians encounter to reconcile and heal old wounds.
ACT produced a 2006 manual, "Introduction to Peace Studies & Research Methods," for a 12-week introductory instructional course, followed by a 12-week practicum period, written by Ngarm and Tania Miletic. "A commitment to learn through practice is the key behind the training course," the foreword says.
Of interest is Ngarm's "A Conceptual Framework of Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding," which can be downloaded from the ACT Web site.
YRDP, under executive director Sokha Cheang, maintains political neutrality, non-affiliation with any political party, and non-involvement in political activity. Yet, as YRDP puts it, "Impartiality does not prevent YRDP from promoting its opinion regarding issues of concern."
Its stated goal to "enable youth to participate actively in building a culture of peace, justice and sustainable development of Cambodia" is backed by its program objectives. These include "building peace through developing critical thinking and deep dialogue and applying alternatives to violence," and by its two-part training courses -- a 53-hour core skill on personal development, and 414 hours on specific skills that include conflict resolution, active non-violence, leadership and good governance, and others.
YRDP sees Cambodia's slow "democratic development process" as caused "mainly" by people's inadequate understanding of democracy, and by "many barriers" such as "threats, killings and arrests," a "situation ... (that) scares people" from exercising their rights, and that "strongly affects" their voicing of "concerns and needs."
"In this climate, it is imperative that YRDP continues to provide the critical thinking skills necessary to make judgments and choices," reads a course description.
It says interested students from universities and institutions of higher learning in Cambodia, and "in special cases, senior high school graduates, (Buddhist) monks, some NGOs and government (employees) may join the training course," which is cost-free.
The question is why such a golden opportunity to learn, to be educated, to participate, has not engendered more interest among Cambodians inside and expatriates abroad?
The commendable efforts, and the activities of ACT and YRDP, and several other NGOs not mentioned, should benefit the community, the society, the people, and the country. As YRDP says, "Rice seeds will always produce rice. Rice will not grow from a cactus."
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.
There are local Cambodian NGOs that have given themselves the often thankless task of preparing the groundwork for the country's better future. The Chinese say, one generation plants trees, the next generation gets the shade.
The trouble is, as we're in an age that demands instant gratification, people are generally impatient to wait, especially when they live in a world of self-interested nations that speak of helping the world's poor and underprivileged while through actions they actually strengthen the dictators in power.
This column examines the 1999 Alliance for Conflict Transformation, or ACT, which describes its task of "providing skills and knowledge in the area of conflict resolution and peace-building" (see www.actcambodia.org), and the 1992 Youth Resource Development Program, or YRDP, which states as its program goal to "enable youth to participate actively in building a culture of peace, justice and sustainable development of Cambodia" (see www.yrdp.org), and which aims to support the development of civil society in the country.
Soth Plai Ngarm, the successful Ksach Ploy community organizer and a peace worker about whom I wrote in this space last week, cautioned, "the same conditions, which led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge, ... (are) increasing." He talked about "the massive gap between rich and poor; between provincial (rural) Cambodia and (urban) Phnom Penh," and that "Cambodians hold deep prejudices against one another along ethnic and religious lines."
Working with other local and international NGOs, ACT, now under executive director Ngann Thanak -- Ngarm is now vice chairman of its board of trustees -- says it works to develop a "culture of dialogue, cooperation and peace in Cambodia through innovative training programmes, research, networking and education." It describes its vision of a "positive peace in Cambodia, where basic human needs and human rights are protected and respected by every level of society." It says all its actions are "motivated by a deep commitment to positive change."
"Cambodian society is vulnerable to violent conflict at individual, communal, national, and regional levels," ACT says in its program review, and includes "national reconciliation and healing" as one of the issues it "seeks to empower communities to address."
It's a very tall order, but it's a start. My Oct. 8 "Cambodian reconciliation a slow dance" shows the monumental task Cambodians encounter to reconcile and heal old wounds.
ACT produced a 2006 manual, "Introduction to Peace Studies & Research Methods," for a 12-week introductory instructional course, followed by a 12-week practicum period, written by Ngarm and Tania Miletic. "A commitment to learn through practice is the key behind the training course," the foreword says.
Of interest is Ngarm's "A Conceptual Framework of Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding," which can be downloaded from the ACT Web site.
YRDP, under executive director Sokha Cheang, maintains political neutrality, non-affiliation with any political party, and non-involvement in political activity. Yet, as YRDP puts it, "Impartiality does not prevent YRDP from promoting its opinion regarding issues of concern."
Its stated goal to "enable youth to participate actively in building a culture of peace, justice and sustainable development of Cambodia" is backed by its program objectives. These include "building peace through developing critical thinking and deep dialogue and applying alternatives to violence," and by its two-part training courses -- a 53-hour core skill on personal development, and 414 hours on specific skills that include conflict resolution, active non-violence, leadership and good governance, and others.
YRDP sees Cambodia's slow "democratic development process" as caused "mainly" by people's inadequate understanding of democracy, and by "many barriers" such as "threats, killings and arrests," a "situation ... (that) scares people" from exercising their rights, and that "strongly affects" their voicing of "concerns and needs."
"In this climate, it is imperative that YRDP continues to provide the critical thinking skills necessary to make judgments and choices," reads a course description.
It says interested students from universities and institutions of higher learning in Cambodia, and "in special cases, senior high school graduates, (Buddhist) monks, some NGOs and government (employees) may join the training course," which is cost-free.
The question is why such a golden opportunity to learn, to be educated, to participate, has not engendered more interest among Cambodians inside and expatriates abroad?
The commendable efforts, and the activities of ACT and YRDP, and several other NGOs not mentioned, should benefit the community, the society, the people, and the country. As YRDP says, "Rice seeds will always produce rice. Rice will not grow from a cactus."
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.
5 comments:
i think in a society like cambodia after what the crazy KR did to cambodia, someone has gotten to take charge. i'm sure it won't be the weak one. it is no time to be polite, to relax, to be lenient, etc... otherwise, you cannot get anything done. it is like being a manager, you have gotten to take charge; of course, along the way, some people aren't going to be happy with the action. but it must be done. congratualtions, mr. hun sen! call him whatever, but at the end of the day, the jobs is done and something good comes out of it! you will understand when you get to walk in his shoes, it's not an easy job. there's always going to be a pro and con to everything he does because to expect a 100% perfection is just a dream. glad, some people can understand this. this is why i think getting education is very, very important because it makes people think critically. thank you and god bless.
i think cambodia had accomplished a lot since the fall of the KR, although not as fast as some people would like to see, but it made a tremendous difference since. of course, more and better things are to come as there's no such thing as standing still or sitting still. god bless cambodia.
yep, i agree.
and all that progress thanks in part to the NGOs.
However, we shouldn't allow NGOs to do as they please.
Many NGO are there for vacation only.
1.15 am, you are too easy to please and too kind to give all the credits and gratification to the one man who has done so much only to hold on to his chair while millions of others foreigners and innocent people had worked their buds off and waste so much of their own resources so that his government don’t exploit and abuse his own people.
It is so easy to pass on all the mistakes and any damages to others while you are forgetting that Mr wonderful himself used to be a member of KR. It’s like the Merry goes round as the KR also denied that they are not guilty of those massacre graves and has no resentments that they were the one who brought Cambodia to the year zero. It is so typical of Khmer to claim it always someone else false.
I agreed with you that education is important but you had contradicted to your hero who is in my opinion very dominant, egotistic and barely read and write. He is not only lack of education but also lack of interpersonal skills and the flexibility to change and not willing to share ideas and views with others opponents. And most of all can only work under other super power leaders instructions.
My pray and hope is for the future children of Cambodia to gain more access to education and adopted the awareness of violence and violations to human rights. Also that the current government will improve their interpersonal skills and flexibility to change and has mercy on their own people by providing more education, health care and welfare to the vulnerable people and share ideas and views with others opponents instead of increasing their own interests and wealth. I can't imagine what Cambodia would look like without foreigns aid and assistants.
What has improved in the modern day is not much compare to the number of years they promised to have it done. It’s like Ar Chei prefers to have a flat measured container of rice rather than the deep round container.
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