Our Programs

Cambodia is undergoing rapid economic and cultural development, largely pushed by the country's changing demographics in which youth (or people under the age of 30) make up more than 65% of the population. While many of these youth are hungry for the pace of development to quicken, development itself is still hampered by the country's Khmer Rouge past. In between 1975 and 1979, nearly 2 million Cambodians perished. Not included in these estimates are the number of Cambodians that died during the Civil War prior to the Khmer Rouge regime, the 8 years of American bombings in rural Cambodia, and the conflict that ensued the country post-Khmer Rouge that lasted well into the 1990s. Cambodia shows the characteristics of a post-conflict country that is in process of overcoming the legacy of the mass atrocities that occurred under previous regimes. These include among many others (i) social fragmentation; (ii) limited culture and structures for non-violent conflict resolution; and (iii) widespread negative psychosocial effects resulting from experiencing mass violence (including a high prevalence of trauma), with long-lasting consequences for social life. These characteristics indicate that the process of consolidating a lasting peace, including coming to terms with the long-term consequences of mass atrocities, and building effective capacities within the country that help to avoid the recurrence of future conflict is not yet completed.

DIALOGUE. EDUCATION. Documentation.

Where we work. Kdei Karuna is a local non-governmental organization operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia, a vibrant and diverse country located in Southeast Asia. KdK is developing the programs based on its focus areas in the deploying of the three strategic approaches (Dialogue for healing and building knowledge and skills; Documentation for research; and Creative Outreach for education). The three strategic approaches are powerful competencies that include proprietary methodologies and materials that KdK has developed over several years and used in many projects.  They represent proven peace-building approaches that have been central to KdK’s success in project delivery and in building its reputation.

Dialogue methodologies are being enhanced, including community facilitation, perpetrator/victim and youth elder dialogue, historical conciliation, and oral history;

Creative outreach: The number and types of creative outreach activities in key strategic topics such as communicating reflection of the past and its relevance to current society, in strategic locations are being increased, while ensuring quality is maintained.

Documentation and research capacities are being enhanced by extending high quality original research to new issues and making documentation available to more people via physical and online channels. Research capacities are enhanced through strategic partnerships with research organizations and by expanding research on topics that enhance mutual understanding and social trust;

Kdei Karuna’s vision is to contribute to an inclusive peaceful society. As such, Kdei Karuna implements a number of projects that emphasize community-level interventions that evolve based on needs voiced by the communities we work with. Since 2007, Kdei Karuna has developed close working relations with 20 different rural communities in Cambodia, including ethnic minorities such as Khmer Islam, Vietnamese, and Khmer Loeu communities. In addition, Kdei Karuna has a close partnership with Universities and Civil Society Organizations in ASEAN to increase more dialogue among ASEAN students in order to build stronger ASEAN relations.