Main
Kdei Karuna envisions an inclusive peaceful society.
Main
Kdei Karuna envisions an inclusive peaceful society.
BRIDGING DIFFERENCES THROUGH DIALOGUE.
Kdei Karuna - meaning “compassionate action to heal” in Sanskrit - aims to contribute to sustainable peace efforts by addressing the scars of conflict inflicted over decades of instability and war.
For more than 10 years, Kdei Karuna Organization (KdK) has established itself as a leading peacebuilding and reconciliation NGO in Cambodia. Through participatory and community-engaged approaches, KdK has implemented truth-telling and memorialization initiatives between a number of groups, including former Khmer Rouge cadres and victims, ethnic minorities, and youth.
Our programs utilize creative and non-threatening ways to reflect upon difference, in addition to conflicts stemming from the country's Khmer Rouge past. Methods include the production of mobile exhibitions to raise awareness of differentiated histories, support of community-driven memorials for psychological healing and education, and facilitation of community dialogues. More recent program work also includes intergenerational dialogues between youth and Khmer Rouge survivors of gender-based violence.
Recent Projects
Recent Projects
RECENT PROJECTS
Our projects are always evolving to better meet the needs of our communities. Our current projects include:
RAISING AWARENESS OF CHAM AND VIETNAMESE EXPERIENCES DURING THE KHMER ROUGE PERIOD
To promote acceptance of diverse identities in Cambodia, the Voices from Ethnic Minorities in the Tonlé Sap project aims to instill a more differentiated understanding of the histories and life stories of ethnic minorities, developed through the collection of oral histories, ECCC footage and documents, and related material and disseminated through an exhibition. As a proposed reparations project of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the project provides a platform for survivors of genocide, ethnic violence, and discrimination to share their stories and receive public acknowledgement.
PROMOTING HEALING AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR SURVIVORS OF FORCED MARRIAGE
Also a proposed judicial reparations project of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the Pka Slaa project aims to fight gender-based violence and stimulate gender equity transformation for Civil Party victims of forced marriage under the Khmer Rouge. As part of this project, Kdei Karuna is producing a mobile exhibition on gender-based violence under the Khmer Rouge and its implications for Cambodian society today.
FOSTERING MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
about history and collective memory
The Justice & History Outreach project endeavors to enable rural Cambodians to overcome social divisions that remain as a legacy of decades of conflict. By fostering mutual understanding through dialogues about the past and building capacities in conflict resolution, rural communities strengthen
relationships and promote a stronger culture of accountability. In addition, KdK works closely with communities in the development of memory initiatives to instill a sense of justice for past traumas and to help communities take ownership over their healing process.