MEMORY, DIALOGUE, JUSTICE & RECONCILATION

Much of what is known about the Khmer Rouge era remains far from the communities most affected by it. In this area we help make that history accessible and speakable again — connecting survivors and younger generations so the past can be understood rather than avoided.

The project below shows how this work takes shape in practice.

Dialogue for Learning and Healing: Transitional Justice After the ECCC

Justice and History Outreach (JHO) – Together Dealing with the Khmer Rouge Past After the ECCC | In partnership with TPO Cambodia and the ECCC | Supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) spent 15 years documenting the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime. When the tribunal closed, a vast archive of testimony, evidence, and historical record remained - largely inaccessible to the rural communities most affected by the violence it documented.

Together with TPO Cambodia and the ECCC, Kdei Karuna operates the Mobile Resource Center - bringing the findings of the tribunal directly to the people whose lives were shaped by this history, in their own language, in their own communities.

Connecting generations

For many young Cambodians, the Khmer Rouge era is distant history - something encountered briefly in a textbook. For survivors, it is lived memory they have rarely been invited to share.

Through structured intergenerational dialogue, students and young teachers sit with survivors to listen, ask questions, and reflect together. Many young participants describe it as transformative - a conversation that no classroom could replicate.

Healing through being heard

Open dialogue is not only educational - it is restorative.

Survivors who participate in exchanges with youth report a profound sense of emotional relief. Being actively listened to, and having their experiences acknowledged by the next generation, reduces the isolation that many have carried for decades. As one survivor from Kampong Thom shared: "I felt excited to share my experiences. I want to send a message to the next generation to remember my suffering and ensure that such a regime never happens again."

Communities as peacebuilders

The project's impact extends beyond individual conversations.

Young participants take what they have learned home - initiating dialogue with their own families, practicing oral history with their grandparents, and sharing facilitation skills with peers. In doing so, they become informal peacebuilders in their own communities, keeping the lessons of the past alive and relevant.