The Celebration of International and National Day of Indigenous People in Cambodia

This year 28th of International Day of Indigenous People and 18th National in Cambodia were organized on September 29, 2022 at Provincial Theater of Kratie under the theme: The Role of Indigenous Women in Conservation and traditional knowledge transfer.

This event was presided over by H.E Dr. Sous Kong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development, Kratie Provincial Board of Governors, Provincial Councils, Department of Rural Development, National and International Indigenous Communities and more than 15 provinces representative, students, youths and journalist with total of 292(103 women).

The objective of this event is aim to: 1. To participate in promoting cultural values, traditions, customs and languages and increase the participation of indigenous peoples in the planning and evaluation of development planning processes in their communities and national development plans. 2. To encourage the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making and improve the implementation of the legal framework. 3. To congratulations to the World Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 12 December 1993 and officially declared the 9th World Indigenous Peoples Day. August every year.

On behalf of the NGO Forum on Cambodia and the Secretariat of 72 member organizations working on forest and land governance, Dr. Tek Vannara, Executive Director of NGOF, had great honored participate in this important day. Today celebration, the civil society organizations and indigenous communities would like to extend our requests to the Royal Government, relevant ministries, especial Ministry of Rural Development as of the present of H.E Dr. Sous Kong, develop partners and all stakeholders. We seeking to support and address on the following issues: - Should allocate national budget and provide additional funds or resources for the education of indigenous people from the basic level to the postgraduate level, especially the study, research, compilation and preservation of the culture of indigenous people in Cambodia. - Provide additional support in terms of technical, financial and human resources for the collective land registration of indigenous communities in Cambodia. - Should provide more training for livelihoods, vocational skills or proper career or jobs for indigenous peoples in their personal development in terms of socio-economic development and environmental protection in the context of the current development of Cambodia.