and understanding of IP issues and processes by
all actors involved, IP issues will not receive the
attention they warrant.
Independent judiciary. IP land and resource
rights will never be fully realized if the courts in
Cambodia refuse to follow the letter of the law
and choose to follow their personal financial
interests. Therefore judiciary reform, training and
education of judges is an absolute must.
Best practices’ for replication
and upscaling
Communal land title registration. The ILO office
in Cambodia is working closely with local NGOs in
Ratanakiri and Mundolkiri provinces (NTFP, DPA,
HA, ICSO in Ratanakiri and MVI, DPA, Vigilance,
WCS in Mondulkiri) on a project which aims to
incorporate indigenous communities as legal
entities under the Land Law 2001, so that they
are eligible to apply for a collective title with
the MoI. The objective of the project is to have
as many communities as possible incorporated
legally to facilitate a claim to the Ministry of
Land Management to begin the process of
securing land titles for indigenous communities
(IFAD, p. 21). As part of the project, the ILO has
been working closely with the MoI to increase
its capacity to deal with applications for a legal
recognition of IP communities.
Empowerment
through
education
and
awareness raising. IP communities in Ratanakiri
and Mundolkiri provinces are increasingly strong
and are very vocal about their grievances vis-àvis land grabs and illegal logging. They organize
protests, demand information, issue letters of
complaint (with the assistance of CSOs and local
activists) and participate in stakeholder meetings.
Community media project. Some of the active
members of the IPPN take part in the Community
Media Project, which in turn supports IP
community initiatives. The Project also promotes
IP networks and key community members’
voices through radio live talk-show programs,
radio and TV productions related to indigenous
people’s issues meant to raise awareness among
the general public and to promote grassroots
communication, information and IP voices in the
mainstream media.
Centralized IP network. ADHOC recived funding
from the UK Government for a project aimed
at connecting IPs from all the provinces across
Cambodia. IRAM members are allegedly working
on a similar inititative. It could be a good idea for
the two organizations to cooperate and join their
forces in this very important effort.
Video documentary project. On 9 August 2013
the NGO Forum organized a screening of a
documentary “The Other Cambodia: Indigenous
Land and Rights.“ The documentary, which
combined efforts by IP activists and a filmmaker
hired by NGO Forum presented a very concise and
compelling case of land grabbing in the northern
regions of Cambodia.
Community empowerment project. ICSO runs
a community empowerment project directed
at IRAM members. The project provides rights
training as well as financial, logistical and
mentoring support to IP representatives chosen
by the organization.
Strategic linkages to be pursued
by IP organizations and CSOs
IPs. The most important linkages IP organizations
need to pursue are the ones among themselves.
Lok Niti
39
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