In Cambodia’s tightening civic space, where environmental defenders often face intimidation for protecting their homelands, Dara has become a steady source of resolve.
An environmental defender from Cambodia, Dara works with communities to secure land rights and customary titles for ancestral, Indigenous territories under dispute. Dara participated in the EarthRights School in 2019, where he learned new skills and connected with a vibrant network of like-minded environmental defenders from across the Mekong region.
After graduating from the program, Dara began working with the Cambodia Youth Network (CYN), where he immediately applied his new knowledge through community organizing and participatory research projects. Now, he is the president of the CYN, leading a thriving network of youth advocates across Cambodia.
However, Dara now faces a serious challenge in his work and with his advocacy. He must navigate an increasingly difficult political climate in Cambodia, where authorities target civil society organizations and youth groups for opposing projects that cause environmental harm.
Despite these challenges, Dara and other Cambodian alumni of the EarthRights School program applied for a grant from the EarthRights Alumni Small Grants Program. Launched in 2022, the program aims to provide alumni of EarthRights Mekong training programs with financial support for the implementation of community-led initiatives to protect the environment and human rights.
The group’s application to fund the project, “Enabling Young Cambodian Human Rights and Environmental Defenders To Strengthen Networks and Capacity To Promote Social Justice,” was approved, and Dara immediately got to work with his colleagues to make a lasting difference.
As part of the activities they implemented with support from the grant, they held a learning forum, providing young people with the skills they need to succeed in their work and to help them make connections with other like-minded individuals. They also organized a Cambodian youth forum and a podcast, giving young advocates a platform to discuss the issues that affect them most today, such as democracy, human rights, and environmental protection.
By transforming his challenges into opportunities for collective empowerment, Dara is proving that the future of Cambodia’s environmental movement lies in the hands of its youth – the future generations will lead the way towards a more just future for Cambodia.
