Kreung Ethnicity - United Nations in Cambodia

Foreword
Indigenous people in Cambodia live in remote areas and highlands of the
country, particularly in the northeast provinces of Rattanakiri and Mondulkiri.
These provinces, situated far from the capital Phnom Penh, are rich in natural
resources. Economic deve-lopment and increased migration from the
Cambodian lowlands to these areas has impacted on the traditional land security
and natural resource management of indigenous populations. Detrimental
large-scale activities include illegal logging, land concessions and land
encroachment. People in these remote provinces lack access to key public
services such as education, health and communication infrastructure. Such
important factors contribute to the lack of knowledge and limited capacity of
indigenous people to deal with the multitude of challenges facing them today.
Indigenous communities maintain their own traditional mechanisms, rules
and practices in solving a wide range of disputes and conflicts. These include
community disputes between neighbours, domestic strife between couples,
land and farming disputes, physical abuse and injury and accusations of sorcery
and curses. Traditionally village elders, based on customary rules and traditional
beliefs held by the community, have solved many of these disputes. However,
such customary rules are not recognised by local government authorities and
formal justice operators.
From 2006 to 2010 UNDP in Cambodia implemented the Access to Justice
Project, which piloted different alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in
Cambodia, with women, indigenous people and land issues being focal areas
for the interventions. In terms of working with indigenous people, the project
has focused on enhancing and legitimising customary dispute resolution
mechanisms, promoting the awareness of rights and regulations related to
land ownership, improving the dissemination of legal and judicial information,
increasing recognition of the rights of indigenous people to communal lands
and supporting the application of their customary rules and decision-making
processes.
Kreung Ethnicity: Documentation of Customary Rules
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