• Society

Young People Gather to Better Understand Their Role in Society

• By Nhor Sokhoeurn
• February 19, 2024 11:55 AM

MONDULKIRI– How to engage in society, spread knowledge about corruption and democracy, and push for other citizens to take part in social activities that will benefit communities? These questions were at the core of a three-day training camp organized by Transparency International Cambodia.

From Feb. 14-18, about 135 youths met up in Mondulkiri’s natural landscapes to try to debate their role in modern Cambodia, with sessions designed to better understand democracy, the election process, and ways to fight corruption.

Aged 15-35 years old, attendees came from most of the country’s provinces: Battambang, Mondulkiri, Prey Veng, Kampot, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, Preah Vihear, and Phnom Penh,

For Nen Sreymao, 24, from Preah Vihear province, the camp was above all an opportunity to free speech in a safe place, with qualified supervision. 

“I learned many good opinions from different people who came here, and I am also braver to speak out my opinion,” she added. 

Veng Mengly, a 23-year-old from Phnom Penh said the camp helped him understand democracy can take place in many forms, from the local to the national level. 

“For political democracy in Cambodia, most youth should start to learn and spread what they know and share and care about the community. When you’re still at school, you should try understanding this because when you’re grown enough to vote, you can change your whole community thanks to this right,” he said. 

Not only did average young citizens attend this TI-led reflection camp, but representatives of the monkhood also took part in the conversation.

Boek Khave is a 26-year-old monk from Banteay Meanchey province. He noted that youths had a lot of experiences to share on how democracy works during the lecture and sharing session.

Pech Pisey, the executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, said the youth camp is organized every year in different provinces with different topics to feed youth needs.

“We choose different locations every year to meet the needs of young people,” Pisey said. “We choose also to follow the request from youth,” he said.

“Youth Camp is organized to build leadership, confidence, self-control, and empowerment among young people, especially women in Cambodia,” Pisey added.

“The reason that I chose the topic ‘The Role of Youth in Enhancing Political Integrity’ is because nowadays citizens are scared to speak up about social and political participation,” Pisey said.

He said as an organization that focuses on empowering citizens and the youth, it is important to debate the role of politics in society, and to encourage citizens to participate in it.

“A country cannot prosper if its people do not participate in politics,” he said.