The purpose of this study tour is to explore examples of best practice in relation to reconciliation (see more below).  Cambodia has emerged from a thirty-year period of war and social upheaval and, as it moves into a period of relative peace with the signing of a peace agreement in 1991, is facing many of the same issues as Northern Ireland, including:

§         How to design a workable power-sharing arrangement with a range of ethnic groups;

§         How to embed the fragile peace which has been created in the past decade and develop a workable, democratic system of governance based on power-sharing principles;

§         How to engage all of the relevant social partners in rebuilding the country, embedding peace and supporting reconciliation initiatives;

§         How to address the needs of victims / survivors of the conflict and memorialise those who died as a result of the conflict;

§         How to reintegrate perpetrators of violence into society;

§         How to ensure that justice is done, and is seen to be done through the establishment of international tribunals, truth commissions and local justice systems;

§         How to rebuild the physical and economic infrastructure and support inward-investment and local enterpreneurship in the country;

§         How to promote sustainability within the community and voluntary sector to guarantee its continuance when international interest and funding wanes.