About this project
FAIR-CPS advances gender-responsive access to justice among Indigenous and remote communities in Cambodia while strengthening WPM's organizational resilience and long-term sustainability. In much of rural Cambodia, local disputes, including cases of violence against women, are handled through alternative dispute resolution rather than the courts, and WPM's research has shown how these practices can revictimize survivors when applied without safeguards. The project works to change this. Building on WPM's Gender-Responsive Mediation (GRM) Guidelines, it collaborates with the National Authority on Alternative Dispute Resolution (NADR), grassroots women leaders, and marginalized communities to strengthen local dispute resolution mechanisms, expand legal aid access, and promote gender-responsive mediation approaches. Alongside the justice work, the project supports community dialogue spaces, women-led change initiatives, and public engagement, and invests in WPM's own strategic capacity, staff development, and networks in response to Cambodia's changing civic and funding landscape, with ongoing support from a seconded CPS adviser.
Current focus areas
- Providing skill training, coaching, and ongoing support to provincial dispute resolution mechanisms serving Indigenous and remote communities
- Designing and piloting a legal aid service mechanism for target communities, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and NADR
- Supporting grassroots women leaders to initiate and sustain community dialogues, including gender cafés, art-based engagement, and community discussions
- Building partnerships and joint actions with key stakeholders in response to emerging gender and peace needs, including cross-border tensions
- Providing mediation, coaching, mentoring, and capacity strengthening for local dispute resolution actors and community volunteers
- Supporting community-led change initiatives addressing gender, peace, and social justice issues.
- Conducting public awareness forums on legal rights, mediation services, GBV response pathways, and access to justice
- Strengthening WPM's strategic plan implementation, team capacity, and organizational documentation with the support of the CPS adviser
Emerging outputs
- Strengthened provincial dispute resolution and mediation mechanisms serving indigenous and remote communities
- Gender-responsive mediation approaches and training materials adapted for Cambodian contexts
- Women-led community dialogue spaces, including gender cafés and the Chhloh Theatre forum theatre group, whose performances opened community conversations on gender-based violence during the 16 Days of Activism
- A piloted legal aid service model for Indigenous and remote communities, developed with the Ministry of Justice and NADR
- National public engagement in partnership with the Ministry of Women's Affairs, including the "Run for Girls, Run for All" campaign with 1,500 participants and the National Forum on Women in Leadership and Governance
- Enhanced organizational capacity, strategic positioning, and network engagement for WPM
- Community awareness and participation around mediation, legal rights, and nonviolent dispute resolution