About this project
SAGA supported Cambodia's ministries in bringing gender-responsive mediation into national policy. Working with the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), and the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the project provided coordination and technical support to finalize two key instruments: the Operational Manual for the Offices of Legislation and Local Mediation (OLLM), and the Gender-Responsive Mediation and Screening for Violence against Women Guidelines (GRM Guidelines). Building on WPM's long-term research and programming on mediation, gender-based violence, and local justice, the initiative made mediation responsive to the needs of survivors, limit its use in cases of intimate partner violence, and refer survivors actively to support pathways in rural Cambodia. Through technical working groups, pilot trainings, consultations, and inter-ministerial coordination processes, SAGA carried both instruments to final draft, endorsed at technical level and ready for leadership approval.
Results
- Two national instruments carried to the threshold of adoption: the Operational Manual for the Offices of Legislation and Local Mediation and the Gender-Responsive Mediation and Screening for Violence against Women Guidelines, both in final draft, endorsed at technical level, and ready for leadership approval
- A cross-ministerial drafting process brought to completion, with the GRM Guidelines finalized through the MoWA-MoJ Technical Working Group, uniting the two ministries behind one framework for how mediation responds to violence against women
- The Operational Manual tested in practice before finalization: piloted with deputy district governors and OLLM officials from three provinces, monitored in the field, and validated through national consultation, so the final instrument reflects the realities of the officials who will apply it
- A working partnership between WPM, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and the Ministry of Interior
- Increased awareness and technical capacity related to gender-responsive mediation and survivor protection principles
- Improved local mediation practices and access to justice pathways for women and marginalized communities in Cambodia