“Berk Chet” to promote diversity and social inclusion in Cambodia

Download press release in Khmer

Impact Hub Phnom Penh and Oxfam will jointly organize "Berk Chet" on 3 September 2023 at Factory Phnom Penh starting from 2-8pm. “Berk Chet” is a festival aims to celebrate and increase awareness of the diversity and inclusiveness among the five rightsholder groups including people with disabilities, LGBTI groups, women who are subjected to violence and/or exploitation, the elderly and vulnerable youth, indigenous groups, and ethnic minorities. It will also highlight the initiative carried out by NOW-Us! Award Cambodia awardees in Cambodia. The celebration will be conducted in Khmer and interpreted into Khmer Sign Language.

Knowledge exchange, team building exercises, and presentations of the NOW-Us! Award Cambodia winners' projects are all included in the event. During the festival, performances will also be included in the festivities. The performances will honor the accomplishments of the distinct communities of rightsholders while illustrating their conditions. This is the second Berk Chet Festival, the first having taken place in Battambang on August 27, 2023.

Ms. Sophoan Phean, Oxfam National Director, said: "Oxfam is pleased to join with our partners to promote and raise awareness about inclusiveness and diversity. In accordance with the "Leave no one behind" policy, we enable the community we work with (rightsholder groups) to fully engage in social development. The "Berk Chet" festival honors the efforts of the seven NOW-Us! Award recipients in Cambodia. Through these activities, marginalized and minority groups were given the means to challenge prejudice, amplify their voices, and improve accessibility through embracing diversity and inclusion. To ensure that our needs and challenges are taken care of, it must begin with each and every one of us adhering to the maxim "Nothing about Us, Without Us."

Ms. Melanie Mossard, CEO of Impact Hub Phnom Penh said: “The festival provides a platform to showcase inspiring initiatives promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. She believes that the 'Berk Chet' Festival offers a unique opportunity to mainstream these essential topics in both Battambang and Phnom Penh, exposing the work of these organizations to the broader public.”

Impact Hub Phnom Penh started the "NOW-Us! Award Cambodia" program in partnership with Voice through Oxfam in 2021. Through cutting-edge initiatives including capacity-building bootcamps, addressing the underlying causes of rightsholder challenges, and fostering creative solutions, it seeks to empower and increase awareness about inclusion and diversity. The program also emphasizes professional and personal growth, including project and financial management. Following the bootcamp, teams present their cutting-edge social projects to impartial panels of judges made up of partners and Voice grantees from other civil society groups that cooperate with the five rightsholder groups. Seven teams representing these organisations received funds from Voice over the program of two seasons of NOW-Us! Award Cambodia to carry out projects that amplify voices and foster inclusivity for their particular communities.

Voice is an innovative grant facility that works to support the representative organization or informal group of the most marginalized and minority groups across ten countries in Southeast Asia, East and West Africa. Besides this program, Oxfam through Voice is supporting around 20 grantee partners working with marginalized and minority groups to empower and enhance their voices and capacity to fully participate in decision-making in community and societal development.