ROAD SHOWS ON SAFEGUARDING CAMBODIAN LAND RIGHTS DRAW THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS
Tbeng Meanchey, Preah Vihear – It was 11:30pm and the two emcees announced that the performance was the last in the program. A member of the audience shouted, “Why are you stopping so early?” drawing assent from others in the 4,000 plus audience who came to watch the performances. The road show started at around 4 pm, with a video presentation of a story about resolving a land dispute. The people wanted more! One woman in the audience said this was the first time such a show had been held in this provincial capital, so like the others, she wanted the show to continue longer.
The show was supposed to be held the previous night but it rained so hard that it had to be postponed to the following day. Bright and early on a clear, but damp morning, two members of the traveling road show group positioned themselves and their megaphones on the backs of motorcycle taxis and rode out to let people in the surrounding villages know about the rescheduled performance. They, and other members of the troupe, did what they did the day before – stop people on the roads to tell them about the show, and help them put land law campaign stickers on their motorcycles, lorries and horse carts. Restaurants and door-to-door vendors wouldn’t be left out. They also wanted stickers for their shops and food carts. Posters that had been handed out the previous day were seen hanging from the fronts of many houses and shops in the area. There was truly a festive atmosphere.
“It was a fitting closing to end the 10 road shows,” says Patricia Baars, Project Director for EWMI-Cambodia. She was referring to the previous road shows held in nine other districts of six Cambodian provinces: Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, Kratie, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear. The road shows were delivered by the NGO Action IEC in cooperation with EWMI, and are part of the “Safeguarding Cambodians’ Land Rights Project,” an innovative and comprehensive public awareness campaign funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The performances help people living in remote areas understand how to protect their land until it is registered under the Cambodian Land Law of 2001. The target areas were chosen in collaboration with the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction specifically because they are not scheduled for registration in the near term.
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