Timor-Leste delegation offered reconciliation, peace training by ECCC
THE Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) co-hosted a February 21 benchmark training on reconciliation and peacebuilding for a delegation from Timor-Leste.
Held in collaboration with UNESCO Phnom Penh and Jakarta, the workshop aimed to support the efforts of the Timor-Leste government in conflict reconciliation and peace-building, through quality history and peace education.
Tony Kranh, acting director of the ECCC administration, explained that Timor-Leste and Cambodia shared similar challenging histories, and have worked hard to reconstruct society after conflicts.
“These shared experiences provide valuable insights and lessons that can be mutually beneficial,” he was quoted as saying in an ECCC press release.
“Through our collaborative efforts at today’s ‘Benchmarking Training’, I firmly believe that we will share our experiences and the lessons we have learnt through southsouth cooperation. Our collaboration has the potential to enhance the quality of education in both countries and may contribute to further reconciliation and peace-building in the region,” he added.
The 22 participants were officials from Timor-Leste’s education and culture ministries, the country’s Chega National Centre (CNC) – Timor-Leste’s museum to their occupation by Indonesia – and other relevant government institutions, as well as members of UNESCO Jakarta and Phnom Penh.
Mee Young Chou, head of UNESCO Jakarta’s education unit, offered his appreciation to the ECCC for hosting the visitors from Timor-Leste.
“We were all impressed with the informative sessions we attended and the well-structured ECCC tour,” she said.
CNC executive director Hugo Maria Fernandes found the event particularly useful.
“We learnt so much and believe that this exchange will add to our own experiences. All of the efforts made by the ECCC were very impressive, and we learned a great deal. We will be able to adapt what we have learned to our own programmes at the museum,” he was cited as saying in the release.
The training session was followed by several presentations.
Thaung Socheat, ECCC senior management officer, spoke about the “accountability process and residual function of the ECCC”.
Hang Vannak, chief of the ECCC’s Victims Support Section (VSS), gave a detailed presentation on reparation, reconciliation and peace programmes, while his colleague from the Legal Documentation Centre (LDC) also briefed the attendees on the centre’s ongoing work.
Following the presentations, the Timor-Leste delegation toured the ECCC’s library, as well as its resource centre’s archive repository.