Voices of Peace in Cambodia

Voices of peace is our regular update from our staff working in the field.

Tucker McCravey is Cord's Regional Peace Building Advisor in Cambodia. Here are his some of his reflections on his experiences working as as peace builder.

My journey as a peacebuilder started more than 15 years ago in the midst of the Sri Lankan civil war as a young Peace Corps Volunteer.  Selected by the US to serve overseas as an English teacher trainer, I was unaware of how my work involving conflict would later in life lead me to the conviction that peace is possible.

A decade and a half later I am certain that peace, on an individual, family, community, regional, national and global level is not only the way, as Gandhi tells us, but the only way.

“Humanity has yet to dedicate a fraction of the resources toward creating harmony that we have toward making war, which is a great obstacle to peace.”    

Yet it is a challenge which can be overcome. When we teach our children not only the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, but also the relational skills to solve conflict, we will have taken our first step in that journey.

I came to Cord drawn by its vision of strengthening local capacities for peace.  Having always believed that peace must begin within the communities that desire and seek to achieve it, I find Cord’s model compelling and capable of bringing about social change. 

At Cord Cambodia we are helping our partners to see how they can integrate peacebuilding into their existing activities.  I am currently supporting Cord partner  Youth Resource Development Programme (

YRDP) in developing their strategic vision.  YRDP is a leading youth organisation providing critical thinking, leadership and peacebuilding skills to young people in Cambodia.

Cambodia is a nation where some 70% of the population is under 30 years of age.  The future of the country depends on the strength, the vitality, and the commitment of the younger generation.

Another exciting project is the Peace Education Research project.  Together with a number of local NGOs and one university we’re exploring different forms of education and how they can build peace in loc

al communities.  With university students being trained, the vision is that they will become the next generation of peace researchers.

Though Cambodia is enjoying a state of relative peace, there is still work to be done rebuilding relationships scarred by violence; strengthening civil society and rebuilding institutions that uphold principles of justice, equity and democratic participation. 

The task is large and our efforts may seem but a drop in the pond.  But as the pebble of our intentions creates ripples of goodness and love that spread across not only the pond but to the vast oceans beyond, so may peace one day prevail on Earth.

Regional Peace Building Advisor