Key Achievements: Planted at CIYA, Flowers in the community

CIYA is a first Indigenous Youth Association in Cambodia since 2005, focusing on capacity building for Indigenous Peoples Youth on higher education and Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge to enable them to continue their higher education and maintain the traditional knowledge of our Indigenous Peoples.

The youth then provide support back to their respective communities as reflected to the real situations. For the past 20 years, CIYA’s achievement has gained more recognition among members, partners and donors. Those achievements include internal management and internal control, providing support to youth accommodation and soft skills capacity building, forest management and conservation, as well as engagement with the government, connections, and partnership. 

CIYA is known as a national Indigenous youth platform that has transformed many Indigenous youth as Indigenous Peoples Huma Resources. In the last 5 years, we have improved a lot on the internal management and the internal control. CIYA has a good and strong management structure with a good oversight body as the board. We currently have 13 board members who are from the funder of CIYA, the representative from each target provinces and the skills and well-known Indigenous Peoples.

CIYA Secretariat is managed by the management team, which are all Indigenous People Youth. CIYA is currently having 19 staff with 1 senior advisor (the former president of CIYA). Since the creation, CIYA has been experiencing around 1000 members from 9 target areas across Cambodia.

The association has a good financial system to control the funding, which make trusted by the related partners and donors. Updated financial and staff policies have been approved in 2024, which makes the work of our much more easier in daily operation. We have got all the registration with the requirement of the Government of Cambodia. Moreover, CIYA is doing an audit from external skilled company every year. By these, Our association is funding by many funder like; AIPP, DCA, UNDP, Missereo, Pangea Giving, EWMI, HBF, Samdhana, CORD, CEPF, and various partners. With annual budget rank from 200 000 USD to 300 000USD annually.

Education and capacity building for Indigenous youth and Indigenous students is the core work of CIYA. Currently, CIYA is providing 3 accommodation or dormitories called “CIYA HOUSE” for student to continue their education at both the high school level and university level. There are two  CIYA HOUSE in Phnom Penh and one CIYA HOUSE in Ratanakiri province with around 120 students per year. 

For the past 20 years, there are around 500 students are graduated from CIYA. Those peoples now are working for Indigenous Peoples Communities and Cambodia society including NGOs, community leaders, technical personnel, government staff, lawyers, businesspeople, and educators. CIYA is also working with related partners and ministry of Labou and Vocational Training to support the vocational skills for Indigenous Youth and the member. The current CIYA’s President is the former CIYA’s member supported by CIYA for education, capacity building and accommodation.

Moreover, CIYA is also focusing on the forest protection, conservation by youth participation.  By working with the youth, community committee and the local authorities, we work to protect the Community Protected Area with the totally size of 7931.46 hectare as in Ratanakiri at Yeak Loam CPA is 225 Ha, Preah Vihear of Bangkhoen Phal 3422 Ha, Kamreng 700.46 Ha, Bangkorn Senchey 3129 Ha and Choem Mreach 455 Ha.  

CIYA in the past 5 years participated with CIPA which composed of Indigenous Peoples Organizations and communities across Cambodia working is collaborating and engaged with related ministries on the laws, regulation and the policies related to Indigenous Peoples like Community Protected Law, Environmental Code, Land Law and other action plana and strategic plan like NDC 3.0 and the Climate Change Strategic Plan. CIYA is also a working group with Ministry of Planing on Indigenous Peoples census which the final data have been launched in December 2024. 

Beside CIPA, CIYA is also a member to AIPP, AYIPN, AIYP and the Global Youth Caucus. CIYA also attend variety of UN mechanism like; EMRIP, UNPFII, COP and UNFCCC, CBD and KMGBF and other Climate Change mitigation meetings.  In the past 20 years, CIYA is not just only building the quality of Indigenous Peoples Human Resources for Indigenous Peoples Communities and the whole society, But CIYA is also engaging with the national and international partners to developed and maintain the best practice of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples for the sustainable future.