On March 27, 2026, at 3:00 PM, a technical meeting was held at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum to review the results of the evaluation study on the museum’s archival work and peace education for Cambodia’s memorial sites. The meeting was led by H.E. Hab Touch, Permanent Secretary of State of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Mr. Flavio Bonetti, Head of the UNESCO Office in Phnom Penh, and Ms. Lee Sejin, Deputy Director of KOICA Cambodia, with the participation of 14 national and international experts and the museum’s technical team (including 7 women).
As a result of the meeting, Mr. Peter Arfanis gave a positive assessment of the progress of the Tuol Sleng archives over the last decade, evolving from the traditional maintenance of surviving S-21 records into digital archives with extensive data and photographs serving research purposes. The expert encouraged further professional strengthening and the implementation of key activities to complement sustainable archival conservation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Keo Duong, the national expert for evaluating the peace education program for Cambodia’s memorial sites, also provided a positive assessment of past education, dissemination, and participation from students and the community. The three Cambodian memorial sites (M-13, Tuol Sleng, and Choeung Ek) are world historical heritage sites that require strengthened dissemination across all educational levels, particularly in-depth education that allows youth to reflect on the history of violence to build a society with a spirit of peace and global citizenship.
It should be recalled that the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum archives were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2009. Furthermore, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, along with the former M-13 prison and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2025.
Currently, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is cooperating with UNESCO to implement Phase 2 of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archives Preservation and Digitization Project, which focuses on archival organization, heritage site conservation, and the dissemination of Khmer Rouge history.
