The Program on Rights and Justice (PRAJ) is a human rights and rule of law program awarded to the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It aims to improve the quality of the justice sector and uphold human rights in Cambodia through training, technical assistance and grant-making. EWMI's main partner for PRAJ is ABA, the American Bar Association.

PRAJ works in seven priority areas by:

• Giving project grants, core grant assistance and capacity-building support to key human rights NGOs (non-governmental organizations), among them most of Cambodia’s legal aid providers;
  
• Giving advice and grant support to a high-impact advocacy initiative undertaken by CLEC, a leading Phnom Penh-based NGO;
  
• Providing support for key elements of the Royal Government of Cambodia’s legal and judicial reform program, through cooperation with the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform, the Ministry of Justice, and other Government institutions;
  
• Advising on and assisting with the training and outreach of future lawyers at the Royal University of Law and Economics and other universities;


• Advising on and assisting with the training of judges and prosecutors at the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions;


• Protecting Cambodia’s Biodiversity by helping local communities better advocate for their land and natural resource rights, and better protect the natural environments that sustain them; and
  
• Providing technical assistance to the Royal Government of Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior, so the Ministry can better fulfill its responsibilities to the citizens of Cambodia.
  

PRAJ also provides expert advice to NGOs, Government institutions and donors, including USAID and others, on aspects of law drafting and justice sector reform.

PRAJ’s current activities in these areas include:

GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PRAJ's grant-making activities help some 20 Cambodian NGOs develop focused human rights advocacy capabilities by funding key project initiatives, and by building these NGOs’ capacities in such fields as advocacy, planning, management, financial administration, grassroots outreach and financial sustainability. PRAJ commits substantial resources to NGOs in Phnom Penh and selected regions of Cambodia.

LEGAL AID AND OUTREACH PRAJ supports the development of key Cambodian legal aid NGOs through training, capacity-building and mentorship. PRAJ also supported the Royal Government’s Council for Legal and Judicial Reform (CLJR) in several fields, including a national survey of legal aid resources and needs. That survey identified ways to improve the provision of legal aid, and has led to further PRAJ interventions in the legal aid field.

PUBLIC INTEREST LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT (PILAP) PRAJ provides grant and advisory support to a high-impact legal advocacy project at CLEC (Community Legal Education Center), a leading Phnom Penh NGO. The advocacy project, PILAP, takes on cutting edge cases that highlight and seek to remedy deficiencies in the law.

TRAINING LEGAL and JUDICIAL PROFESSIONALS PRAJ is supporting the Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) in an innovative interactive teaching program. PRAJ is also providing training, curriculum, library and other support to the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions (RAJP), mainly for new-intake and mid-career judges and prosecutors.

BIODIVERSITY/GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY Premised upon the belief that local people can be the best defenders of the natural resources upon which they depend, PRAJ is helping forest communities advocate for their land and natural resource rights. The program aims to build networks of communities that will work together to defend land and livelihoods and protect biodiverse ecosystems.

ASSISTANCE TO MINISTRY OF INTERIOR PRAJ believes that reform can take place by working with the Royal Government of Cambodia. Accordingly, it has placed a legal advisor at the Ministry of Interior, working to increase the legal skills and capacity of Ministry staff, improve communication between the Ministry and civil society, and improve the Ministry’s investigation of and response to allegations of wrongdoing by government officials.