PRAJ initiatives for the months of May and June 2006 included the following:

• A new RFA (request for applications) for grant proposals from human rights NGOs in Phnom Penh and nationwide. Some 75 proposals were received by the closing date in late May. 25 of these will be selected in July by a joint USAID-PRAJ Grant Review Committee. Proposals received dealt with projects focusing on strengthening civil and political rights; upholding rights to key resources including land; and protecting the rights of women, children and other disadvantaged groups
  
• Through support for the NGO Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), hands-on advocacy for the community of hundreds of poor families being forcibly evicted from a site on the Bassac river in Phnom Penh that is earmarked for redevelopment. An ABA (American Bar Association) Advisor working for EWMI-PRAJ is helping CLEC prepare litigation contesting some of the evictions
  
• Training workshops with external resource people (Marlon Manuel, Bernard Alfonso) on security and legal advocacy for some 120 NGO lawyers and activists, part of a series of capacity-building training workshops and other initiatives for leading NGOs that PRAJ is organizing between now and September 2006. These capacity-building initiatives are based on a thorough survey of NGO needs, done by means of an OCA (Organizational Capacity Assessment) process
  
• Completion of the field work for a national survey of legal aid needs, done for the Royal Government's Council for Legal and Judicial Reform (CLJR). Findings will result in PRAJ initiatives with government and the private sector, building on existing PRAJ support for key NGO legal aid providers


• Training by an internationally-renowned consultant (Delaine Swenson) of selected faculty professors at the Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) in new interactive teaching techniques. The trainees will develop new teaching materials for RULE courses to be taught from September 2006 on. Agreement with the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions (RAJP) on various initiatives including a new teaching program that will include a new course on land law, to be taught to new intake judges and prosecutors from August 2006
  
• Intensive capacity-building support by a highly qualified specialist consultant (Richard Rogers) for Cambodia's only Court Watch program. The program is managed by the NGO Center for Social Development (CSD)
  
• EWMI's successful Legal Fellows Program, now midway through its first cycle. This unique program has involved placing ten young lawyers with human rights NGOs in the field, giving them practical experience of providing pro bono services to needy clients and communities
  
• Finalized plans for an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Royal Government's Ministry of Justice, providing for support for improved court administration and other initiatives