Since 2009, the UNESCO Office in Phnom Penh and the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts have been supporting an ambitious project, which is financed by the USA contribution to UNESCO, aiming to preserve the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and conserve in a safe way all the archives containing prisoner’s photos, confessions, biographies and Khmer rouge magazines.

This museum is a site of a tragic history that the Cambodian people and the worldwide community should not forget. Nearly 15,000 prisoners were held in this former high school that the Khmer rouge Regime transformed in the prison S-21 from 1975 to 1979.

For a sustainable conservation of the archives, which were inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2009, staff safety and improving visitor conditions, the museum buildings and infrastructure have been repaired without altering the historical vestiges of the Khmer rouge Regime. However, this work will continue and the archives will be digitalized.

This unique memory site is one of the only museums in Cambodia to focus on contemporary history. Moreover, through school visits, it plays a fundamental educational role for young people and students. Preserving and safeguarding the memory of this place is a way to foster a culture of peace and dialogue and prevent historical tragedies like this one from happening again.

Start Date: 21-01-2009   End Date: 21-12-2011

Philippe Delanghe
p.delanghe(at)unesco.org
Makara Hong
m.hong(at)unesco.org
Nao Hayashi
n.hayashi(at)unesco.org