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I. BRIEF BACKGROUND

In organizational and legal terms Yosothor is a new creation. Yosothor was born, however, after a long period of gestation, summarized below.

At the start, in 2000, two scholars established a journal of Khmer studies entitled Udaya. In the wake of this academic initiative, the need to popularize knowledge was increasingly felt. Other colleagues, teachers, students… joined the small team to set up a second cultural information network, KhmeRenaissance, comprising two publication formats: online and in print. These achievements were made possible with the initial assistance of The Japan Foundation and the Cambodian APSARA Authority, and subsequently that of “Friends of Khmer Culture, Inc. (FOKCI) until 2019. It was on this foundation that the team decided to establish a more stable structure: Yosothor.

II. STRUCTURE

Yosothor is a non-profit non-governmental organization with a strong cultural focus. It is recognized by the Cambodian Ministry of the Interior with the following organizational chart.

1. Board of Directors

The Board of Directors’ role is to provide general directives to the Executive Committee and to oversee their implementation. It is composed of:

2. Executive Committee

This committee is composed of seven members whose respective tasks are indicated in the above chart.

3. Supporting members

At present Yosothor boasts some twenty Supporting Members.

4. Friends of Yosothor

Friends of Yosothor consist of all types of donors providing an annual contribution. As of our online launch, Yosothor boasts 50 Friends. We hope to increase the number of donors.

III. ACTIVITIES

Yosothor currently has a two-pronged program of activities:

  1. Organizing six public lectures per year. These lectures, relating to Khmer culture, are held in collaboration with the Royal University of Fine Arts: as a general guideline, in January, March, May, July, September and November.
  2. Publishing periodicals and books both in print and electronic formats.
  3. Udaya is our annually-published journal of Khmer studies, whose first issue appeared in 2000. In its printed edition, from issues 1 to 4, the journal benefitted from the assistance of The Japan Foundation and the APSARA Authority; issues 5 to 10 were supported by Friends of Khmer Culture, Inc. From 2014, with a five-year-assistance package from the Friends of Khmer Culture, Inc. the journal will be published online. Udaya’s latest issue (No.13) appears online in 2015.
  4. 4. KhmeRenaissance is our cultural publication addressed to a non-academic Khmer-speaking audience, appearing online and in print. KhmeRenaissance was launched in December 2005. The printed edition contains all items posted online in each previous year. The issues # 1 to # 10 were funded by the Friends of Khmer Culture, # 11 to # 14 entirely by Yosothor. From the issue # 15 on, KhmeRenaissance is jointly produced by Yosothor and the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA).
  5. Books. It is envisaged that one work on Khmer culture will be published every 18 months. The first of these, funded by Heritage Watch, was a Handbook of Old-Khmer Epigraphy, published in November 2013.
  6. Research: As a first step, research implementation should respond to specific and rather small topics, not trespassing two months of length. It must produce, for example, an article for KhmeRenaissance, or a chapter for a book…

IV. INCOME SOURCES

Yosothor’s revenue comes mainly from five sources:

  1. Friends of Khmer Culture Inc. (FOKCI), to whom we owe so much, ceased its activities in 2019, therefore ended the subsidy to Yosothor.
  2. Annual donations by Cambodians and others living in Cambodia and abroad. The periodic contribution is given here simply as an indication. Donations can also be made more regularly.
  3. Annual contribution of Friends of Yosothor, at a minimum of 100,000 Riel (or $25 or € 20).
  4. We receive from Hanumantourism a monthly contribution of $200 for our running expenses.
  5. We receive as well a monthly contribution of $100 from Museum Café.
  6. External funding for specific projects, mainly for publications.

Contact: yosothor@gmail.com