AKP Phnom Penh, April 11, 2025 -- 

In her address at this year’s Universal Peace Federation (UPF) World Summit in Seoul on April 11, themed “Contemporary Challenges to World Order: Establishing a New Era of Peace and Prosperity,” Samdech Maha Rathsapheathika Thipadei Khuon Sudary, President of the National Assembly of Cambodia, emphasised the critical relevance of the summit in today's complex global landscape. 

She stated that the World Summit serves as an essential open and safe space for reflection, learning, sharing, and taking concrete actions towards achieving world peace, asserting that “actions speak louder than words.”

Samdech Khuon Sudary noted that the international order is currently under unprecedented stress and disruption, marked by a deficit of strategic trust and the erosion of multilateralism. 

The world is at an inflection point characterised by vulnerability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, further compounded by rising geopolitical polarisation and economic fragmentation.

She pointed out that the decline of the rules-based international order presents existential threats to world peace and security. 

Challenges such as strategic trust deficits, economic decoupling, protracted conflicts, technological disruptions, environmental degradation, and the worsening climate crisis require urgent, coordinated, and multidimensional responses.

“Peace is hard to build and even harder to sustain,” she emphasised, highlighting that lasting peace must be cultivated through deliberate and sustained engagement.

She advocated for a trust-based, results-oriented multilateralism anchored in international law and inclusive global governance, contrasting it with zero-sum games that prioritise unilateral advantages over collective well-being.

Reflecting on Cambodia's own history, marked by conflict, she shared valuable insights into peacebuilding and post-conflict nation-building. 

Cambodia's journey from civil war to national reconciliation, economic revitalisation, and international reintegration offers instructive lessons for other nations grappling with instability.

To sustain peace and stability, Samdech Khuon Sudary affirmed that Cambodia is implementing measures to prevent extremism, which she described as a significant threat to peace and tolerance.

 “Countering violent extremism is not enough; we must prevent it,” she stated, arguing for the urgent need to disarm the processes of radicalisation.

The National Assembly of Cambodia is actively fostering international collaboration aimed at peace, tolerance, and prosperity through robust parliamentary diplomacy.

Samdech Khuon Sudary highlighted the assembly's key functions of lawmaking, oversight, and representation, noting that parliamentary diplomacy has emerged as a crucial additional pillar.

“As representatives of the people, elected parliamentarians have a duty to uphold the interests and aspirations of their constituents, especially concerning peace and prosperity,” she concluded. She underlined that security and prosperity are inherently connected, asserting with pride that Cambodia has transformed from a war zone into a successful post-conflict nation, on track to achieving higher-middle-income status by 2030 and high-income status by 2050.

By Chea Vannak