8. Sok Heng Ly
Sponsor District: 3350
Host Club: Brisbane High-Rise, District 9600
Sok Heng was born and raised in the post civil-war society of Cambodia in the 1990s. During his undergraduate studies, Sok Heng was selected to be a research assistant for the Peace Education Research Project. This opportunity allowed him to work with grassroots and international NGOs, government officials, a team of academics and local people in some of the least privileged and remotest parts of Cambodia. The research study focused on constructing an effective education model (formal and non-formal) and practices that aim to promote peace, encourage pacific conflict settlement, and support reconciliation in local village, among youth at school, and at the national level. This working experience enabled Sok Heng to strongly believe that education, particularly peace education, is critically important to build a stable and inclusive society in a war-torn country. 
In 2013, he became a faculty member at the Department of International Studies of the Royal University of Phnom Penh. In addition, he was selected to be a junior member of a research team at the Cambodia Development Institute (CDI).
In 2016, he began his postgraduate studies in International Relations. During this time, he was also selected and trained as an International Student Ambassador at the Victoria University of Wellington. Sok Heng’s work and interests cover regional and global governance, security, peace education, conflict transformation, and marginalised social groups.