23/08/2026
Monychenda Heng is a Cambodian scholar, former Buddhist monk, and founding director of Buddhism for Development (BFD), an organization he established in 1990 to promote socially engaged Buddhism as a force for peace and national healing. His life’s work emerged from profound hardship: after surviving nearly four years under the Khmer Rouge regime, he fled to the Cambodian-Thai border, where he became a Buddhist monk—a vocation he followed for 17 years, until 1997.
While living in the Site 2 refugee camp, he directed the Khmer Buddhist Research Centre from 1985 to 1992, studying how Buddhist principles could help prevent Cambodia’s tragedies from recurring. In 1993, under the UN repatriation program, he returned to Cambodia and rebuilt BFD at Wat Anlongvil in Battambang province. The organization has since expanded to more than 150 staff and seven provincial branches across Battambang, Pailin, Banteay Meanchey, Oddor Meanchey, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, and Preah Vihear.
Monychenda earned his MA in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 1998. He is widely recognized as a leading authority on Cambodian Buddhism, having authored numerous books and papers on Buddhist values, reconciliation, and development. He continues to lead BFD today, mentoring monks and communities in conflict resolution and social change.
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