Communities threatened with displacement typically face significant barriers to accessing critical information about their rights or avenues for defending those rights. These communities are also often unaware that companies, donor agencies, multilateral institutions and governments have obligations to protect and respect their rights and are in many cases acting in contravention of their obligations by forcibly displacing people in the name of development. In addition, communities facing development-based displacement are frequently unaware that numerous other communities across the region are experiencing similar struggles and have in many cases implemented successful resistance strategies that could be replicated. As a consequence of this lack of information and awareness, vulnerable communities are too often excluded from decision-making processes about the direction and shape of development. In many cases, it simply does not occur to people that they could and should have a voice in the development agenda.
The Community Guide project was initiated to address these significant barriers to just and inclusive development. The Community Guide is a comprehensive popular education resource for people who are facing displacement as a result of development. It contains information and activities that help communities facing eviction understand their rights under national and international law, and develop skills and advocacy strategies to defend their rights. The Guide includes a stand-alone informational resource for community advocates, as well as a Facilitators’ Edition complete with interactive activities and lesson plans that grassroots facilitators can use to empower threatened communities and help people understand the information, take part in discussions, and learn important skills, even if they cannot read or write. This way, everyone can participate in planning what actions they will take to defend their rights and those of their community.
After more than two years of hard work, BABSEA and our partners successfully launched A Cambodian Guide to Defending Land and Housing Rights, Volume I at an international conference in Phnom Penh from 26-30 October 2009. The conference aimed to help strengthen the global movement against forced displacement and teach participants how they can use the Guide as a tool to help communities defend their lands and ways of life. The conference kicked off on October 26th with a special event to launch the Guide, including a keynote address by Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, and a field visit to the Boeung Kak lake area, where 4000 families are currently facing forced eviction from their homes. The launch event was followed by a four-day workshop for 54 community activists and facilitators from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, East Timor, Laos, Vietnam and Burma.
During the workshop, the Cambodian activists continued their training as Community Guide facilitators, which BABSEA has been conducting throughout 2009. They practiced teaching lessons on advocacy strategies from the 3rd Book in the three-book volume and they developed their plans for conducting community trainings across the country. Meanwhile, international participants learned how to use the Guide and how to develop their own popular education resources. Participants also shared ideas and strategies for working across borders to build a regional movement in Asia to challenge unjust development and forced displacement through popular education and community empowerment.
BABSEA is now developing the next volume of the Cambodian Guide, which focuses on developing skills for challenging displacement. These include community organizing, engaging existing grassroots networks, conducting evidence-based media and political advocacy, negotiation skills, organizing non-violent direct actions and pursuing international grievance mechanisms such as the World Bank Inspection Panel.
A major project of the CELA program in 2008-2009 has been the development of the Community Guide to Defending Land and Housing Rights. This is a collaborative initiative between BABSEA and our partner organizations, the 
After more than two years of hard work, BABSEA and our partners successfully launched A Cambodian Guide to Defending Land and Housing Rights, Volume I at an international conference in Phnom Penh from 26-30 October 2009. The conference aimed to help strengthen the global movement against forced displacement and teach participants how they can use the Guide as a tool to help communities defend their lands and ways of life. The conference kicked off on October 26th with a special event to launch the Guide, including a keynote address by Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, and a field visit to the Boeung Kak lake area, where 4000 families are currently facing forced eviction from their homes. The launch event was followed by a four-day workshop for 54 community activists and facilitators from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, East Timor, Laos, Vietnam and Burma. 
During the workshop, the Cambodian activists continued their training as Community Guide facilitators, which BABSEA has been conducting throughout 2009. They practiced teaching lessons on advocacy strategies from the 3rd Book in the three-book volume and they developed their plans for conducting community trainings across the country. Meanwhile, international participants learned how to use the Guide and how to develop their own popular education resources. Participants also shared ideas and strategies for working across borders to build a regional movement in Asia to challenge unjust development and forced displacement through popular education and community empowerment. 
BABSEA is now developing the next volume of the Cambodian Guide, which focuses on developing skills for challenging displacement. These include community organizing, engaging existing grassroots networks, conducting evidence-based media and political advocacy, negotiation skills, organizing non-violent direct actions and pursuing international grievance mechanisms such as the World Bank Inspection Panel.