Sotheara is a recipient of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his work driving public mental health facilities, programs and services. In the mid-1970s, Sotheara spent his childhood living in the midst of a war and genocidal rule. After Phnom Penh was liberated, he was among the first Cambodian psychiatrists to graduate from Phnom Penh’s University of Health Sciences. In the wake of years of war, roughly 40 percent of Cambodians were suffering from mental health problems. Sotheara took on a leading role and became the executive director of Cambodia’s Transcultural Psychosocial Organization in 2002. In the last 20 years, he has continued to drive community-based, psychosocial, capability-building and integrative mental health support.

(Photo: ResearchGate)