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FOREWORD
The purpose of
this report is to present a succinct update on progress that has been made
by the Royal Government of Cambodia to implement the Rome Declaration's
commitments to improve ODA effectiveness in order to achieve Cambodia’s
Millennium Development Goals. In Cambodia, aid coordination and management
has undergone a number of changes over the past several years in response
to an increasing flow of external assistance, to an increasing mix and
number of foreign and national players in development, and to a more
complex, cross-sector and multi-disciplinary development agenda. The Royal
Government of Cambodia (RGC) has set up management systems and
institutional mechanisms to support aid coordination and management
through the Council for the Development of Cambodia. However, in spite of
major improvements, the current situation is such that a significant
proportion of ODA still bypasses the National Budget process because of
the practice of direct funding by donor agencies to project implementers.
This situation has resulted in inadequate Government ownership of many
projects; in “piece-meal” efforts and insufficient coordination by donor
agencies on sectoral issues and institution building; in a proliferation
of different procurement, disbursement, auditing, and progress monitoring
and procedures among agencies; and in the formation of donor-supported
project management units staffed either by expatriates or by nationals
with "topped up" salaries, which have adversely impacted on Government’s
institution building efforts.
To respond to these concerns the Royal Government of Cambodia presented
its overall vision for a New Development Cooperation Partnership Paradigm
for Cambodia to improve ODA effectiveness at the 4th Consultative Group
Meeting held in Paris in May 2000. It was discussed, accepted in principle
and supported by all donor representatives present at that meeting. This
strategic vision was offered as ideas on the nature, structure and
implementation options for building partnerships to support the
achievement of Cambodia's national development goals through more
collaborative arrangements. The Royal Government has been working hard in
collaboration with its development partners to achieve this vision.
Soon after the launch of the New Development Cooperation Partnership
Paradigm for Cambodia, the Prime Minister appointed Cambodian
Rehabilitation and Development Board at the Council for the Development of
Cambodia (CDC/CRDB) to be the RGC’s Partnership Focal Point within the
Government. As the Partnerships’ Focal Point, CDC/CRDB is responsible for
coordinating and mobilizing resources for public investments, and to
provide support to ministries/agencies to enable them to effectively
manage the process of establishing partnership arrangements with
Cambodia’s national and external partners. The CDC/CRDB is also
responsible for expanding the aid management information systems within
the Government to ensure that there is a functioning government-wide
system to monitor the implementation of development programs, and for
coordinating with sector ministries on issues related to resource
mobilization.
An Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee to Strengthen Development
Cooperation Partnerships was established in April 2001. The purpose was to
ensure that key officials are seriously involved in policy decisions and
operational actions for capacity development, integration/enhancement of
information and monitoring systems, and for assessing progress and
identifying issues during the transition to fully functioning development
partnerships, covering dimensions such as procedural harmonization,
ownership, and capacity indicators. It is headed by the 1st Vice-chairman
of CDC. The membership of this Committee includes key officials in-charge
of partnership arrangements at the Secretary/Under-Secretary of State
level. The Secretary General of the CDC/CRDB also serves as the Secretary
General of the Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee. The Committee is
supported by a Secretariat, composed of the staff of CDC/CRDB.
At the 5th CG Meeting held in Tokyo in June 2001, the Royal Government
provided further elaboration on strategic implementation considerations
that should be taken into account in developing effective cooperation
partnerships with the development partners. At the 6th CG Meeting held in
Phnom Penh for the first time in June 2002, the Royal Government presented
a proposal to establish a Government-Donor Partnership Working Group. This
proposal was overwhelmingly endorsed and subsequently the Government-Donor
Partnership Working Group was established. In its deliberations the
Working Group agreed to begin its work by focusing on problems/issues for
which feasible solutions already exist and that can be agreed to and
implemented immediately. It was a pragmatic approach that assigned a high
priority to picking the readily accessible “low hanging fruits”. To began
its work the Working Group commissioned three studies to collect and
analyze the necessary background information and to outline feasible
solutions to tackle the harmonization issues. The purpose of these studies
was to provide to both the Government and the development partners factual
information and analysis on donors practices to tackle the harmonization
and alignment issues based on facts rather than perceptions. The three
studies focused on: (i) the capacity building practices of Cambodia's
development partners, (ii) practices and lessons learned in the management
of development cooperation; and (iii) preparation of national operational
guidelines for development cooperation. The first two studies have been
completed. Also, the first draft of the third study has been prepared.
The
Government-Donor Partnership Working Group has also been busy in
supporting both the work of the OECD/DAC on examining harmonization and
alignment issues in Cambodia's context, in particular the preparation of
Royal Government's Action Plan on Harmonization and Alignment, and in
discussions on the restructuring of the Working Groups under the CG
mechanism. In Cambodia, several Working Groups under the CG mechanism have
existed to monitor progress on specific policy issues since 1999. To
strengthen this monitoring mechanism under the CG process, over the past
year the Royal Government and development partners have had extensive
discussions on how to restructure the working groups in order to enhance
aid effectiveness and to bring a greater coherence to ODA supported
activities. The Secretary General of CDC/CRDB, as the Chairman of the
Government-Donor Partnership Working Group, submitted a proposal to the
development partners on the basic principles for restructuring the working
groups in October 2003. After extensive discussions an agreement on the
basic principles to restructure the working groups was reached.
At the Pre-CG Meeting held on 10 September 2004, Samdech Hun Sen, the
Prime Minister endorsed the proposal to create 17 Joint Technical Working
Groups at the sector/thematic level. To ensure coordination among the 17
joint technical working groups, he also endorsed the proposal to:
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Create a “Government-Donor Coordination
Committee (GDCC)” to provide policy guidance, to set priorities, and to
propose measures to solve problems raised by joint technical working
groups. The GDCC is Chaired by Senior Minister, Minister of Economy and
Finance and the 1st Vice-chairman of CDC. The membership of the GDCC
includes Ministers or heads of government agencies, Ambassadors or heads
of diplomatic missions, and heads of multilateral institutions.
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The Government-Donor Coordination Committee
will be assisted by a Secretariat. This Secretariat is located at the
Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board (CRDB) at CDC.
The first
meeting of the GDCC was held on 2 December 2004 just before the 7th CG
Meeting that was held in Phnom Penh on 6-7 December 2004 to review and
agree on monitoring indicators under the CG process. I am encouraged by
the fact that because of the existence of this mechanism, for the first
time in the CG process, we have had an opportunity to openly discuss and
review the indictors to monitor progress. The next meeting of the GDCC is
planned to be held on 7 March 2005 to review jointly, Government and
donors, progress that has been made on monitoring indicators agreed to at
the last CG Meeting.
I am pleased to report that to monitor progress on the implementation of
Rome Declaration's commitments, the Royal Government's Action Plan on
Harmonization and Alignment has been prepared through a long process of
consultations with the development partners. The Action Plan was approved
by the Cabinet on 19 November 2004. I am also pleased to report that the
Royal Government and 12 development partners who have shown a willingness
to support the implementation of the Action Plan on Harmonization and
Alignment signed a Declaration on 2 December 2004.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our development
partners for their support. The Royal Government, on its part, remains
committed to improving ODA effectiveness to maximize its benefits for the
people of Cambodia. On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia I would
like to express our appreciation to the Government of France for hosting
this very important meeting aimed at enhancing ODA effectiveness through
harmonization of donor practices and alignment of ODA supported activities
with national priorities. I would also like to take this opportunity to
thank H.E. Chhieng Yanara, Secretary General of the Cambodian
Rehabilitation Board at the Council for the Development of Cambodia for
his dedication and tireless efforts to enhance ODA effectiveness to
maximize its benefit of our people.
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Phnom Penh, 9
February 2005
KEAT CHHON, MP
Senior Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance
and First Vice-Chairman of the CDC |
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