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Public Administration and Decentralisation Reforms
Remarks on behalf of the Donor Community
By UNDP Resident Representative & UN Resident Coordinator, Douglas Gardner
Pre-CG Meeting, 10 September 2004
I am honoured
to provide some brief remarks on Public Administration and
Decentralisation reforms that represent the consolidated input from a
number of your international partners. The development partners of the RGC
are pleased to see that these two crucial reform areas have been placed at
the very centre of the Royal Government’s policy agenda and the recently
adopted “Rectangular Strategy”.
Public
Administration Reform
Indeed, as
highlighted in the RGC draft National Programme for Administrative Reform
of August 2004 a competent and transparent public administration able to
deliver high quality services to the people of Cambodia, including poor
and vulnerable groups, is a prerequisite for development and prosperity
necessary to reach Cambodia’s Millennium Development Goals.
In order to
address the challenges of low pay, weak administrative capacity and the
need for rationalisation of the civil service structure and employment
levels, the immediate challenge for the new government is to accelerate
the pace and scope of implementing public sector reform. Having discussed
and studied this subject in earlier CG meetings, the moment is ripe for
action and subsequent analysis of results. We, therefore, support the
Government’s strategic approach being centred on three building blocks:
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Rationalising civil
service structure and the number of employees to arrive at an
optimal size and allocation of the civil service work force for
efficient service delivery at national and local level: this can be
reinforced by an employment strategy for civil servants based on a
functional review at all levels to determine appropriate institutional
arrangements, organisational processes and staffing of government
operations. As an outcome of such a functional review, a comprehensive
human resource development plan to strengthen the capacity of staff at
all levels of government will be possible.
Strengthening civil service management through the further
development of a performance management system and the devolution of
roles and responsibilities to lower levels of the government
administration by introducing effective monitoring mechanisms and a
human resource management system that is fully integrated with the
budget process. This would also mean transparent sharing and
availability of civil servant rosters.
Increasing civil service salaries to competitive remuneration
levels in order to attract and retain skilled staff and to reduce the
likelihood of corruption. Opportunities lie in increasing the overall
revenues through greater effectiveness in tax collection, streamlining
the civil service workforce and capacity building of service
providers. These actions can best be undertaken in a targeted and
sequenced manner focusing on cohorts of civil servants in high
priority areas -- in particular in the health and education sectors as
well as in public financial management. |
To illustrate
the importance of the above points, take a look for a moment at health
care. At present Health sector salaries are inadequate and sometimes paid
late - both of which impact morale and quality of services. If adequate
salaries and benefits were paid to health workers in difficult rural
areas, and these workers were well supervised and supplied, we would
expect to see an improvement in the delivery of the proven and simple
interventions which save children’s lives. One could also pursue this
analysis in other sectors.
To implement
the points on Public Administration Reform, we would invite consideration
be given to reinforcing clear mandates, lines of communications and
methods of working for different aspects of the public administration
reform process between the many key government institutions who are
involved. Furthermore, given the scarcity of resources, public
administration reform efforts may wish to focus immediate efforts on a
limited number of crucial measures. Additionally, a comprehensive civil
service salary reform strategy will need to address distortions created
through varying donor salary supplementation practices as well as other ad
hoc mechanisms applied in government ministries. The donor community looks
forward to the completion of CAR’s study programme over the next few
months and the timely adoption of a new civil service reform policy
thereafter.
Decentralisation Reform
Directly linked
to public administration reform is the system of governance at the sub
national level in Cambodia. In this regard the RGC should be applauded for
the considerable progress achieved in implementing the decentralization
reforms such as the enactment of the Commune Administration Law in early
2001 and election of Commune Councils in 2002. Bringing citizens closer to
decisions that impact their lives and having locally elected officials
accountable to citizens that they serve has been a winning formula around
the globe and at the heart of successful decentralization.
To tap further
the full benefits of decentralization for the citizens of Cambodia, key
opportunities that lie ahead include:
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D & D Strategic
Framework: The RGC’s long-term policy and strategy for
implementing decentralization and de-concentration reform is now being
developed as a strategic framework as directed by you, Mr. Prime
Minister. The process for developing and implementing the framework
will build a consensus of a Cambodian vision supported by the
appropriate institutional arrangements, and is highly commended by the
international community. Having such a nationally and locally owned
framework will allow D & D to move forward in a synchronized and
coherent manner which is important for Government to become more
responsive to citizens. It will also help to ensure that D & D is
integrated with the broader public administration and public financial
management reform processes. Additionally, the Government’s D&D
Strategic Framework will serve as the roadmap for your partners to
harmonise their assistance.
Organic law: Administrative structures and the roles and functions
at the provincial, district and commune levels need to be clearly
defined to ensure that services are delivered in a responsive,
efficient and cost-effective manner. Establishing the functions,
decision making paths and accountability of administrative officials
and service providers at all levels will be, we understand, the thrust
of a new organic law. Such formal rationalizing of the functioning of
these two efforts could give a major boost to the efficiency of public
services throughout the nation. We support the development of this
organic law and recognise the need for negotiation and consensus
building over a realistic time scale that will be identified in the
D&D Strategic Framework.
Commune Councils: The election of Commune Councils has been a
major step forward in bringing democracy closer to the local level. In
addition to the all important choices at the ballot box in 2002,
citizens now have a better chance for their voices and opinions to be
heard by their elected officials at the Commune level. The further
reinforcement of the Commune Councils is a critical element of the
path to deepen democracy and reduce poverty. In that regard, we
acknowledge the recent agreement to pilot commercial bank accounts for
CS Councils in 2005 in line with the principles of decentralised local
governance. At present, overall fiscal constraints limit the critical
role of CCs in providing services. To ensure sustainability of
communes as viable entities, there now is an opportunity to identify
and devolve own-source revenues for CCs. This will enable them to play
a more effective role in addressing the priority needs of the
populations that they serve. |
The development partners remain fully
committed to support Government efforts in public administration reform
and decentralization -- both of which are central for Cambodia to
implement the rectangular strategy and to reach the Millennium targets for
2005, 2010 and 2015. |
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