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4.2 GOVERNANCE |
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207.
As the Prime Minister, Samdech Hun Sen has said on numerous
occasions, good governance is the backbone of sustainable development,
social justice and thus to poverty alleviation. It is also an effective
lever to translate development efforts into real benefits for the people
and to sharing wealth. Good governance is key to reducing inequalities and
inequities within the Cambodian society. It is a cornerstone to peace,
political stability and social justice, conditions precedent without which
nothing else could come to fruition. 208.
The Governance Action Plan (GAP) brings governance related
initiatives within the jurisdiction of the Royal Government under a common
umbrella framework. By nature, the GAP is a rolling strategic plan to be
updated periodically in consultations with stakeholders. The objective is
to coordinate efforts and to monitor progress better. Concerned ministries
and reform councils are responsible for implementation in their respective
areas of jurisdiction in collaboration with their development partners.
Other sections of this Position Paper amplify on progress and needs from a
sectoral perspective. A companion document, the Aide Memoire on Governance
together with its annex summarizes progress made in each identified
initiative. 209.
The Royal Government is also circulating a draft update of the GAP
to initiate consultations with all stakeholders in the weeks and months
following the CG. The
objective is to introduce new initiatives to follow up on progress made
and to go further in our quest for good governance. New priority
initiatives evolve around needs and issues in social development,
investment and commerce, democratization, administrative reform and
anti-corruption. 210.
Over the last year, the Royal Government has made important strides
in implementing its GAP albeit more so in some areas than in others.
Progress made in legal and judiciary reform is a case in point. The Royal
Government requires substantial technical and financial assistance on a
broad front to achieve its governance objectives. Again other sections of
this paper and its companion Aide Memoire on Governance amplify. REFORM OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 211. During the current phase of the implementation of the National Program for Administrative Reform (NP AR), the strategy has been to rationalize the Administration and to improve motivation in order to transform it into a more productive and responsive institution. The implementation of the planned activities over the next few years will require significant external support that has yet to be secured. 212. Over the next twelve months, i.e. the period to the
next Consultative Group meeting, the CAR Secretariat will continue to
concentrate on implementing the approved Strategy to Rationalize the Civil
Service. In particular, building on the successes, efforts will be focused
on the following priorities.
213.
The Aide Memoire on Administrative Reform amplifies on the course
of action over the next period. Financial and technical assistance is
required in each of the above areas. DEMOBILIZATION 214.
The RGC remains firm in its resolve to continue with the reform
of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces specially through military
demobilization. Building on the experiences and lessons learnt from the
Pilot demobilization program and the strong moral, material and financial
support from the donor community, the Council for the Demobilization of
Armed Forces had successfully completed by late last year the discharge of
the first batch of 15,000 military personnel plus their family members.
The process of this first full-scale reduction-in-force was carried out in
an orderly, manageable, efficient, smooth, transparent, accountable and
timely manner, as planned, without any problems or incidents. 215.
This year the CDAF
will continue to closely cooperate with the Donor Working Group on
Demobilization to procure and deliver the four options of reintegration
assistance packages as well as other assistance planned in the
demobilization program to the 15,000 veterans who had been discharged last
year. The CDAF will also begin to lay the foundation for the second
full-scale demobilization of another 15,000 soldiers to
achieve RGC’s target of reducing the armed forces by a total of 55,000
soldiers over a period of five years. 216. The Royal Government will continue to seek support
and funding from its external partners to further reduce the size of the
Royal Cambodian Armed Forces following the successful completion of the
first target. LEGAL
AND JUDICIAL REFORMS
217.
The ultimate objective of the legal and judicial reforms is to
provide the conditions necessary for a robust private sector as agent of
growth and the protection of personal and property rights. With the
assistance of the World Bank the Royal Government is developing a
comprehensive, well coordinated and participatory framework to legal and
judicial reform, based on full stakeholder participation, close
partnership with donors, and strict adherence to a strategic framework
common to all development partners.
218.
The reform is a critical element of the Royal Government change
agenda in its pursuit of sustainable development and social justice. The
Government has been unrelenting in its attempts at completing the legal
framework. Major new laws and regulations have been promulgated and are
now being implemented. They cover a wide spectrum from the management of
natural resources such as land, fisheries and forestry and wild life, to
providing the private sector and the market economy with an appropriate
framework and all the way to family violence and human trafficking.
Important progress has also been made to reform the judicial system with
the establishment of the Royal School for Judicial Training, for example. 219.
Following comprehensive diagnostic studies, a strategy and course
of action is being prepared with the assistance of the World Bank. To help
speed up the process technical assistance has been mobilized. The Royal
Government is determined to accelerate the pace in close cooperation with
its development partners with the World Bank acting in a coordinating
capacity among donors. The work underway entails the finalization of the
Strategy and Action Plan; the mapping of initiatives underway or planned;
and, the development of a fully articulated project together with work
plans. 220.
The strategy is being articulated along seven component parts per
the Aide Memoire already circulated: (i) further articulating the
strategy; (ii) streamlining the law making process within the Executive
Branch; (iii) supporting the regular publication of the Official Gazette;
(iv) creation a tri-lingual lexicon of legal terms; (v) developing
elementary judicial tools through pilot courts' schemes; (vi) the training
of judges and supporting the Royal School of Magistracy; and, (vii) the
training of lawyers and supporting the Cambodian Bar. 221. Technical assistance has been deployed to assist the Royal Government empower the management of the reform and to address elements of the strategy such as the streamlining and strengthening of the law formulation process and the preparation of a Master List of priority laws. However, significant technical and financial assistance will be required for the pace of reform to accelerate. |
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