CDC - 6th Consultative Group Meeting Speech by Sar Kheng

6^th Consultative Group Meeting Speech By H.E. Mr. Sar Kheng Deputy Prime Minister, Co-Minister of Interior and Co-chairmen of National Committee to Support Commune/Sangkat. Phnom Penh 21, June 2002 Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

On behalf of the National Committee to Support Commune/Sangkat and myself, I would like to express my profound and deepest gratitude to International Donor Community for your support provided to the implementation of decentralization policy in Cambodia. With your valuable assistances all 1621 commune/sangkat council were elected through the principle of free democracy and have been established for 4 months. The process of democratic and decentralized local administration is the first of it kind to be held in the history of local management in Cambodia. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to respond to certain questions and outline some important factors as follow: DECENTRALIZATION AND POVERTY REDUCTION Under the Law on Administration and Management of Commune/sangkat, every commune council has wide responsibilities to promote the good governance and general interests of its community, and to advance the contentment and well being of its residents. Councils must facilitate the provision of public services, promote social and economic development, and to upgrade the living standards and quality of life of its residents. In due course, councils will be given more specific powers and functions that develop these broad themes, either as their own responsibility, or as agents of the central government. The proper implementation of these responsibilities should raise the level of social and economic development in the commune. Hopefully this social and economic development will also impact directly or indirectly on alleviating poverty. However, it is necessary to be more specific. Every year, each council must Evaluate the level of development in its commune, Identify the needs of the commune, Prioritize those needs in relation to available resources, Prepare and implement programs that respond to those needs, and Report on the outcome to its residents. Prepare and implement programs that respond to those needs, and Report on the outcome to its residents. All these steps must be done in an inclusive manner, involving residents, civil society, every village community, NGOs and other agencies in the commune. This process provides a clear and open opportunity for the council and every other stakeholder —including the poor - to identify poverty as a deficiency in their commune. It also enables the council and every interested stakeholder to establish poverty reduction as a priority that requires a specific place in the council development plan. We must always remember that we have to deal with both rural and urban poverty. The combination of a council’s broad governmental responsibilities with the mechanisms for participatory governance, provide an excellent basis for— Identifying special needs to alleviate poverty, Facilitating measures to alleviate it, and Monitoring the results. However, it is wrong to believe that giving all interested people the opportunity to participate is sufficient on its own. People in poverty are often shy, silent and unheard. They do not easily make their special needs known without special support. Nor is there any guarantee that their voice will be heard. There is no easy answer to this. However, it is crucial that all commune residents, and especially the poor, get access to capacity building, public education and orientation programs. They must know their right to demand attention, how to make their special needs known, and to require reasonable responses from their councils. The poor must be encouraged to use the structures of civil society to articulate their needs. Councils, on their part, must be made aware of their obligation to listen to their residents, and to encourage the rural and urban poor to articulate, protect and advance their needs and interests. This must be part of the capacity building program and the creation of a ‘culture of democracy” to which reference has already been made. Decentralization through elected commune councils is certainly not the answer to poverty alleviation, which clearly requires a more comprehensive attack. However, decentralization as structured in Cambodia offers enormous options and opportunities that would not otherwise be available. We must all seize and exploit these advantages to the utmost. The decentralized councils of Cambodia can also be used for the deconcentration of central government activity. Councils could, for example, act as delegated agents of the central government for significant aspects of education, health services, agricultural support, housing, and public works. All of these matters impact on poverty reduction. Cambodia now has 1.621 new representative, responsive and accountable institutions, and 11, 261 new minds to focus on these issues. In dealing with poverty and other issues, a council is required to try to mobilize all available policy, technical and financial resources to assist it. These resources include the central government and its relevant ministries, and local, national and international NGOs and other agencies. NGOs and other agencies must also play their part by coordinating their affairs as far as possible through the commune council and the commune development plan. ROLE OF GOVERNORS Commune councils are autonomous institutions of governance. However, they are not sovereign. They are subject to the Constitution and the Laws and other valid legislative instruments of Cambodia. Provided that councils comply with these Laws and legislative instruments, they must have the right to operate autonomously — or freely and independently. This autonomy requires capacity and resources, including adequate human and financial resources. These dual activities, ensuring legality and ensuring capacity, cannot be undertaken from Phnom Penh. The NCSC has therefore given provincial governors responsibility to - Ensure that decisions by councils are legal, and Ensure that councils get necessary support and capacity building.
In order to give effect to these responsibilities, the governors must monitor (or observe) key components of council activity. Where appropriate, the governor must intervene and require a council to follow the correct legal procedures, and where necessary, the governor must ensure that a council gets technical and other support to enable it to do so. Governors do not have any other general or special authority to control or regulate the councils. Where a governor, or a ministry, is required by legislative instrument to approve any activity of a council — such as the budget or development plan — that approval must be confined to certification of legality. No person can use this opportunity to substitute or replace the decision of the council. Governors must also ensure that any delegations from ministries to councils are made and implemented according to the policy of the NCSC. This policy requires that any delegation to a council must be accompanied by full financial and other resources for implementation. FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION The Royal Government will allocate a percentage of domestic revenue to the Commune Fund, rising from the current 1% in 2002, to a minimum of 2% in 2003, 2.4% in 2004 and 2.8% in 2005. For 2003-2005, this amounts to a minimum of approximately $ 34 million. Under the Commune Law, councils are also entitled to their own local revenues in the form of local taxes, charges, fees, and re-imbursement for agency services. Taxes include land tax, tax on immovable properties and rental tax. National legislation is needed to determine these revenues. Councils must be empowered to raise their own revenues from a wide range of sources and options as soon as possible. This is essential to stimulate the provision and ownership of local services and local development projects, to promote fiscal responsibility, and to ensure that councils enhance their own autonomy. The impact, feasibility and type of a diverse range of local revenues must be studied, including revenue sharing between the levels of government, and generating new areas of revenue. These issues must be substantially resolved and in operation before 2007. COMMUNE COUNCIL STAFF During 2001, one permanent official (the commune clerk) for every commune was trained in commune council law and administration, and was appointed to each commune council by the Ministry of Interior. This was done in order to provide basic administrative support to the future communes. Councils are specifically authorized to appoint their own staff according to their needs. This is likely to happen as and when councils expand their responsibilities and financial resources. International experience will be valuable in deciding whether each council employ, train and appoint staff in isolation, or whether each council should appoint trained staff from a national local government service that is separate from the national civil service. GENDER IN COMMUNE COUNCILS Commune council elections 75,655 candidates were registered. 12,378 or 16.34% were women. This is proportionately higher than in 1998. Ranking on the lists was spread, resulting in 951, or 8.5% women being elected. 28,277 national observers were deployed on election day at polling stations. 2,552 were women. NCSC The Minister of Women and Veterans’ Affairs is a permanent member of the NCSC. Councils Every council must appoint a woman councilor for womens’ and childrens’ affairs. If a council does not have a woman councilor it must appoint a woman for this purpose. An appointed person can attend every council and council-committee meeting and participate but cannot vote. Every council must select a village chief. Every village chief must appoint a deputy chief and an assistant chief. At least one of the three must be a woman. STATUS OF MUNICIPALITIES, PROVINCES AND DISTRICTS Decentralization is a long-term enterprise affecting all aspects of governance and the delivery of services. There will be many challenges and issues that must be resolved. Amongst these matters is the status of municipalities, provinces and districts. In common with other countries, Cambodia is experiencing a dramatic growth in urbanization. It is essential that its nature, extent and impact on rural and urban areas should be studied. An urbanization policy must be formulated and adopted. This will inevitably require consideration impact on the most appropriate system of municipal/urban government. The capital city, Phnom Penh, requires special attention. Phnom Penh is a municipality in terms of the Constitution and is under the jurisdiction of a governor appointed through the Royal Government. However, the municipality also has 76 elected commune councils within its area of jurisdiction. A specific strategy and program is required to avoid fragmentation and ensure the coherent management and development of the metropolitan area. Deconcentration and decentralization directly affect provinces and districts. Appropriate intergovernmental relations between the various levels and agencies of government must be established. This raises the need to study and ‘evaluate the most appropriate role, organization and management system for provincial and district governance. Studies, options and strategies to deal with all these matters should start. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Decentralization and local governance in Cambodia is the long path to travel. The most challenging issues are shortages of human resources, financial resources and experiences. I would like to express my profound and deepest gratitude to the international community for the support that they provided. I hope that during continue implementation, you still going on support to decentralization process and decentralized local governance in Cambodia. Thanks you for your attention!