|
[BACK] |
Rapid Assessment of the PRSP Process in Cambodia
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) have been introduced by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition for countries to receive concessional loans. The goal is for countries to develop a nationally owned development strategy which rigorously links all development interventions to the goal of poverty reduction, and which provides a framework within which both national expenditures and official development assistance (ODA) can be coordinated. In Cambodia, as in other countries, the PRSP has been introduced alongside other key reforms in the areas of governance and public expenditure management.
The Royal Government's Poverty Reduction Strategy process was launched in early May 2000[1]. At the same time preparations were also being made for the second Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP II) to be written. A phased process was therefore launched. The Ministry of Economics and Finance prepared an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP), which was passed by the Council of Ministers on 26th October 2000. The Ministry of Planning then began preparation of SEDP II, the second draft of which was completed on 31st March 2001.
At present the timetable and the process for completing both the Socio-economic Development Plan and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper are being formulated.
The Royal Government
of Cambodia is receiving support for the preparation of the SEDP II (which is
mandated in the national Constitution) from the Asian Development Bank and UNDP.
The government has received support for the PRSP (which is a condition
for access to concessional loans from IMF and World Bank) from the World Bank.
The NGO Forum on
Cambodia identified and recruited a consultant[2]
to conduct this Rapid Assessment and a partner Mapping Study during a four-week
period in April-May 2001.
The consultant
attended the PRSP workshop in Phnom Penh on 24-25 April 2001 in order to gain
direct first-hand experience of the PRSP process and also to establish relations
with key stakeholders in the World Bank, NGOs and Government.
Literature was reviewed (see bibliography), interviews were conducted in
two provinces and in Phnom Penh (see list of persons met).
A draft was
circulated and four weeks allowed for comment prior to completion of the final
report. See Appendix One for a list
of persons consulted and documents examined.
The major constraint
related to the time available for this work.
This meant that it was difficult to access some key stakeholders,
specifically: the Under Secretary of State for Planning responsible for the
process was out of the country for most of the period of the rapid assessment;
the World Bank Country Representative was on Mission and unavailable for most of
the period of the rapid assessment and so was the NGO Forum on Cambodia´s
Development Project Officer.
§ Share information about the SEDP II/PRSP process with NGOs in Cambodia in order to help make them make decisions about how to contribute to national anti-poverty policy planning.
§ Share information from Cambodia with the East Asia Pacific NGO Working Group on the World Bank to inform their dialogue with the World Bank/IMF.
§ Build understanding between NGOs, government and donors in order to strengthen partnerships. This includes explaining some of the expectations that NGOs have of government and donors, and also of the sort of contributions that NGOs may be prepared to make.
Given the existence of a number of content-focused analyses of the I-PRSP and SEDP II documents, and also the focus on the role of NGOs, this rapid assessment is principally focused on process rather than content issues.
As a reflection of NGO Forum's forward-looking orientation, this report has recommendations first and the analysis upon which they are based afterwards.