NGO Recommendations to Enhance the Success of the
Royal Government of Cambodia’s Governance Action Plan
Final
Edition
June 2002
PREFACE
This review of NGO
observations on the first year of implementation of the Royal Government
of Cambodia’s Governance Action Plan (GAP) was carried out by the NGO
Forum on Cambodia, with the assistance of two domestic consultants, in
February-April 2002. A number
of focus group discussions of NGOs took place during the writing of the
report to help NGOs know more about the GAP, and to give them a chance to
offer their comments and suggestions.
Further editing of the
report took place in May, and a draft of the main chapters was sent to the
General-Secretariat of the Council for Administrative Reform on 20 May
2002. The draft Executive
Summary was forwarded to the General-Secretariat on 27 May.
Following further consultations, including consultations with
advisors to the General-Secretariat, a final copy was handed to the
Secretary-General of the Council for Administrative Reform on 17 June.
The objective of
preparing this report was to help NGOs understand more about the GAP and
to provide an opportunity for NGOs to give constructive comments on how
NGOs, donors and government could further contribute to the success of the
GAP. It is hoped that this
report will spark further NGO-government-donor dialogue on this important
issue.
Distribution of this
report is embargoed until after the 19-21 June Consultative Group meeting
on Cambodia.
STOP
PRESS !
At
the meeting with H.E. Sum Manit and other representatives of the Council
of Ministers on 17 June, where this report was officially presented, NGOs
were informed of a number of important developments:
-
The Council of Ministers recently approved the draft Law on
Domestic Violence for passing to the National Assembly;
-
The Council of Ministers is drafting a set of procedures to help
line ministries know how to include participation in the drafting of laws;
-
The Council for Administrative Reform is considering the
introduction of “mobility allowances” next year for staff in priority
sectors who are willing to work in remote areas;
-
A new Council for Legal and Judicial Reform is being formed, and
the World Bank has agreed to give additional support to legal and judicial
reform;
-
A draft Code of Ethics for Civil Servants has been completed, and
will be authorized either through a sub-decree or a law;
-
Discussions on the draft Anti-Corruption Law are progressing, and
the draft may be passed to the Inter-Ministerial Committee within the
Council of Ministers soon. A
sticking point has been disagreements over requirements for the
declaration of assets of high-level officials.
Further,
the Minister of Agriculture announced, at the time of the Consultative
Group meeting, that the government is canceling the GAT concession, due to
gross violations of the logging moratorium.