1. Introduction		CONTENT

The Government has determined that decentralization, deconcentration, and local governance are the means to further democratize the country and to enhance service delivery in areas such as water, sanitation, basic health and education in order to reduce poverty, especially among the rural population. The SEILA Program, one of the State’s programs for promoting rural development, has resulted in the creation of development committees in over 2000 villages and over 200 communes. It has supported the development and testing of systems and mechanisms (such as the Decentralized Development Fund) for commune level planning, and the financing and implementation of development activities through a participatory approach that starts at the village level.  A Law on Financial Regime and Provincial and Municipal Property was promulgated in 1998. This Law gives provincial and municipal administrations limited authority to raise revenues and disburse expenditures in their own budgets. Although there had been some shortcomings in the SEILA program implementation, using the experiences of the SEILA Program has created a strong foundation for nation-wide decentralization.  With the assistance of the UNDP, the government had made two important laws: The Commune Administration Law and the Commune Election Law, which have been approved by the National Assembly and Senate. The Government also held commune elections in February 2002, and 1,621 Commune Councils were established.

The Ministry of Interior spearheads the Government’s decentralization efforts.  The following are the governance issues and challenges the government has found and planned to address: 

(1) Establishing a legal framework for decentralization;
(2) Ensuring a close link between administrative and financial decentralization;
(3) Developing managerial and human resources at the sub-national level.

2. Summary of Progress

CONTENT

The following summary of progress was prepared in February-March 2002 as the basis for further NGO discussions on the reforms. 

Progress in Decentralization and Local Governance*

* Source: Council for Administrative Reform (December 11, 2001), “GAP Progress Report”
Information in italics has been added. 

As part of the development of the legal framework for implementation of decentralisation and local governance, to date a number of executive regulations have been prepared and issued: 

1. Prakas on the Structure of the DoLA
2. The Law on Commune Administration
3. Royal Decree on Establishment of NCSC
4. Decision of NCSC on working procedures
5. Decision on establishment of sub-committees of NCSC
6. Prakas on Functions and Roles of CCs
7. Inter-ministerial Prakas on Commune Development Planning
8. Sub-decree on Commune Fund, etc. And many more are to be drafted and/or to be signed. 

3. Summary of NGO Involvement in the Sector

CONTENT

The three main NGO Elections Education and Monitoring organizations (EMOs), namely COFFEL, COMFREL and NICFEC, have been quite involved in contributing to legislation on commune elections, in voter education and in elections monitoring. 

NGO networks have been created to support decentralization and the new locally elected governments. Cambodians for the Development of Decentralization (CDD) is a network of five Cambodian NGOs. The Commune Council Support Project (CCSP) was initiated by a group of Cambodian and international NGOs to develop the understanding of NGOs of issues related to decentralisation and local governance reforms. As a result of collaboration with DoLA, and with financial support from the Partnership for Local Governance (PLG), CCSP is establishing a MoI-NGO Liaison Office within the Ministry of Interior as a mechanism to provide information stemming from government to the NGO community and vise versa. 

Moreover, it is important to note that there over 40 CNGOs and 20 INGOs for whom community development is their primary mandate, not to mention over a hundred other NGOs that have a wide range of development related programs and projects at local levels throughout the country. 

The following are some of major activities of the NGOs involved in the local elections and local development:

-   Capacity building and support of grassroots development organizations at village and commune levels.
-   Implementation of development programs and projects in local communities, etc.
-   Voter Education Campaigns.
-   Produce radio and TV spots, leaflets and posters regarding the decentralization and local governance.
-   Training on commune elections and local governance.
-   Provision of training programs, leadership and other skills to local leaders.
-   Policy development and information. 

Based on their involvement in the decentralization reforms, NGOs have observed the following issues, which need to be addressed in implementation of decentralization and local governance: 

4. Issues Raised by NGOs

CONTENT

The decentralization reforms enjoy widespread support from NGOs working at the local level throughout Cambodia.  NGOs have taken a keen interest in these reforms, due their close relation to NGOs’ development work and community building activities.  With this positive overall assessment in mind, the NGOs still have a number of issues to raise: 

• Finding the link between decentralization and poverty reduction.
  International experience has shown that decentralization does not necessarily lead to poverty reduction.  Decentralization needs to lead to a greater capacity of the poor to protect their interests.

• Unsatisfactory consultation process on the two important laws.
  The consultation process on the Commune Administration and Commune Election Laws was not satisfactory. This is due to the fact that access to the draft laws was very difficult. Although, lately before the elections, slight changes were made to the composition of the National Election Commission (NEC), the three main proposed changes by the civil society organizations regarding: (1) reform of the NEC, (2) change of the electoral system and (3) women’s participation in the commune councils were not considered.

• The elections were comparatively better in terms of less violence, however, almost one million people had not been able to register.
  As far as the commune elections are concerned, in general, the elections were better than in the 1993 and 1998 elections, in terms of having less violence and intimidation. However, almost one million people had not been able to register.

• Politicization at local government levels: Building political base vs. true implementation of decentralization and the local governance.
  Politicization at local government levels is perceived by EMOs and development NGOs to be a real concern and may jeopardize the true value of local governance and development.  Also, many commune councils contain only one party.

• Lack of transparency
  Political parties have not reported about their budget and expenses related to the elections. Until now, nobody is aware of how much each political party had spent in the contest for the elections, on what items they spent their money, and where their income came from. The voters need to know this transparent information that helps them to believe whether each political party won their seats by capacity, popularity of the candidates, reputation of the political parties or by other influences, including money from bad sources.

• No punishment actions taken by NEC against the offenders
  Although the NEC legally can punish offenders, it had not done so; thus the offenders (who are party activists) repeatedly violate the election laws in every election.
  
  

• Development and adoption of legal framework (executive regulations, etc.) supporting legislation for the commune councils.
  NGOs have observed that the preparation and adoption of the executive regulations has been done in a very quick and closed way; thus concerned stakeholders such as NGOs have not been aware or able to participate in the process. The civil society groups, especially the development NGOs, have known almost nothing about the preparation of legal framework and regulations until the regulations are signed.  The implementation of these regulations will have direct effects on the local development projects that many NGOs are involved in.

• Too much power delegated to commune chief
  The recent executive regulations recognize the need for people’s participation, but they still seem to give too much power to the commune chief.  For example, the commune chief is solely responsible for the selection process of the village chief, and for creating sub-committees to work in the commune. This has made certain EMOs and development NGOs to feel that the elections that were held in February this year were not elections of commune councils, but rather elections of commune chiefs.

• Concern about lack of ownership due to low capacity
  While the MoI has tried to make clear that it is up to the Commune Councils to decide on their own internal rules as long as they do not conflict with any laws, they have also provided a sample set of rules and guidelines.  NGOs have concerns that Commune Councils may just go ahead and adopt the sample. This means the tradition of “just follow the boss” continues, and lack of ownership results.  Such attitudes may jeopardize the decentralisation policy. Therefore, the the capacity of the Commune Councils to make independent decisions is very important.

• Lack of information about capacity building of the Commune Councils
  Capacity building for Commune Councils is a great and real need, and to be successful many NGOs will need to contribute. However, to date only a small number of NGOs are aware of developments in capacity building measures.  This lack of information may lead to irrelevant programming decisions by NGOs, or a decision by them to play no part in the process.
  
  

• The financial resources- financial decentralisation:
  Regarding financial decentralization and financial management of the commune councils, NGOs and villagers are not aware of how this will work, who in the councils will be responsible for accounting, how commune councils will receive money, etc. There should be public consultation on drafting new or modified legislation and regulations on financial management, etc.

• The concerns about the accountability of the Commune Councils.
  Many NGOs are currently considering what kind of support they will give to Commune Councils. While supportive of decentralization and the role of Commune Councils, the issue of accountability of the Commune Councils is a major concern to them. The question is to whom the Commune Councils will feel most accountable. Since the commune councilors were elected by party slate, they owe their position to a greater degree to their political parties than to their constituencies. NGOs are naturally wary of giving support to politicized institutions.
  
  

• Will the existing development committees (VDCs, CDCs) that were created with help of NGOs be abolished?
  NGOs have invested resources, money and time to do capacity building of the existing local development structures (VDCs and CDCs, etc.) and to support local development initiatives. The question raised is whether these will be wasted? Will the changes affect the existing development operations of the NGOs?

5. Recommendations

CONTENT

Recommendations to Government:

• Open and wide consultation with the civil society groups and NGOs regarding the development of any legislation and regulations for the implementation of decentralisation policy and local governance.  There should be published procedures and time-frames for public consultation prior to the passing of all regulations.
  
  

• Publicize and disseminate widely all regulations issued.
  
  

• The central government lacks the expertise, resources and experience in implementing and managing a system of local government that is delivered to 1621 communes. Those government officers who are charged with facilitating decentralization should be given substantial capacity building, including helping make the cultural shift in decision making processes and the decentralization of power to local levels.
  
  

• Provide training to commune councilors on commune development with special emphasis on participation of constituencies.
  
  

• Need to develop knowledge and skills, but most importantly attitude change of the Commune Councils.
  
  

• Need to eliminate cronyism, patronage etc, for example when selecting Commune Councils trainers.

Recommendations to Donors:

• Donors should recognize that decentralization will require substantial support to be successful, and should provide support to the the Commune Funds.
  
  

• Donors should make sure that their support is really resulting in benefits to the people, especially the poorest members of the community. Donors need to hold the government/NGOs accountable to their word.  They should ensure fair distribution of donor funds through close monitoring.
  
  

• The need for coordination is imperative, so that donor assistance is directed to local places where there is currently insufficient support.

Recommendations to NGOs:

• Seek to understand more about decentralization and local governance, and how NGO programs may need to adjust to give these reforms proper support.
  
  

• Participate in development of good laws and legal frameworks and their effective enforcement so as to ensure the effectiveness of decentralization and local governance.
  
  

• Continue to develop and implement projects that will benefit the local communities.
  
  

• Consider providing capacity building to the new local development structures, in order for the Commune Councils to be effective elected representatives of the people.
  
  

• Participate in monitoring the progress of the local governance and local development.

• Share ideas and experiences in decentralisation and local governance.
  
  

• NGOs should not just simply complain, but suggest alternatives, and do concrete things to help the process.
  
  

• Most importantly, NGOs should help build capacity of grassroots organisations to understand the role of commune councils so that villagers will be ready to participate and hold the commune councils accountable.

Further NGO recommendations related to decentralization and local governance may be found in the Decentralization and Elections sectoral papers of the NGO Statement to the 2002 CG Meeting.