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NGO Statement, 2000 Consultative Group Meeting On Cambodia


 COMMUNE ADMINISTRATION AND DECENTRALIZATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS


NGO Statement to the 2000 Consultative Group Meeting on Cambodia

- Home.................................
- About us.............................
- Message.............................

- Introduction........................
- Progress.............................
- Good Governance................
- Human Resource 
- Development
......................
- Reaching the Poor...............
- Conclusion..........................

Sectoral Papers..................

- Agriculture..........................
- Child’s Rights....................
- Commune Administration 
- and Decentralization............
- Commune Elections.............
- Disability and Rehabilitation..
- Education............................
- Fisheries.............................
- Forestry Reform..................
- Gender and Development.....
- Good Governance................
- Health................................
- HIV/AIDS...........................
- Human Rights......................
- Landmines..........................
- Land Reform.......................
- Microfinance........................
- Weapons Reduction.............

General NGO Information...

References.........................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


INTRODUCTION

While commune elections (see following section) will be of major consequence to Cambodian civil society, the impact of proposed changes to commune administration will also be highly significant. For the first time, elected commune councils will be charged with setting local taxes, devising commune development plans, and supervising the implementation of those plans. For ordinary villagers throughout Cambodia, this is the most important and visible of the government's administrative reforms.

Over the last four years, in selected communes in five provinces, the Cambodian government has been experimenting with decentralized planning, financing and management of local development through the SEILA program supported by
UNDP/CARERE. Commune elections, which were to have happened before the 1998 national elections, were postponed due to political instability. With the commune elections now set to occur in late 2000 or 2001, these two important changes - commune elections and decentralization - are to be introduced together.

As NGOs assisting development efforts in villages and communes throughout Cambodia, we are encouraged by the plans of the Royal Government of Cambodia for changes in commune governance, and believe that we have significant experience and insights to offer this process. Given the scale and importance of these changes, we believe that opportunities for public consultation and consensus building on these plans are vital, both with emerging Cambodian civil society, and with other significant actors in rural and community development. We believe that this would significantly enhance the planning, implementation and effectiveness of these changes, as well as public understanding and awareness.

KEY ISSUES 

Over the last year, the NGO Forum on Cambodia has brought together NGOs involved in village community development on a number of occasions in order to discuss the proposed Commune Administration Law and its implications for local
development. These concerns have been passed to the Ministry of Interior and Council of Ministers for their further examination. The concerns raised by NGOs may be summarized as follows:
  • Financial support for decentralization
    The SEILA experiment showed the potential for decentralized planning and bottom-up decision-making in Cambodia. This was made possible only through substantial funding from the international donor community. SEILA's coverage was limited to 130 communes, compared with 1609 communes nationally. For decentralization to be successful, significant capacity building will be needed in the non-SEILA communes.

  • Inter-ministerial coordination in rural development
    Substantive gains have been made in rural development policy, structures and capacities of the Royal Government since 1993, with much involvement from NGOs, IOs and the UN, particularly the CARERE project in decentralized planning and bottom-up decision-making. An important lesson has been the need for ministerial and inter-departmental coordination at national, provincial and sub-provincial levels. The draft Commune Administration Law fails to recognize the mandate of ministries involved in rural development, health,
    education, women's affairs, agriculture, etc., and fails to provide for their proper involvement in supporting and reviewing commune development plans. As such, it does not build upon the experiences already gained in relation to inter-ministerial and inter- departmental coordination at national, provincial and sub-provincial levels.

  • Village participation and representation in development 
    The development programs of NGOs and other agencies have demonstrated the need and effectiveness of ensuring clear processes and mechanisms which allow the genuine participation of villagers in development planning and action, and the representation of villagers best interests in local governance. We have also learnt that rural Cambodians identify strongly with their own villages and feel much less affinity with their commune.

    The system of proportional voting proposed is unlikely to ensure accountability to villagers, as candidates will place more importance on gaining a high position on a candidate list than on securing villagers' votes. Some villages within a commune may end up with no direct representation on the Commune Council.

    There is currently little relation between the draft Commune Administration Law and donor-supported efforts by the Ministry of Rural Development to set up participatory village development structures.

  • Supervision and accountability of Commune Councils
    The move from appointed to elected officials at commune level will have major implications for roles and functioning of these bodies. Traditional practices have taught officials to be accountable upwards, to those responsible for their appointments, whereas the new structure should ensure prime accountability downwards, to those responsible for their election. This is a fundamental aspect of the new system and will require affirmative action by the government to bring it to fruition. Our experience, as development agencies working for almost 10 years now in rural Cambodia, has taught us that under-paid officials often use their position to ensure or improve their own livelihoods and to benefit their families and closest supporters.
    Resource allocation, from both outside sources and through local taxation, will need careful attention to ensure equitable allocation and to prevent the practice of siphoning off benefits intended for the electorate. The principles of clarity, transparency and accountability will be vital in this.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to address the key issues, we urge the Royal Government of Cambodia and donors to adopt the following recommendations:

Financial Support for Decentralization

  • Donors must be ready to support the substantial capacity building and start-up funding which the establishment of 1609 commune councils will require.

  • The Cambodian government must allocate a sufficient portion of its national budget to pay Commune Council salaries and operational costs, and to contribute significantly to the Commune Fund.

  • Funds for ongoing training will be necessary, as new Commune Council members can be expected following each election.

Inter-ministerial coordination in rural development

  • The Commune Administration Law should recognize the mandate of ministries involved in rural development, health, education, women's affairs, agriculture etc and allow for their proper involvement in supporting and reviewing commune development plans.

  • The Commune Administration Law should strengthen inter-ministerial coordination at the provincial level through recognizing
    the role of inter-ministerial Provincial Rural Development Committees.

Village participation and representation in development

  • The Commune Administration Law should take into account efforts by the Ministry of Rural Development to set up participatory village development structures.

  • Ensure that within each village, local decision making and development planning involves effective participation from a broad and representative group of villagers. Efforts should be made to ensure the participation of women, village development committees and other civil society groups. 

  • Reconsider the proposed system of electing commune councils and office bearers, and describe this system in the Commune Election Law only.

  • Describe in more detail the duties of and system of electing village chiefs in a separate Law on Village Chiefs. 

Supervision and accountability of Commune Councils

  • The Commune Administration Law should make provision for an independent body to process complaints and grievances from the electorate regarding elected officials.

  • The clause allowing secret meetings of the Commune Council should be removed.

  • Specific measures are needed to ensure transparency and accountability in regard to resource allocation within each commune and village.

  • Safeguards are needed to ensure that poor communes and poor villagers within communes are not adversely affected by local taxation.

  • Commune council members and officials will need to be properly remunerated.


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