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The Cambodian Experience (1)
Cambodia has completed and submitted an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (I-PRSP) in October 2000 while the full PRSP is anticipated to be
completed by October 2002. The I-PRSP process in Cambodia was undertaken
in May 2000 and was completed on October 20, 2000. The NGO
Forum completed an in-depth critique of the final I-PRSP document. The
local Cambodian NGOs participated through this forum as well. Other
institutions working on PRSPs in the country included the well-respected
Cambodian Development and Research Institute (CDRI), Oxfam, which
submitted a report on the PRSP process in March, as well as some of the UN
agencies, including UNDP. The I-PRSP went through a total of 8 drafts, and
consultations were based on these drafts. However, all the drafts were in
English and not translated into Khmer. That led to the exclusion of most
Khmer NGOs from participation in the consultation process, especially those
located in the provinces, as well as many in the various line ministries that
were to contribute to the IPRSP.
The NGO community planned to hold consultations between August
and October. However, the meeting part of the consultation process took
place in August 2000 and consisted of the Royal Government of Cambodia
(RGC), donors and the international financial institutions. The head of the
NGO Forum and the Co-operation Committee of Cambodia (CCC), both
ex-pats, were invited to participate but were uncomfortable at making significant
contributions before the NGO consultations had taken place, as
they would not be representative of the wider NGO community. Following
the meeting a number of NGO consultations were conducted including a
one-day workshop in October 2000, the results of the which were sent to
the intergovernmental council to review and include in the I-PRSP. However,
the Council had already accepted the I-PRSP and had sent it to Washington
for approval.
In response to CSO concern about lack of involvement during the preparation
of the I-PRSP the UN Agencies, UNDP and other bilateral donors
have strongly advocated that the poverty reduction processes take into account
the country’s limited absorptive capacity. In its review of the Cambodian
I-PRSP, the IMF also comments on the government’s weak adminis-
over, the idea of participation is an empty concept if key materials are presented
for discussion only in a foreign language, as for instance in Cambodia’s
I-PRSP (see box 1). Second, participatory dialogue requires a conducive
environment. Merely calling for participation does not resolve the issue
of incentives: individuals (and groups of individuals or organizations)
need to be motivated to participate through systematic civic engagement.
Third, there has to be a sense that the process of decision making is a fair
one, for it will be difficult to sustain participation if participants sense that
they are not being listened to and that their views are not taken into account
in decision-making, i.e. the participation is merely symbolic (see box