News/Events 
- Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sar Kheng;
- Your Excellency Sr. Minister Keat Chhon, Minister of Economy and Finance;
- Your Excellencies Ministers and Secretaries of State, NCDD
- Your Excellencies Provincial Governors of the Royal Government of Cambodia;
- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of development partners supporting the D&D reforms, I would like to begin by congratulating the Royal Government of Cambodia on the success of the two-day National Workshop and formulation of the 2009 annual workplan and budget. We would like to recognise the achievements that have been made in the past year and the ambitious programme agreed for the year ahead.
When we talk about the past – we cannot underestimate the positive impact of the decentralisation reforms. The creation of directly elected commune councils in 2002 was a key milestone for creating the conditions for lasting peace in Cambodia. The reforms over the last decade have started a process where the local government is increasingly accepted as a legitimate authority, able to deliver some services and bring local development. It has opened up positive dialogue between citizens and created a seed of democratic culture. This has been a tremendous achievement – and one that has been led by the Cambodian government rather than something which has been externally imposed.
When we look to the future – the Organic law presents a unique opportunity to build on the Communes’ experience and capacity as well as the democratic legitimacy and accountability they enjoy due to their direct election.
This is truly a watershed moment. The Organic Law represents a major innovation – it has the potential to change governance arrangements and the reallocation of power and decision making over service delivery.
Over the next year, rules and procedures for new sub-national councils will be designed, and new councils will be elected. The existence of elected Councils at Provincial and District levels, which are empowered to oversee the operation of unified administrative structures and budget at each level, will change existing arrangements for democratic control and accountability. This is essential and welcomed.
However, for development partners with discretionary funds, one of the most critical issues will be these governance arrangements and mechanisms for allocating funds. As you can imagine, if funds are not to be assigned or earmarked to sectors by the donor, then it will be essential to ensure that the governance mechanism – and particularly the Councils – can be held to account for the decisions made.
We recognise the Government’s stated intention with the planned creation of the new National Committee for Democratic Development – which we applaud.
I’d now like to turn to some more specific issues that will be the focus for the next year. The first is around the National Programme design process. The second is linked to development partner commitments and mutual expectations for 2009.
On the National Programme, we would like to encourage the Government to use the design as an opportunity to have an open process where options and trade offs are debated and discussed. By ensuring the participation of different actors, Government can promote the design of a programme that is inclusive, broadly accepted by stakeholders, and provides a basis for both poverty reduction and strengthened democratic accountability.
The NCDD has already made important steps towards ensuring wide support for the reform process through its mechanism to involve civil society. And we very much welcome this.
We would also like to encourage the consistent participation of the sector ministries. One should not underestimate the support sector ministries will need to actively engage in the decentralisation and deconcentration reform process and understand the benefits of assigning functions and resources to the subnational level. This links with the wider issue of building human resources and capacity at both the national and subnational levels.
My last point on the national programme is to appreciate and respect the importance of national ownership. Developing a strategic approach to communications where stakeholders – such as Ministries and civil society – are brought together at key points during the design process for information sharing, discussion and debate may help facilitate this.
Before I close, let me now turn to the specifics of the 2009 Annual Workplan and Budget. As the morning session yesterday showed, development partners are expected to provide almost US$65 million to support the NCDD AWPB next year. The fact that we are continuing to provide significant funds to the provincial, district and commune levels is an important demonstration of our continued support for the D&D reform process.
With our increased funding there are some expectations, however:
First, a crucial issue is the amount of central government contributions to the line departments at the subnational level. It will be important for the Royal Government to demonstrate political and financial commitment by assigning functions, designing the intergovernmental fiscal transfer system for the new Councils that will be in place from May 2009.
Second, is the importance of improving the monitoring and evaluation system so that we have an open means of jointly assessing what is or is not working – be it around greater political accountability and voice at the local level or the more responsive delivery of services.
And finally – as Article 98 of the Organic Law requires that the District Council is accountable to the Communes and citizens – it will be important that arrangements for implementing other areas of the Organic Law are consistent with this or risk undermining it.
For our part – the Royal Government can expect development partners to make a step change in harmonisation and alignment once the National Programme has been designed. This should trigger a reduction in separate reporting and monitoring frameworks thereby reducing the burden on government and strengthening national ownership.
Let me close by saying that, on behalf of development partners, we are pleased to be a part of this ambitious D&D reform process. Development partners are acutely aware that the D&D process is a long term endeavour. We believe that by working together we can increase democratic accountability and poverty reduction in the years ahead.
THANK YOU
Phnom Penh, 10 September 2008.
