Welcome to NCDD, Cambodia D&D

Phnom Penh, 5 May 2010:
“Natural Resource Management and Livelihood” is the theme topic of the 5th program coordination workshop organized by the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board of the Council for Development of Cambodia (CRDB/CDC) on May 4, 2010 at the Government Palace of the Council for Development of Cambodia.

The workshop’s discussion focused mainly on (1) sharing key findings and recommendations of every NRML program consultation studies included CSPPM Lesson Learnt, Poverty, and CF/CFi and Process and Benefit, Benefit Package (2) sharing good practice and lesson learnt, issues/challenges from CAP implementation/coordination by sub-national (3) sharing information of NRMLP Phase II formulation and implication of NRMLP Phase I.

Through the discussion among the stakeholders, the workshop panel found and determined some challenges regarding to natural resource management and livelihood as following:

• The annual public inversement at the sub-national level does not reflect long-term plan which it is required necessarily for natural resource management.
• The sub-national level stakholders have low capacity and less knowledge in analyzing issues in light with natural resource management.
• There is no compliance between provincial inversement projets, district investment projects and commune inversement project. 
• The forestry administration has low capacity, low salary and has not enough facility for providing service to the local community. 
• There is less cooptation between expert officials, authority, local community and other line-governmental bodies.

In responding to the challengs, the worshop panel determined some resolutions:

• The commune councils and local authority have to consider CBO important developemnt partners working as the bridges for poor people and vulnerable people.
• There must be authorized to the local community (such fishery community and forestry community) in natural resource management, land ownership and right to use the resource.
• There must be providing technical assistance, training and legal sopport to the local community.
• There must be support to the implementing partners with techinical assitance to help the community.
• Fishery and forestry adminstration have to share their annual plan to other stakeholders  and the natural resouce management community.

H.E. Rith Vuthy, deputy general director of the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board of the Council for Development of Cambodia (CRDB/CDC) said in the workshop that even if in the past years, the natural resource management and livelihood program has achieved a remarkable result, but the obstacles in implementation mechanism of the program at both national level and sub-national are still the concerns.
“Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board of the Council for Development of Cambodia would like to ask all stakeholders to speed up what is called “exit strategy” establishing of the natural resource management and livelihood program phase 1, to make sure the sustainable development and prior action plan for natural resource management and livelihood program phase 2”, he added.