ATTACHMENT C

NATIONAL WORKSHOP DOCUMENTS
 
NATIONAL NGO/CIVIL SOCIETY WORKSHOP ON THE
GOVERNMENT’S POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY

24-25 October 2000, World Vision Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

 LIST OF WORKSHOP DOCUMENTS

 No.      TITLE

English and Khmer versions

            Final Program

1          An Overview of the I-PRSP

Sectoral Policy Issues/Matrices:

2          Rural Development and Decentralization
3          Agriculture and Food Security
4          Land Reform
5          Forestry, Fisheries and Environment
6          Health
7          Education
8          Industrial Workers and Urban Poor
9          Women’s and Child Rights
10        Governance and Human Rights
11        PRSP:  Capacity Building, Monitoring and Work Plan
                       
Matrix of cross-cutting issues
                       
An Update of the PRSP Process in Cambodia - 20 October 2000, NGO Forum on Cambodia

English versions only

                              Some changes in the I-PRSP (7th and 8th versions)
                       
     Joy Chavez-Malaluan, 2000, Locating civil society role in the PRSP process, Paper presented at the National NGO/Civil Society Workshop on the RGC’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, 24-25 October 2000, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

                            NGO Perspectives on Poverty Reduction, CIDSE

National NGO/Civil Society Workshop
on the RGC's Poverty Rduction Strategy

24-25 October 2000, World Vision Conference Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Organized by the NGO Forum on Cambodia
in cooperation with the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

 FINAL PROGRAM

 

DAY 1 (October 24)

AM Session

7:30-8:00                     ARRIVAL/REGISTRATION OF PARTICIPANTS

                                    START OF OPENING SESSION
                       
           
Chairperson:  Ms Prok Vanny, Executive Director, KHEMARA

                                    NATIONAL ANTHEM

8:00-8:10                     WELCOME REMARKS by Russell Peterson
                       
            Representative, NGO Forum on Cambodia

8:10-8:20                     INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
                       
            United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

                                    PERSPECTIVES ON THE POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY

8:20-8: 40                    1.  H.E. Kim Saysamalen
                       
                 Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Planning

8:40-9:00                     2.  Mr Kim Phalla
                       
                 Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Forecast and
                                         Analysis, Ministry of Economy and Finance

9:00-9:20                     3.  Mr Toun Vicheth
                       
                 Deputy Field Representative Designate, CIDSE

9:20-9:40                     4.  Mr Koul Panha
                       
                 Adviser, ADHOC/Executive Director, COMFREL

9:40-10:00                   END OF OPENING SESSION / BREAK 

                                    START OF WORKSHOP SESSION

10:00-10:10                 PRESENTATION OF FINAL TWO-DAY PROGRAM

10:10-11:20                 OVERVIEW OF POLICY ISSUES IN POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY (Presentation of Key Results)
Chhith Sam Ath, Coordinator/Development Issues, NGO Forum
Violeta Corral, Participation Consultant, NGO Forum

11:20-12 noon             OPEN FORUM

12:00-1:30 pm             LUNCH BREAK (Lunch will be provided)

PM Session
1:30-3:30                     SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION 1
                                    (Please refer to guide to Day One Small Group Discussion) 

        1. Rural Development and Decentralization
        2. Agriculture and Food Security
        3. Land, Forests, Fisheries and Environment
        4. Health / Education
        5. Women's and Children's Rights
        6. Urban Poor and Industrial Workers
        7. Good Governance and Human Rights
        8. Disaster Management

 

3:30-3:45                     BREAK

3:45-4:50                     PLENARY REPORTING 1 / OPEN FORUM

4:50-5:00                     SYNTHESIS OF GROUP REPORTS
                       
            Violeta Corral and Chhith Sam Ath, NGO Forum

DAY 2 (October 25)

AM Session
8:00-8:15                     RECAP OF DAY 1   by Russell Peterson, NGO Forum

8:15-9:15                     COMMENTS ON THE MACRO-ECONOMIC POLICIES
IN THE I-PRSP
Mr Sok Hach, Economist, Cambodia Development Resource Institute           
Ms Joy Chavez-Malaluan, Research Associate, Focus on the Global South

9:15-10:15                   OPEN FORUM

10:15-10:30                 BREAK

10:30-11:15                 NGO CONTRIBUTION TO A PARTICIPATORY POVERTY MONITORING MECHANISM & NEXT STEPS
by Chhith Sam Ath and Violeta Corral, NGO Forum

11:15-12:00                 OPEN FORUM

12:00-1:30                   LUNCH BREAK  (Lunch will be provided)

PM Session

1:30-3:30                     SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION 2
                       
            (Please refer to guide to Day Two Small Group Discussion)

3:30-3:45                     BREAK

3:45-4:40                     PLENARY REPORTING 2 / OPEN FORUM

4:40-4:45                     SYNTHESIS OF GROUP REPORTS
                       
            Violeta Corral and Chhith Sam Ath, NGO Forum

4:45-5:00                     CLOSING REMARKS
                       
            Russell Peterson, NGO Forum on Cambodia

 

 

AN OVERVIEW OF THE I-PRSP[1]

The Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP) is a document outlining the governments intended strategy for reducing poverty.  It is required by the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) before they grant more external assistance to Cambodia.  The IPRSP will be considered by the WB and IMF Boards in December 2000.  The preparation of the full PRSP, which will be finalized by October 2001, will allow active participation of the local communities and authorities.  The essential features of a full PRSP are: (i) country ownership; (ii) poverty focus; (iii) consultative process; and (iv) systematic monitoring of outcomes.

Drafting process

The preparation of the I-PRSP was commissioned by the Prime Minister Samdech HUN SEN and overseen by the Committee on Economic and Financial Policies which is headed by the Minister of Economy and Finance, with broad inter-ministerial representation.  Six drafts of the IPRSP have been prepared for comments by stakeholders, including key government officials, chairpersons of the National Assembly and the Senate commissions, umbrella NGO groups, the private sector and various donors.  A Khmer translation is already being prepared.

The RGC has piloted the partnership approach in the PRSP process, which will be closely linked to the formulation of the Second Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDPII). The preparation of SEDPII was launched at a National Workshop held in May 2000;  the SEDPII will be finalized in March 2001.  These two important government documents will be implemented in a single strategic framework in conjunction with other poverty-related activities.

Contents of the IPRSP

The I-PRSP contains the following sections:

  1. Nature of Poverty

  2. Review of Existing Strategies & Performance

  3. Statement of Poverty Reduction Strategies & Objectives

  4. Capacity-Building & Monitoring

  5. PRSP Workplan

  6. Policy Matrix

Nature of Poverty

Different measures are used to measure poverty, sometimes defined as a lack of income or consumption and lack of opportunities. Broader dimensions of poverty include poor education and health; the major surveys in recent years are the 1997 Socio-Economic Survey and the Health Survey.  In Cambodia, the measurement of poverty is based on a poverty line that accounts for food consumption (that provides at least 2,100 calories of energy per person per day) and non-food consumption (e.g. clothing, basic shelter).

The 1999 Poverty Profile in Cambodia shows that 36% of Cambodians live below the poverty line; in 1993-94, the poverty rate was 39%.  Of the 36% poor population, 90.5% live in the rural areas, 2.3% in Phnom Penh and 7.2% in other urban areas.  Moreover, the percentage of Cambodians living in poverty fell slightly from 39 percent in 1993-94 to 36 percent in 1997.

Poverty in Cambodia is set against a background of 30 years of conflict and internal displacement.  The most disadvantaged groups in Cambodia are internally-displaced people and returned refugees, war widows, orphans, street children, squatters, people with disabilities and isolated ethnic communities.  The different dimensions of poverty are:

1.  Lack of opportunities:

Þ    The poor lack access to education, health care and safe water.

Þ    The poor lack markets, communications, infrastructure, security.

Þ    The poor lack knowledge of their rights.

2.  Vulnerability:

Þ    The poor face food insecurity and malnutrition.

Þ    The poor lack modern technology, and access to quality grains, fertilisers, irrigation and credit.

Þ    The poor have declining access to common resources such as forests and fisheries.

Þ    The poor sometimes are forced to sell their land to pay for medical treatment.

3.  Low Capabilities:

Þ    Low school enrolment rates.

Þ    Low life expectancy.

Þ    High infant mortality rates.

Þ    The poor lack access to public services.

Þ    High costs of education and health.

4.  Social Exclusion (barriers which prevent the participation of the poor in society), is due to:

Þ    Illiteracy.

Þ    Lack of access to decision making.

Þ    Official Corruption.

Review of Existing Strategies & Performance

The I-PRSP will build upon existing poverty reduction strategies and social and economic policies.  These include the First Socio-Economic Development Plan 1996-2000 (SEDPI) and other key government documents that aim to: restore peace and stability; integrate Cambodia into the regional and global economy; undertake broad macro-economic and public sector reforms. A Governance Action Plan (GAP) will also be incorporated into the final version of the PRSP.

The SEDPI emphasized rural development and stressed the need to balance this goal with the development of major urban growth poles.  The SEDPI target allocation for pubic investment expenditures was 65% to go to projects in rural areas and 35% to urban areas.  The implementation, however, turned out to be the opposite -- 65% of investments went to urban areas, while only 35% went to rural areas.  Moreover, past efforts to reduce poverty have focused mainly on stand-alone projects that neglect the broader and policy and institutional environment of poverty reduction.  Cambodian rural development programs focused on primary health care, sanitation and rural water supply, among others.

Statement of Poverty Reduction Strategies & Objectives

The government's pro-poor policy should be geared toward establishing a favorable environment to promote and generate economic growth without environmental degradation and equitable distribution of income. On the basis of this broad strategy, the RGC has formulated the following policy response to poverty: promoting opportunities, creating security, strengthening capabilities and generating empowerment.

Growth is the most powerful weapon in the fight for higher living standards. Faster growth will require policies that encourage macroeconomic stability, shift resources to more efficient sectors, and integrate with the global economy.  However, the benefits of growth for the poor may be eroded if the distribution of income worsens.  Even with economic growth there is still room for policies that target interventions to improve health and education outcomes.  At the top of the list are female education to ensure gender equality, safe water and sanitation, child immunization, as well as social safety nets to protect the most vulnerable.  Attention is also needed to the social structures and institutions (or ‘social capital’) which affect development.

1-  Promoting opportunities

The RGC’s approach to promoting opportunities is via strengthening macroeconomic performance, accelerating economic growth, promoting private sector development, developing the physical infrastructure, strengthening the energy sector, ensuring sustainable development of the agricultural sector, improving water resource management, advancing rural development and decentralization, ensuring a sound natural resource management, encouraging income generation activities, embarking on land reform and increasing access to microfinance for the poor. Though well-targeted programs for rural areas could have quick impact on the rural population, poverty reduction strategy should not be overtly reliant on the development of agricultural sector, given poor performance of the sector in the past.  Industrial and service sector development could become a powerful locomotive to pull Cambodia out of the shackles of poverty.  

Table 1. Linking Poverty Diagnostics to Government Policies

Dimensions of Poverty

Government Policies

LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES

                        Low average income 
                       
Extensive poverty, especially in rural areas 
                       
Landlessness and lack of access to land 
                       
Low education for girls  

(v)        Lack of infrastructure

PROMOTING OPPORTUNITIES

                        Macroeconomic stability 
                       
Economic growth 
                       
Promoting private sector development 
                       
Improving physical infrastructure including irrigation and rural roads 
                       
Measures to promote agriculture. 
                       
Land reform

VULNERABILITY

                        Crop failure 
                       
Weather conditions 
                       
Environmental degradation 
                       
Health problems 
                       
Land mines  

CREATING SECURITY

                        Micro-finance schemes 
                       
Safety net programs 
                       
Environmental protection 
                       
Access to health services 
                       
Mine clearance

LOW CAPABILITIES

                        Low outcomes, especially education                         Bad water and sanitation 
                       
High costs of healthcare

STRENGTHENING CAPABILITIES

                        Service delivery 
                       
Increase public spending on health, education, agriculture and rural development

SOCIAL EXCLUSION

                        Illiteracy 
                       
Lack of access to decision making                         Corruption  

GENERATING EMPOWERMENT

                        Judicial reform 
                       
Education policy 
                       
Rules governing NGOs 
                       
Governance and anti-corruption 
                       
Decentralisation

2- Creating security

Reducing the vulnerability of the poor by developing resistance to external shocks and increasing the overall sustainability of their livelihoods is a priority as is assisting those poor who want to diversify out of agriculture, and these concerns have not received sufficient attention.  The current emphasis is on credit for income generating activities, but there is a need to also address vulnerability to fluctuations in income, as this results in cash flow constraints that may lead to deferment of investment and/or distressed land sales, so as to smooth consumption expenditure.  This could be tackled by providing insurance, savings and loans for consumption purposes. Moreover, security can be ensured by expanding safety net programs, promoting environmental protection and clearing landmines.

 

3-  Strengthening capabilities

 

The government plays a crucial role in the service delivery and the improvement in capabilities.  This requires a focus on the quality and availability of services for the poor and the comparative advantage of the government, non-governmental organizations and private sector agencies as the supplier of these services.  Essentially this focus is on the role of government and issues of effectiveness and efficiency and involves questions about the degree of government decentralization and civil service reform. 

 

4- Generating empowerment

Priority actions that needs to be taken by taken by the RGC over the short to medium term are: Establish priority groups of government officials to improve service delivery and increase productivity; expand decentralization and continue deconcentration of the system of administration to increase accessibility of essential services to the people; accelerate the reform of the state by implementing action plans in demobilization, administrative and fiscal reforms with a view to strengthening the rule of law and consolidating the foundation of the market economy; deepening the judicial reform and establishing a national program for judicial reform; and implement the measures outlined in the Governance Action Plan (GAP).

Capacity-Building & Monitoring

The emphasis of the PRSP must be on the implementation of poverty reduction policies and the monitoring and evaluation of their targets.  Poverty reduction targets to be set and monitored should be relevant, simple and easily updated when required.  A sound institutional capacity for the implementation of poverty reduction strategies should be ensured. More attention should be paid to inter-ministerial coordination in carrying out poverty reduction strategies. A poverty monitoring mechanism needs to be set up and systematized.

PRSP Workplan

Overall responsibility for the full PRSP will pass from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to the Ministry of Planning (MOP), which is also responsible for the ongoing preparation of the SEDPII. 

Participatory processes include the following:

Activities

Schedules

                        Dissemination of I-PRSP in Khmer and Public Info Campaign, including participation plan for PRSP

                         Survey of NGO/civil society concerns regarding poverty reduction

                         Workshops at central level

                         Workshops at local levels

                         Participatory Poverty Assessment

                         Stakeholder analysis, including key government officials and umbrella NGO groups and private sector. Determination of criteria for selection of stakeholders, eg representativeness.

                         Implementation of participatory processes, at local and central levels, including consultations with local communities, local authorities, the National Assembly and the Senate.

Sept 00


Sep - Oct 00

Jan - May 01

Jan - May 01

Jan - Jun 01

Feb - Mar 01

Mar - Jul 01

Policy Matrix

The short to medium term actions that have already been committed to by the RGC are incorporated in the Policy Matrix (Annex I). They will be reviewed in preparation of the full PRSP.

ANNEX 1: POLICY MATRIX (2000-2002)

 

 



[1] Seventh draft for submission to the Cabinet (as of 2 September 2000).