TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF BOXES, ATTACHMENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
Broadening dimensions of poverty
Setting poverty reduction strategies
II. CRITIQUE OF THE PARTICIPATORY PROCESS
FOR THE RGC’S POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY
Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP)
Second Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDPII)
Civil society engagement to date in the PRSP process
A critique of the PRSP participatory process to date
III. CIVIL SOCIETY CRITIQUE & RECOMMENDATIONS
TO RGC’S POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY
Key NGO/CSO recommendations on the
RGC’s poverty reduction strategy
Civil society critique of the content of I-PRSP
Review of existing strategies and performance
Statement of poverty reduction strategies and objectives
Integration into the regional and global economy
Agricultural vs industrial development
Rural development and decentralization
Ensuring the poor’s access to natural resources
Public sector reform and governance issues
PARTICIPATORY POVERTY MONITORING SYSTEM
Monitoring by health sector NGOs
Monitoring indicators in food security and nutrition
Community-based indicators of poverty: Wealth ranking
Monitoring impact of government action (or inaction)
V. NEXT STEPS
List of Boxes
What is in the new IMF/World Bank reform package?
NGO consultations/survey on development priorities
Perceptions by the CSOs and the poor on poverty
List of Attachments
List of NGO/CSO representatives consulted
Results of Provincial Workshops
National Workshop Documents
Small Group Discussion 1: Matrices of Key Policy Issues (I)
Matrix of cross-cutting strategies (II) and list of main points (III)
Copy of NGO letter to the RGC's Council of Ministers, 8 November 2000
Suggestions on how to incorporate priority concerns identified by NGOs/CSOs into the text of the I-PRSP
(see page 1 of the Attachments for a detailed list of the contents of the attachments)
Published by NGO Forum on Cambodia:
First draft distributed to RGC and donor agencies: 3 November 2000
Final version distributed: 27 November 2000
ACRONYMS
ADB Asian Development Bank
CAS Country Assistance Strategy
CCC Cooperation Committee for Cambodia
CSO Civil Society Organization
ESAF Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility
GAP Governance Action Plan
IMF International Monetary Fund
I-PRSP Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
MEF Ministry of Economy and Finance
MOP Ministry of Planning
NGO Non-government Organization
PFP Policy Framework Paper
PPA Participatory Poverty Assessment
PRGF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
RGC Royal Government of Cambodia
SEDP Socio-Economic Development Plan
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
WB World Bank
In recent years, international consensus has emerged to focus development goals on poverty reduction. Governments have also agreed to formulate and implement anti-poverty plans that will set time-bound goals and targets for the substantial reduction of poverty. Moreover, the many dimensions of poverty is increasingly being recognized to include not only lack of income but also such notions as human deprivation due to vulnerability, powerlessness and voicelessness. Broadening the dimensions of poverty beyond current income/consumption approach and into notions of social deprivation and powerlessness is a welcome development to many NGOs and other civil society groups. Broadening poverty dimensions likewise enables a similar broadening of the framework of actions needed to attack poverty directly by building upon the pillars of increasing levels of empowerment, security and opportunity for poor men and women.
To be effective, national anti-poverty plans should help focus and coordinate national activities to reduce poverty. They must be comprehensive and require much more than a ‘safety net approach’ or a few targeted interventions for the poor. More importantly, poverty reduction strategies must be nationally-owned and determined and not donor-driven.
The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is preparing key documents to address poverty, including an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) and a second Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2001-2005 (SEDPII) from which a full PRSP will be prepared. A Governance Action Plan (GAP) will also be integrated into the PRSP. In accordance with its agreements with the IMF and World Bank, the RGC is required to prepare an I-PRSP to be submitted to the boards of both agencies in December 2000; the full PRSP is to be finalized by October 2001. The PRSP is a pre-condition for access by Cambodia to WB and IMF concessional loans. The Asian Development Bank, on the other hand, is assisting the Cambodian government in the preparation of SEDPII, in which poverty reduction is a core strategy. The government has expressed its wish for just one policy strategy which incorporates the different donor requirements for the PRSP and SEDPII.
NGOs intend to provide input to the RGC’s Poverty Reduction Strategy in a constructive and comprehensive manner. This input will utilize the perceptions of Cambodian NGO workers and poor and vulnerable groups who are the targets of poverty reduction interventions. NGOs feel that they can be able to contribute towards the formulation of a poverty reduction strategy based on their own experiences in working with poor communities in many provinces in Cambodia.
The PRSP process thus far has yet to be described as truly participatory in nature or country-owned. There has been no real attempt to incorporate the ideas of NGOs/CSOs in setting the priorities of the I-PRSP. All draft versions of the I-PRSP have been in English; the I-PRSP has yet to be released and circulated in Khmer which is the language readily understood by most Cambodians, both within and outside government. Donors should realize that many Cambodians do not have the capacity to read long documents in English. Moreover, it is not known to what extent the WB and IMF will accept specific recommendations from NGOs/CSOs or the government which differ from these institutions' current policy. The SEDPII process, as with the I-PRSP, has yet to fully engage civil society on the substance of its poverty reduction strategy. Inter-ministerial Working Groups on the I-PRSP and SEDPII do not include representatives from civil society.
More consultations with civil society organizations need to be undertaken. In future consultations, a more participatory approach needs to give those being consulted adequate time, resources and space for presenting their views. This should also involve CSOs in each and every step leading to the development of the full poverty reduction strategy.
At a recent National NGO/Civil Society Workshop on the RGC’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, participants ranked the top two cross-cutting issues that should be addressed in the strategy:
1. Reform the public sector
· Introduce a realistic government salary system, linked to an impartial performance-based scale.
· Pass and implement an effective anti-corruption law.
· Reassess the respective roles of the public sector, private sector and civil society organizations (including local communities) in the delivery of basic services and management of natural resources to ensure affordable access of the poor to these resources.
2. Promote rural development
· Decentralize local development planning, and allow local communities a greater say in strategies to combat poverty.
· Increase resource allocation to rural areas to improve physical infrastructure, agricultural productivity and access to public and social services.
· Re-direct resources to the most fragile and isolated regions of Cambodia.
· Protect indigenous culture and sustainable livelihoods of hilltribe communities.
· Ensure food security through sustainable agriculture.
Sectoral issues were also prioritized by the civil society participants in the same workshop broadly categorized as follows: Rural development and decentralization; Agriculture and food security; Land, forestry, fisheries and environment; Health and education; Women’s and children’s rights; Industrial workers and urban poor; Good governance and human rights; Disaster management.
On the content of the I-PRSP, certain provisions are commendable, as in the intent to embark on land reform, provide access to common property resources to poor communities, promote rural development and decentralization. However, some NGOs remain skeptical about the political will of the government to actually implement many of the progressive provisions in the I-PRSP.
The motto of high economic growth, environmental sustainability and social equity may sound good in theory, but in practice is a very difficult task, particularly in cases where social and economic policy objectives contradict each other. Rapid economic growth may not be desirable since it extols heavy social and environmental costs. Moreover, the I-PRSP will remain a ‘wish list’ of what needs to be done as long as there is no clear prioritization of where the balance lies between macro-economic and social and environmental policies. The I-PRSP is not clear on the proportion of resources that will go to ‘growth’ programs, ‘environment’ programs and ‘social equity’ programs.
According to the I-PRSP, 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 poverty monitoring mechanism needs to be set up and systematized. Poverty monitoring involves: tracking changes in poverty outcomes over time and across groups and areas; collecting information for analysis; and providing feedback on effectiveness of poverty reduction efforts. A poverty monitoring system needs to collect data to monitor outcomes, outputs and inputs that utilizes both quantitative and qualitative indicators.
Before NGOs and civil society groups can be enjoined to participate in a poverty monitoring system, however, there needs to be broad agreements between the government and civil society stakeholders on: how poverty is defined; how the poor are identified; what are the causes and effects of poverty; poverty reduction strategy; and indicators (both qualitative and quantitative) that should be used.
In efforts to contribute towards a participatory poverty monitoring system, NGOs/CSOs have initially identified some 'building blocks' on already existing NGO/CSO resources (e.g., technical resources) and mechanisms of government-NGO/CSO cooperation at national and sub-national levels which may also be used as venues for discussion and reporting-back on poverty reduction. For instance, NGOs have various ways of identifying the poor in local communities using certain community-based indicators (e.g. 'wealth ranking' method). Moreover, the network of health sector NGOs (MEDICAM) are active at all levels of the health system, from the central ministry level down to the village and community level and with all populations throughout the country and are therefore well-placed to observe the impact of poverty reduction strategies on health care delivery on the Cambodian population.
NGOs and civil society groups need to have a stronger commitment to engage the government on its poverty reduction strategy. Further steps need to be taken for a more effective civil society engagement in the process. These include: raising more awareness about the PRSP, particularly among poor Cambodians; learning more about government poverty reduction policies and programs/projects; creating more venues for discussion/feedback and cooperation between the RGC and NGOs/CSOs on the poverty reduction strategy; and strengthening the capacities of NGOs/CSOs to monitor the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy. In the immediate term, NGOs/CSOs should endeavor to influence the policy direction of the I-PRSP before its approval by the Cabinet and/or the Boards of the WB and IMF in December 2000; the same actions should also apply in the ongoing preparation of SEDPII.