Project description

Title: Support to Administrative Reform and Decentralisation
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Cambodia
Lead executing agency: Office of the Council of Ministers (CoM)
Overall term: January 2002 to December 2014

Context

Cambodia’s democratisation process is still in its early stages and although there continues to be a great need for reform, many successes can already be chalked up: the first national elections took place in 1993 under supervision of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). Since then, national elections have been conducted regularly at five-year intervals. Since 2002, commune elections have been held on a five-year cycle.

Following the successful introduction of commune elections in 2002, the Cambodian Government also decided to introduce elected district and province councils and in April 2008 passed the relevant legislation (Organic Law).

Objective

National governmental offices, local governments and civil society organisations implement decentralisation and administrative reform effectively and efficiently. The population is better supplied with public services and takes greater part in the policy-making process.

Approach

One priority area of the programme is to attend to and support a broad, solidly-based discussion – adapted to Cambodia (a post-conflict nation small in area) – of decentralisation. This discussion takes full account of the fact that the country is in a post-conflict stage and is small in area.

Core elements of support are policy-making advisory services in planning, financing, implementation and monitoring, devising legal foundations, promotion of dialogue and discussion forums and training measures.

Results achieved so far

Through its advising on the Organic Law (OL 2008), the programme has already contributed significantly to the development of the Cambodian decentralisation reform. The training measures supported by the programme have enabled numerous staff members in ministries and the province administration to steer and shape administrative reform. Civil society organisations are now in a position to understand the reform measures and increasingly to take part in them.

Further information

• Council for Administrative Reform (CAR)
  www.car.gov.kh
• The National Committee for Support to Communes/Sangkats
  www.ncsc.gov.kh