Status and Achievements

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

UNDP's cooperation as regards Poverty Alleviation comprises a targeted series of development support activities aimed at building national capacities to plan, implement, and monitor interventions in a sustainable and participatory manner. In so doing, UNDP cooperation is aimed at having an immediate impact at the grassroots level, and, where necessary, to respond to emergency situations. One 'of the major new initiatives during 1995 will be the launching of a broad- based exercise that is to result in the design of a National Action Plan for Alleviating Poverty. This exercise is to provide the Royal Government and its development partners with an action-oriented, cross-sectoral frame- work for improving the standards of living of the poorest.

UNDP-supported projects in the areas of integrated Area Development and Employment Generation have combined their efforts to promote improved standards of living in a total of eight provinces of Cambodia (Battambang, Siem Reap, Pursat, Banteay Meanchey, Kandal, Takeo, Kompong Cham, and Kampot) and Phnom Penh. These projects , originally conceived as part of UNDP's support to the reintegration and resettlement of refugees, internally displaced persons and demobilized soldiers, now provide support to a wide range of rural and urban populations.

Specific areas of concentration and major achievements are as follows:


A. INTEGRATED AREA DEVELOPMENT

The UNDP/OPS-executed CARERE Cambodian Resettlement and Reintegration) programme has both direct assistance and capacity-building objectives which are closely interlinked at provincial, district, commune and village level. Over the past year in particular, CARERE has undergone a significant transition in recognition of the progressively increasing role being assumed by Government bodies. Specifically, in the four northwest provinces where it intervenes, CARERE has supported since its beginning:

1. the construction of 163 km of labor-based roads and rehabilitation /maintenance of 133 km of machine-based secondary roads;

2. de-mining of access roads and abandoned villages enabling 12,000 displaced persons and returnees to resettle and take up productive activities;

3. production of over 1,350 hand-dug wells, 200 drilled wells, and excavation of 127 ponds providing access to potable water to an estimated 250,000 people;

4. rehabilitation of irrigation schemes enabling 21,000 ha of agricultural land to be brought back into production benefitting 20,000 families, and assisting land preparation and provision of agricultural inputs resulting in production of nearly 17,000 tons of rice benefitting 11,000 returnee families, and provision of vegetable seeds to 55,000 returnee families;

5. construction of 193 new schools with 737 classrooms and rehabilitation of 121 schools with 393 classrooms, with a combined capacity of over 72,000 students;

6. construction of 28 infirmaties primarily at commune level and 10 health centers at district and province level serving a combined population of 320,000 persons;

7. the construction of eight new agricultural stations and training centers, and the establishment of 11 tree nurseries and a fisheries station which contribute to the production of improved varieties of rice seed and fruit trees, extension services in crop management, training, management and development planning for provincial ministry staff and farmers;

8. the formation of Provincial Water and Sanitation committees to assist Government to define standards and coordinate interventions in the sector;

9. in collaboration with UNICEF and WHO, the development of provincial health plans, patient referral services, nurse training, and the establishment of provincial health training facilities and outreach primary health care training programmes; (10) the provision of training in income generation, technical and administrative fields as well as functional literacy to over 1,600 persons (70% women), training in community development and agricultural techniques to almost 500 persons, and water use education to over 30,000 school children.

Direct implementation of CARERE projects by provincial Government departments has increased up to 42% in 1994, and is expected to rise to approximately 70%, in 1995, while subcontracting with other organizations (NGOs and village groups) will continue for the remaining 30% . Already several hundred village groups have been formed through CARERE's efforts for constructing schools, managing rural credit through village banks, managing water use in irrigation schemes, and for rice seed multiplication schemes and village rice banks, as well as village work brigades for roads construction and rehabilitation. In 1995, assistance to the formation of Village Development Committees will be a major focus of CARERE capacity-building, an effort which has already begun with considerable success in Banteay Meanchey. Furthermore, CARERE will continue to emphasize capacity-building at the provincial level with the Provincial Department for Rural Development and the Provincial Rural Development Committees, both of which are strongly supported through provincial planning, sectoral meetings, and project approval exercises, intended to ensure full ownership by Government departments and provincial authorities.

While UNDP finances the technical assistance, management and operational support costs of the programme, generous cost-sharing contributions from the Netherlands, the United States of America, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Australia, and the United Kingdom, as well as separate agreements with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Caisse Franqaise de Developpement and the European Union (yet to be concluded), have financed the programme's direct interventions at the provincial level. In 1995, CARERE will open an office in Rattanak Kiri province which, funds permitting, could cover Mondulkiri in 1996.


B. EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME GENERATION

Executed by the International Labor Organization (ILO), this programme has two components, the first of which is the promotion of small or micro-business employment through a combination of skills and management training, and credit. As of January 1995, six regional vocational training centers and eight Local Economic Development Agencies (LEDAS, branches of a Cambodian NGO making up the Association of Cambodian LEDAS, or ACLEDA) are operational. Over 2,000 people participated in skills training in a variety of areas, selected on the basis of recommendations emanating from Training Needs Assessments and Business Opportunity Surveys. Many of these 2,000 people also benefitted from small business training and credit. In total, over 1,700 trainees benefitted from business management training, of whom over 1,000 (68% women) actually started or expanded businesses, many with the assistance of LEDA administered credit. These programmes have benefitted a total of over 25,000 people by raising family incomes by between 45 and 6596 for those involved in micro and small businesses. In addition, the National Training

Secretariat and the National Training Center at Tek Thla have received infrastructural, institutional, and methodological capacity- building support. Finally, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Ministry of Education, the UNDP/ILO vocational training project, and GTZ for the development of a National Vocational Education and Training (VET) Strategy which will be the precursor to the formulation of a VET Master Plan for Cambodia.

The other major component of the UNDP/ILO-supported Employment Generation Programme is the use of Labor- Based Appropriate Technology (LBAT) in rural infrastructure development works. Since its beginning, this programme has successfully generated more than 1.2 million days of employment. Workers have been compensated for their labor through a combination of cash remuneration and food for work provided by the World Food Programme (WFP). Over 150 engineers, technicians and supervisors in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport have been trained in labor-based methods of infrastructure construction and rehabilitation, and are able to conduct such works with limited intervention from external advisors. Altogether 240 km of secondary roads and 66 km of secondary and tertiary irrigation canals covering 12,000 ha have been constructed or rehabilitated, and local village maintenance and operations systems put in place. In addition, essential clean-up work at the World Heritage site of Angkor has been organized and a cost-effective maintenance system established. It has been agreed with the Royal Government to develop a national strategy for the use of Labor Based Appropriate Technology. As one element of such a national strategy, the programme is also providing support to the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) to integrate LBAT into its In addition to UNDP financing, the Netherlands has been and continues to be a generous contributor to this Programme.


C. DEMINING

With UNDP assistance, considerable international support has been mobilized since last year's ICORC meeting for the cause of demining in Cambodia, which, pooled together, has enabled the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) to develop into the central national structure for ridding the Cambodian countryside of its mines. Over 6.4 million square meters of land have been demined by CMAC, over 25 million square meters have been marked as no-go zones, and tens of thousands of land mines and other explosive devices have been removed from lands utilized by Cambodia's rural populations. Mine awareness, training and mine marking conducted by CMAC (among others) have together contributed to a substantial reduction in national mine-related casualties.

Over the past year - with the assistance of 28 external technical advisors (financed by Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, as well as an additional 8 under bilateral arrangements with Norway and France) and the provision of UNDP- funded support to CMAC logistical, financial, and administrative functions - CMAC has become -an efficient and well-structured organization. With a total of 1,572 personnel, it can deploy 41 demining platoons, 16 mine marking teams and 10 explosive ordnance disposal teams in the field. A competent cadre of instructors is available at the training center to continue improving on technical demining procedures and maintaining standards. Finally, CMAC's data base currently registers over 2,000 known minefields nationwide and serves as a common resource for national and international organizations alike.

The Trust Fund target set at the beginning of the two-year programme was USD20 million. To date, USD 10 million in cash contributions (as well as $2 million in equipment from the United States of America and Sweden) have been received from Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, and the Holy See, and another $2.1 million are expected from Sweden. This leaves a total of $8 million to be mobilized between now and the end of the programme of assistance in April 1996.


D. ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Cambodia has a considerable endowment in natural resources and bio-diversity which, if managed properly, has the potential to make significant contributions to its economy and to the long term food security of the Cambodian people. UNDP has provided advisory services for the formulation of a framework environmental law and draft minerals law, concept papers for the creation of a national capacity for water quality control, the establishment of a national environmental action plan, the establishment of an integrated resource information center (IRIC) UNDP has also undertaken wide-ranging environmental education and awareness activities including eleven small-scale initiatives implemented with NGOs at village level. UNDP has received generous contributions from both Finland and Australia for a number of activities in this sector.

UNDP will continue to support the Government in the area of environmental and natural resource management, through assistance to education and awareness building, including integration of environmental education into primary and secondary school curricula, sustainable use of natural resources, health and hygiene including village-based water and sanitation projects, small-scale tree nurseries and replanting activities, sustainable fisheries, and sound advice in the use of organic and chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and on-going assistance to the sustainable management of Cambodia's water resources including the sub-regional support to the establishment of the Mekong River Commission. As regards the forestry sector, UNDP will support the preparation of a management action plan and provide capacity building assistance in carrying out a pilot forestry inventory. Finally, the Ministry of Environment will publish in 1995, with UNDP support, the first ever State of the Environment Report for Cambodia.


E. AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

UNDP's principal achievements in the agricultural and irrigation sectors were the production of the Agricultural Development Options Review (ADOR) and the Irrigation Rehabilitation Study of 841 irrigation schemes in Cambodia. The ADOR exercise was under taken by participation of the major stakeholders, thereby promoting collaboration and common problem-solving. By highlighting the major potentials and constraints to the agricultural sector in Cambodia, the results of this process provide a sound reference for agricultural policy decision-makers over the next five years. Likewise, the Irrigation Rehabilitation Study - which, among other things, identified (at pre-feasibility phase) 10 economically viable medium-scale irrigation schemes and five capacity building projects - is of immediate relevance in guiding the allocation of resources for irrigation rehabilitation.

Furthermore, UNDP has initiated a rural credit project which targets both village-level direct assistance in the creation of local funding desks as well as capacity building at the central level to define and monitor national policy with regard to rural credit. With parallel arrangements with the Caisse Francaise de Develop-pement and UNICEF, and in cooperation with other major multi- and bilateral organizations and the NGO community, UNDP will thus support the establishment of a National Rural Credit Committee and rural credit policy standards and practices.

In addition to on-going efforts in the context of UNDP's Area Development and Public Administration Reform programmes, new support interventions will include high-level missions to assist UNDP and the Government to determine key entry points for policy-level support to the agriculture and irrigation sectors. UNDP will also provide targeted assistance to the Government for the establishment of a national, financially-sustainable and effective fertilizer distribution system in cooperation with the Caisse Francaise de Develop-pement and the Belgian Government, and will provide interim funding to the Agricultural College at Prek Leap in education management and curriculum development.


DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT

In order to facilitate the country's transition to a market economy, based on the rule- of law, and to assist in the re-definition of the State's mandates and functions, major UNDP support programmes are being implemented to assist in the formulation of policies and reforms, and to provide capacity building support. This comprises the following components.

A. MACROECONOMC MANAGEMENT

UNDP's programme of technical assistance in the area of macroeconomic management supports the Royal Government's reform programme emphasizing macroeconomic stabilization, rebuilding of institutions, and re-establishing the social and economic infrastructure. In collaboration with the Asian Development Bank, UNDP has provided advisory services and training with respect to four areas of macro-economic management, namely, macro-economic planning, fiscal reform, money and banking, and statistics. As regards the latter, the collaborative UNDP- AsDB technical assistance has supported the Ministry of Planning in preparing the first socioeconomic survey of Cambodia, based on a sample of 1,327 households. To date, the first report has been published, providing key data on demographic indicators, labor force, migration, housing and income, as well as detailed data on consumer expenditures. UNDP has, in the process of conducting and processing the survey, provided considerable institutional capacity building. This extensive training has benefitted over 50 central and provincial civil servants in survey fieldwork and analysis. UNDP funding for this programme, amounts to $1.5 million, with $2.39 million in co-funding by the AsDB.

In addition, UNDP, in collaboration with the IMF, has assisted in the design of a comprehensive technical assistance programme in support of fiscal and monetary management. The programme of UNDP-IMF technical assistance is focused on two principal objectives:

1. the consolidation of a modem financial sector by assisting in the development of the National Bank of, Cambodia into an independent central bank with strong policy and supervisory capabilities, and

2. supporting substantive improvements in the government ability to mobilize revenue through tax and customs reform. Long-term technical support to the National Bank aims to strengthen bank supervision, operations, accounting, cash management, research and exchange functions. Support to the Ministry of Economy and Finance is focused on tax administration reform and capacity building within the Customs Department. UNDP's commitment to this programme of support is USD2.6 million with additional parallel funding by the IMF of USD1.7 million.

B. SECTORAL POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

The common approach of UNDP support at the sectoral level, and as regards line ministries, is to strengthen policy and management functions with the aim of improving the delivery of key public services at the grass-roots level. In addition, several ministries will be selected as "pilot" cases, as part of UNDP's support to the Government's Public Administration Reform programme.

In Health, a joint UN Agencies-bilateral donor initiative is under way to assist the Royal Government of Cambodia in its efforts to reform the health sector. UNDP support is aimed at assisting the Ministry of Health in defining the size, role, structure and financing requirements of the health system and in establishing management support systems. Following earlier support at, foremost, the central level, the recently implemented second phase will equally concentrate at provincial and district health systems. The Ministry of Health will be one such "pilot" case as part of the Public Administration Reform programme. Initiatives instituted to strengthen capacity and improve service delivery at the Ministry of Health will provide a measure of the reform's progress and, in turn, ensure that lessons learned in this project are applied to other programmes in - other sectors. Significant capacity-building to the Ministry of Health has been ensured in 1994, and will continue to be provided until 1996. UNDP's contribution amounts to $3.12 million, with additional parallel funding of approximately $2 million from UK/ODA, WHO and the American Red Cross.

In Education, UNDP, in collaboration with UNESCO, has assisted the Government in preparing an initial sector plan entitled "Rebuilding Quality Education and Training in Cambodia." The sector plan was reviewed at a national education seminar held in January of 1994. Subsequently, this plan has been utilized as part of the AsDB's sectoral planning exercise resulting in a comprehen- sive investment plan that was reviewed at a Government-donor meeting in December 1994. Additionally, a second phase UNDP/UNESCO support programme, which includes a UNDP contribution of $3.2 million, has been designed, and is about to be imple- mented. This programme, funded with a $3.2 million UNDP contribution, is designed to strengthen the capacity of senior management of the Ministry of Education in planning and management capabilities for enhanced policy formulation and decision making. As regards Higher Education, UNDP support to the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) will be continued throughout 1995, with UNDP funding of in total $ 1.6 million.

In the Tourism sector, a preparatory assis- tance project was initiated in January of 1994. The purpose of this project was to provide capacity building to the Ministry of Tourism for the planning, development, marketing, and management of tourism to Cambodia. Additionally, the project assisted in the for- mulation of a human resource development strategy for the sector. Outputs already achieved include new regulations governing tourism services, a project proposal for the creation of a national tourism training center, surveys on arrivals and departures at Pochentong International Airport and hotels in Phnom Penh. The full UNDP-supported tourism sector project is signed and will begin in the very near future.


C. ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM

Following the Royal Government decision on Administrative Reform, UNDP has been instrumental in facilitating consensus build- ing and in providing technical assistance for the actual design of the National Programme of Administrative Reform (NPAR). At the same time, UNDP has assisted the design of a comprehensive support programme (requir- ing US$ 8 million in technical assistance, including a component funded by UNDP at US$ 3.1 million), which has just recently been approved. The NPAR, and UNDP support, component comprise the following areas:

1. structuring of the Royal Government and its administration including the legal framework for the government and the roles and responsibilities of ministries,

2. strengthening administrative capacity and service delivery of key operational min- istries including health, education and agriculture,

3. reforming the civil service through ‘remodelage’,' census of public servants, and re-deployment and re-training schemes,

4. human resource development of govern- ment staff to include training in adminis- tration and management skills,

5. re-defining and strengthening the rela- tionship between central and provincial administrations.

Initial implementation support has so far resulted in agreement on the organigram of the Inter-ministerial Committee in charge of the management of the NPAR. Work Plans have been prepared for the various compo- nents of the NPAR, including further specifi- cation of support requirements. This will allow for more systematic coordination with interested donors. Furthermore, support has been provided to preparatory measures. regarding civil service reform, including the recently held "comptage' (headcount) of Cambodian Government civil servants.

Project profiles for donor support are being prepared by the Government with UNDPs assistance, while already several bilateral and multilateral donors have confirmed their intention to provide resources in support of the NPAR. In this connection, there is agree- ment for UNDP and the World Bank to coop- erate in the design of scenarios for downsiz- ing the public service, including social safety nets and re-training schemes. Such schemes, once designed, will be presented to donors, in addition to the above mentioned support requirements.


D. GOOD GOVERNANCE

UNDP in collaboration with the UN Center for Human Rights is about to finalize the design of a support Programme for providing technical advice to the newly established democratic, legislative and judicial institu- tions. A major component of the support will be aimed at strengthening of local NGOs involved in Human Rights. UNDP will pro- vide a contribution of $2 million.


E. AID COORDINATION

In the context of Aid Coordination. UNDP is instituting a programme of support to the Cambodian Development Council (CDC) to articulate and operationalize its mandate and functions. This support will promote and facilitate consensus building between CDC and line ministries in the implementation of the 'National Program to Rehabilitate and Develop Cambodia", thereby strengthening these national institutions to mobilize, pro- gramme and implement externally provided development resources. Policy development and strategic planning assistance will be sup- plemented by the development of a Management Information System on exter-- nally financed projects and assistance. This database will provide statistics on Public Development Assistance and interface with the Public Investment Programme that the Royal Government is establishing in associa- tion with the development banks. These mea- sures will contribute to dearer understanding of Cambodia's needs in matters of external assistance. UNDP is also providing assistance to the CDC to strengthen its capacity to nego- tiate international development- assistance agreements.


F. INFRASTRUCTURE

UNDP in Cambodia has launched from 1991 to 1994, several projects aimed at directly rehabilitating essential elements of Cambodia's infrastructure as well as under- taking feasibility studies to enable infrastruc- ture rehabilitation support by bilateral donors and international credit institutions. UNDP has thus provided support for these efforts totalling $21.9, of which $14.8 have come from core UNDP resources, as summarized below. With other donors commencing sup- port in various areas of infrastructure, UNDP is in a position to phase out its direct assis- tance, while, focussing on management and planning support in selected areas.

(a) Transport and infrastructure rehabilitation

Road and bridges emergency repair works on Road No.5, UNDP-managed Trust fund whose contributors were the Government of Sweden ($4.9 million), USAID ($2 million) and the Dutch Government ($113,888).

Simultaneously, a Transport Rehabilitation Study was undertaken to identify short, medium and long term needs of various modes of transport in the Kingdom of Cambodia, and to establish a Planning Unit in the Ministry of Public Works. The project's budget amounted $1.3 million with $719,400 from UNDP and a parallel financing from Sweden through AsDB of $600,000. In addi- tion, UNDP has provided advisory services to the newly created Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) for, inter alia, setting technical standards and regulation for the construction and operation of the infrastruc- ture assets and, to assist the Ministry in its coordination efforts.

UNDP/ICAO support (with UNDP funding of $2.8 million) in the area of Air Traffic Control Services has, apart from institutional and capacity building support, contributed to the establishment of regular safety standards at Pochentong (Phnom Penh) International Airport.

(b) Water and Power Utilities(/b)

UNDP and the World Bank are jointly sup- porting capacity building and initial rehabilitation- regarding the Water and the Power Utilities of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. This emergency assistance, with a total UNDP contribution of $7.8 million, has paved the way for major rehabilitation activities and investments amounting to, so far, $109 mil- lion for the power sector (World Bank, AsDB, Japan, France, Ireland, Belgium) and $19 mil- lion for the water sector (World Bank, Japan, France).

(c) Telecommunications

UNDP facilitated the transfer of the $28 mil- lion UNTAC satellite-based telecommunica- tions network to -the Kingdom of Cambodia. Furthermore, UNDP/ITU technical support to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia (MPTC) has facilitated additional investment of $15 million that will generate an estimated $25 million of revenue over 8 years. In addition, UNDP/ITU support, of in total $1 million, is about to start for preparation of a 15 year Telecommunications Master Plan, including further support to strengthen the planning and management capabilities of the MPRC.

ADDITIONAL AREAS OF UNDP SUPPORT

UTILIZATION OF KHMER EXPERTISE

Apart from human resources development, UNDP is actively promoting the UTILIZATION of Khmer expertise as part of all its support activities. One of the modalities being used is the TOKTEN programme (Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals), which aims at bringing highly qualified and experienced expatriate technical and manage- rial professionals back to their country of ori- gin for short-term consultancies. In 1993 and 1994, a total of 106 such consultants complet- ed assignments in Cambodia in the fields of agriculture, health, culture, industry, educa- tion, environment, public works, tourism, administration and macro-economic -manage- ment. A total of 980 Government officials and 1,100 teachers and students have benefitted from training as a result of these missions. The majority of TOKTEN consultants have been drawn from France, the United States, and Australia, and a total of 23 (or more than 20%) of these consultants have chosen to remain in Cambodia over the long term.

DIALOGUE ON LONGER-TERM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Building on earlier UNDP support, it is now becoming possible to work towards a longer- term framework for cooperation between the Royal Government, the UN Development System and its development partners. As part of the UN Development System, UNDP will continue to focus its dialogue with the Royal Government on such longer-term develop- ment perspective, and on the approaches that need to be developed or enhanced.

REINTEGRATION OF CAMBODIA WITHIN THE WORLD COMMUNITY

UNDP System will continue its efforts to facilitate Cambodia's re-integration in a regional and world context. Concrete impetus has been provided to the recent draft agree- ment on the cooperation for sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin.

Collaboration with regional institutions, like ESCAP, has already been intensified and will be further pursued. At the invitation of the Japanese Government to a Forum for the Comprehensive Development of Indochina, UNDP has supported the preparation of a Compendium on Human Resources Development requirements in the region, with a view to highlight priorities and strate- gies for sub-regional cooperation. It is also significant that Cambodia was represented at- the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo and the World Social Summit that has just recently been concluded in Copenhagen. UNDP will also continue to promote and facilitate South- South collaboration, at all levels of policy and implementation support.