Statement for the Annual General Meeting of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, 27 June 2003
1-Introduction
A meeting in Chiang Mai of some 200 human-rights activists from around the world early this month, noted that globalisation and free trade has eroded the well being of millions of people living in poor countries. They demanded that governments and international financial and trade organisations (WB, IMF, ADD,WTO for example) take steps to protect and promote economic, social and cultural rights that had been violated in the name of globalisation and free trade. They requested that government policy formation must be transparent, and all trade and financial agreement between states and international financial institutions must be disclosed before signing to allow input from the people and dialogues between the people and the government. (Nation, 8 June 2003)
These two messages, accentuation of poverty and the promotion of dialogue between the people and the government, are very relevant for to-day's Cambodia. The move from planned economy to market economy started in 1989, characterised by trade liberalisation and access to international financial institutions, has ushered in major changes in Cambodian society. Perhaps it is practical for NGO Forum of Cambodia to strategise around these two messages in the next years.
2-Accentuation of poverty and landlessness
The recent study by CDRI provided a sober analysis for all development workers. The study said that despite the fact that the Cambodian economy has, in the last ten years, achieved an average growth rate of 5% per year, the number of people living in poverty has not reduced in any substantial way, especially those in the rural areas. It is estimated that 36% of Cambodians are living in poverty, as defined in the National Poverty Reduction Strategy 2003-2005 (NPRS) of less than U.S.$0.50 per day, most of them in the rural areas. The study also found that 20 per cent of rural households do not own any land. In addition the average land holding size is getting smaller. Some 25% of rural households own land plot less than one half hectare- too small to sustain family livelihood. Together almost half of rural households are landless or near-landless. It, therefore, comes to no real surprise that land disputes are perhaps the major source of conflict in contemporary Cambodian society. One in every fifty households is involved in a land dispute. This includes some very large disputes, involving hundred~ of families whose thousands of hectares of land have been granted as concession to outside interests. Over 80% of those accused of taking other people's land are in positions of power, such as officials, members of the armed forces, and business people.
The above statistics suggest a situation now well-explored and widely acknowledged as one of the most serious obstacles to the long term development outlook for Cambodia, in particular for the rural poor. The situation may well worsen if the trend of decreasing access by the poor to productive resources (land, fisheries, forestry,...) continues.
Over the last decade, among other things, landlessness and land disputes have resulted in rapid and unsustainable urban migration- a phenomenon that looks likely to become a formidable challenge for the Royal Government of Cambodia in the)'ears to come. It has the potential to be the breeding ground for political and social discontent which will in turn be a major threat to the newly found stability which the country is currently enjoying. How to provide people with land and how to resolve land disputes are matters that need to be addressed urgently by the government. NGOs' advocacy work must also cover a wide spectrum of people's access to and control over other productive resources.
There can be no sustainable development, no sustainable poverty reduction where and when people have no access or control over land and other productive resources. The country's ineffectiveness in reducing the number of people living in poverty, poses fundamental question as to whether the government policy and reform packages, as enshrined in the NPRS, SEDP II and other adopted legal framework, are working in favour of the rural poor. It is, therefore, very important for NGO Forum to study the NPRS and other policy framework and devise a comprehensive advocacy plan to modify and improve wherever possible the implementation of the NPRS so that the interest of the rural poor can be addressed in more places. Also, important, is for NGO Forum to be more prepared for future formulation of such policy.
3-Trust-building dialogue for progress
Post conflict Cambodia is a place of great challenge for development workers. One legacy of the three decades of war and conflict is the erosion of trust within the national community. This is because the traditional conferring of ideas has ceased as people turned to weapons to get their ideas across or adopted. There exists distrust within the government horizontally and vertically, and between the people, the government and civil society organisations. Trust needs to be brought back urgently. Rebuilding trust requires recommencing dialogue between development actors. Social scientist have observed that it is not easy to reestablish dialogue in a country that has experienced prolonged warfare, and Cambodia is no exception.
While stakeholders - the people, the government and the donors - are unwilling and/or unable to engage in dialogue, there can be no common understanding between groups, about what are the root causes of poverty and what strategies or reform package are needed to combat poverty. The government ends up devising development programme that is not responsive to the needs of the people. For example, in NPRS, the government promotes agribussiness in the face of acute landlessness without providing means to solve the problem. While stakeholders do not trust each other, there can be no shared responsibility: the people don't understand the reform introduced by the government - sometime refuse to comply -leading to unsuccessful reform effort. When this happens, sustaining poverty and distrust -not development is the outcome.
4-Growth vs. Inequality
As export-oriented growth strategies and other trade liberalising reforms are promoted, we are witnessing increasing inequality between urban and rural areas, and between the rich and the poor in those areas. The current development trend where, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, does not bode well for sustaining development and peace. It is true that the tradition of patron-client relationship has a long history in Cambodian society. It is observed that post-conflict Cambodia has accentuated this informal patron client relationship. This is because the newly found state with its elected parliament has not been able to provide accountable public services (education, health, ..,), security and protection for its citizens. The situation or land tenure, employment possibility, access to education, access to health services are still so fragile that people are not placing their faith in the formal institution of governance, but rather on the non-formal institution building around patron-client relationship. In the existing circumstances where there exist gross disparity of power and control over resources, the poor are very susceptible to abuse by the powerful. In other words, the informal patron-client relationship often disregards the respect of individuals right. Poor individuals become so subordinate to the more powerful and seek their protection. This is done at the expense of individuals' creativity and, thus, contrary to the human rights approach to development as enshrined in the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. At the same time, it accentuates the gap between the rich and the poor. One way to reduce the power of the patron-client relationship is through improved governance from the grassroot to the national level.
Perhaps, it is not wrong to say that while NGO Forum of Cambodia is responsible in advocating to improve the implementation or improve the formulation of national policies (NPRS, SEDP II and other legal framework), the NGOs working at the grassroot level are responsible in advocating for good governance at community level (Commune Council, village chief, etc.). However, it is very important for any group that wants to be effective at the national level to have a strong understanding at the grassroot level. NGO's work is likely to be more effective by working from both ends, the top and bottom. Sometimes, it is the pressure from the bottom that forces changes at the national level. Good governance would enable poor people to benefit more from the current economic growth that Cambodia has enjoyed, and, therefore, narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor.
5.Conclusion
Issues that I raised this morning include (1) the accentuation of poverty in Cambodia, (2) a discussion about the impact of growth on inequality, and (3) how building-trust between development actors is essential prerequisite for progress
It has been put for ward that participation of civil society has taken place in the formulation of recent government policies, such as the NPRS and SEDP II. It was true that NGOs were invited to several meetings and several presentations were made. Some recommendations were incorporated in the NPRS. What is sadly missing is the voice of the people. Little direct participation of local groups or community base organisations has taken place. The government and donors have not made enough effort to learn about the concern of grassroot people. In fact, community base organisations and the government don't know how to meaningfully consult each other, and, this consultation will not happen without outside support and facilitation. This is where NGOs have a role to play. Also important is the formulation of the annual national budget which is the area where NGOs must pay more attention. In fact NGOs and NGO Forum have three critical roles regardless of which political party win office next month.
-advocate with the government and donors that they make every effort to include community base organisations,
-NGO Forum make every effort to facilitate the participation of community base organisation
-NGOs and NGO Forum work with these community base organisations to strengthen their capacity, especially in situation analysis to enable them to carry out meaningful dialogues with the government.
Boua Chanthou
Padek's Director
