Cambodian Challenges and Problem Statement For
A Consultation Between Religious and Civil Society Leaders on Development and Peace Building, 17 February 2003
The event of January 29, 2003, when the Thai embassy and numerous Thai-owned business were attacked, and its aftermath was sad and at the same time shocking. It compels us to reflect on the needs for tolerance in a world characterised by diversity and competition over scarce resources. From this experience, I draw the following observations that I think are relevant for participants of this workshop.
1.1. A recent editorial in a Thai newspaper, Nation, said that while the government in the region including Cambodia and Thailand have been promoting a development strategy that focus on economic growth and investment, governments have overlooked the cultural and social dimension of development that promote understanding between people of the region.
2.2.The event remind me of the conspicuously absence of an appropriate venue for discussion or the ex
3.3.Also missing is the absence of leadership to guide social moral values, which help people to understand what is right and what is wrong. This absence make Cambodian society appears forever fragile and unstable to the outside world and susceptible to violence
The second sad thing that I would like to mention today is from a recent study by CDRI. The study said that despite the fact that the Cambodian economy has, in the last ten years, achieve the 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 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 hundreds 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 country's ineffectiveness in reducing the number of people living in poverty, poses fundamental question as to whether the government policy and reform packages are working and more importantly how can participants of this workshop and civil society organisation contribute to national development that is more equitable, peaceful and sustainable.
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. 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.
How can religious groups and civil society organisation facilitate trust building dialogue between the people and the government?
The current development trend where, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, does not bode well for sustaining 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 security and protection for its citizens. The situation of 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 individual 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. One way to reduce the power of the patron-client relationship is through improved governance from the grassroot to the national level. Religious groups can play an important role in both grassroot and national levels. 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.
National peace building cannot exclude women. Tolerance and respect for women is the single most important factor in development. The incidences of violence against women are alarming. Act of violence is an ex
Post-conflict Cambodia has not been able to provide people with a secure livelihood. This feeling of insecurity together with mistrust makes people cling to weapons as people lost the art of dialogue and compromise. To avoid further conflict, disarmament and demobilisation must be done through serious consultation with all stakeholders. Inability to resolve conflict does not bode well for development.
The Cambodian Human Development Report: Societal Aspects of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Cambodia Progress Report 2001, noted that the main "persistent and consistent" feature of HIV/AIDS epidemics throughout the world is the link between epidemic and human poverty. The report also discussed the increasing vulnerability of Cambodia's children. Given the current dependency rates, "when 1000 adults die of AIDS, their 920 dependents will be indirectly affected, psychologically and physically. The report notes that: "Facilitating the sharing of accurate information not only empowers people to make informed choices about their lives, but also dramatically reduces discrimination against people with HIV, base on fear." Religious groups have important role to play in educating the public on HIV/AIDS.
The four areas that you are going to discuss today are deeply interrelated. By focusing on one area you are in fact contributing to the other. The common message for the four areas is respect for individual rights and tolerance for the world of diversity.
Ms. Boua Chanthou,
Padek's Director,
Phnom Penh, 17 February 2003
