46241 Volume 6, Number 8 August 2008 Country Assistance Strategy Stays Course for 3 More Years In May this year, the World Bank extended its Country Assistance Strategy for Cambodia, which had runfrom2005till2008, foranother three years. The Newsletter looks at the reasons. Why did the World Bank decide to extend the current Cambodia Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) until 2011? Recent consultations with stakehold- ers ­ parties with an interest in Cambodia's development ­ suggest that the approach and objectives in the current CAS con- tinue to be appropriate for the country. Stakeholders have urged CAS partners to Road improvements throughout Cambodia are one aspect of World Bank maintain the current division of labor and assistance that has improved the lives of vast numbers of people. have encouraged the Bank to remain se- ditional consideration is that delays The CAS was launched in 2005. Cam- lective by deepening rather than widen- stemming from fiduciary concerns have bodia was still among the poorest coun- ing its engagement. Stakeholder consul- left an unfinished agenda in the exist- tries in the world, with the then per capita tations also showed strong support for ing CAS program. income of $430 a year, despite nearly a de- better aligning future donor assistance to cade of high growth. Many public institu- Cambodia's next National Strategic Devel- What is the background to the current tions had been destroyed during the prior opment Plan, scheduled for 2011. An ad- CAS? see COUNTRY page 2 Provinces Get World Bank Public Information Centers "K nowledge is a form of modern power ­ offering knowledge is one of the top gifts in life," said H.E. Senior Minister Kol Peng, of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, at the opening of a World Bank Public Information Center (PIC) in Battambang province in June 2008 ­ the third provin- cial PIC opened this year. "Now we get a [World Bank] library where we can access electronic documents and hard copies. Please use it ­ it has the potential to strengthen knowledge." H.E. Prak Doeun, Deputy Governor of Battambang province, welcomed the gift oftheWorldBankPublicInformationCen- World Bank Acting Country Manager Stephane Guimbert and PUC Battambang ter corner and encouraged people in his Director Khem Rasmey sign an agreement for a Public Information Center, province to use it. watched by H.E. Prak Doeun, Battambang Deputy Governor (third from left) "The Public Information Center is a and H.E. Senior Minister Kol Peng (fifth from left). see PROVINCES page 3 2 The World Bank Newsletter August 2008 Country Assistance Strategy stays course ... Giving farmers title to their land gives them the security to invest in the development of their farms. Continued from page 1 seek to increase government accountabil- three decades of conflict and were still What about improving natural re- ity towards citizens, particularly the poor being rebuilt. Analytical work pointed to source management? Why is that impor- and vulnerable, women and youth; im- governance as the main constraint to sus- tant? prove government responsiveness to tainable poverty reduction. It was in this This objective is to strengthen the people's needs; strengthen channels of context that the World Bank Group put in overallframeworkformanagementofland external accountability including media, place a governance-focused CAS, pre- resources, improve security of tenure and civil society, and national assembly; in- pared jointly with theAsian Development access to land, and to improve manage- crease citizen empowerment and citizens' Bank,theUnitedKingdomDepartmentfor ment of forests to meet local, national and ownership of the development process; InternationalDevelopment,andtheUnited global needs.Avery important part of this and to reform or put in place mechanisms Nations system, making it the World objective is to increase the access of lo- to resolve disputes and uphold rights Bank's first joint CAS. cal communities to the benefits of land through the institution of dispute resolu- and forest. tion and legal mechanisms. What are those governance-focused ob- jectives? What does the Bank hope to achieve In addition to the governance-focused The governance focused objectives by helping the government improve ser- objectives, what else does the CAS seek are: (i) to promote private sector devel- vice delivery and public financial man- to support? opment to spur poverty reduction; (ii) to agement? The CAS identifies work to assist in improve natural resources management; The goal is to improve government the formulation and implementation of a (iii) to improve service delivery and pub- capabilities and strengthen governmental government-led strategy and investment lic financial management, and (iv) to sup- institutions to reduce poverty in accor- program for achieving the Cambodia Mil- portdecentralizationandpromotecitizens' dance with the country's NSDP(National lennium Development Goals (CMDGs). partnerships for better governance. StrategyDevelopmentPlan).Themainout- This strategy includes increased effective- These four objectives were chosen be- comes from this objective should be to ness and poverty focus from available re- cause of their importance for growth and strengthen and mobilize the management sources, country ownership of develop- for poverty reduction, as well as the need of public finances and set the stage for ment policy, increased participation by all for strong government leadership to improved services and reduced corruption. stakeholders, and improved harmonization achieve these goals. An important part of this strategy will be and alignment of development assistance. to set civil service management incentives It will incorporate a comprehensive and Why is private sector development an tied to performance as a basis for better strategic approach to addressing gender important aspect of poverty reduction? service delivery. inequality in the country's development Private sector development should strategy. lead to increasing export of goods and What will the Bank do to support de- A related objective in the CAS lays out services, diversifying the sources of centralization and promote citizenship a program to support with analytical and growth, and improving private sector de- for better governance? investment services those under-funded livery of public service. In this objective the World Bank will see COUNTRY page 4 August 2008 The World Bank Newsletter 3 Provinces Get World Bank Public Information Centers continued from page 1 special gift to us here, especially for stu- dents," he said. At the signing ceremony, World Bank Acting Country Manager Stephane Guimbert said the World Bank is trying its best to make its information about devel- opment available as widely as possible through Public Information Centers, Pub- lic Information Sharing, radio, monthly newsletters, and video. "We want to make sure that our re- ports are shared widely and people can benefit from them," he said. "We want all people to understand about development South-East Asia University Rector Sien Sovanna and former World Bank Country issues and be ready to be involved and Manager Nisha Agrawal sign a PIC agreement in Siem Reap in January. contribute for long-term development for Speaking to more than 100 participants Sixmonthsearlier,inJanuary2008,the themselves, their children, their grandchil- from different institutions in Battambang World Bank signed the first two MoAs dren, and their great-grandchildren..." province, including provincial officials, with two universities in Siem Reap and Pańńāsāstra University in Battambang students, universities, private sector and Kampong Cham provinces. Speaking to (PUC-Battambang) is one of six World NGOs, PUC-Battambang Executive Direc- more than 200 participants representing Bank Public Information Center Corners tor Khem Rasmey said the World Bank different institutions based in Siem Reap to be established in Cambodia. The first Public Information Center will strongly province, the rector of the University of was opened in 2002 in Phnom Penh. This benefit all people in Battambang province South-East Asia, Sien Sovanna, said the PIC corner is very important because it "We want to make sure that our reports are shared widely and providestheopportunitytostudents,pro- people can benefit from them. We want all people to understand fessors, and researchers to get new infor- mation about development of areas such about development issues and be ready to be involved and con- as the economy, finance, agriculture, rural tribute for long-term development for themselves, their children, development, tourism, education, health, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren..." and industry. Stephane Guimbert "The PIC corner is one of the knowl- edge stores here in Siem Reap," Sovanna said. "I strongly hope that this is a long- year three Memorandums of Agreement and neighboring provinces. term collaboration between the Bank and (MoA) have been signed for provincial "Not only will people enjoy access to the University to meet the needs of our PICs ­ Pańńāsāstra University in printed documents related to the World people, who hunger for new information." Battambang, South-East Asia University Bank and other development related mat- Similarly, the Executive Director of in Siem Reap province, and Western Uni- ters, the public will be able to experience Western University in Kampong Cham, versity in Kampong Cham province. The the benefit of the internet as a source of Sean Sangha, said at the signing cer- other two ­ at the Royal University of knowledge through the World Bank's e- emony that the PIC corner will play an Agriculture and the Supreme National library," he said. "Such an opportunity important role to meet the needs of stu- EconomicCouncil(SNEC),bothinPhnom should not be wasted since now it is avail- dents, professors and outsiders for their Penh ­ will be signed shortly. able here in PUC Battambang." study and for their work. The World Bank provides each PIC corner with two sets of computers, one printer and around 400 copies of the World Bank's publications and docu- ments, including 35 World Bank-sup- ported projects and as well as publica- tions related to Cambodia's development fromresearchinstitutes,Government,De- velopment Partners, and NGOs. The World Bank also provides access to an e-library (online-library) where thou- sands of documents are stored. For more information please contact: Mr. Bou Saroeun Western University Executive Director Sean Sangha, right, and Nisha Agrawal Communications Specialist sign the PIC agreement in Kampong Cham in January. Email: sbou@worldbank.org August 2008 The World Bank Newsletter 4 Country Assistance Strategy stays course ... continued from page 2 Sangkats by 2010 and sectors and sub-sectors critical to achiev- the adoption of the ing the CMDGs. These sectors include Organic Laws on De- health, education and infrastructure. centralization and Deconcentration. What is the overall progress of the Cambodia CAS? There has been strong Progress toward most CAS outcomes progress in working has been impressive, with around 90 per- with development cent of indicators completed or on track partners to support for completion. Some notable achieve- the country's Na- ments include: tional Strategic De- velopment Plan that Laws on trade facilitation have been aims to coordinate de- approved to promote private sector velopment assistance development for poverty reduction behind one single country-owned strat- The government of Cambodia has dis- egy. tributed more than 800,000 titles and has also started a dialogue in titling of In human develop- communally owned land by indig- ment and infrastruc- enous people. ture, there have been improvements in the An innovative merit-based pay initia- infant mortality rate, tive (MBPI) was implemented in the fertility rate, HIV Improving natural resource management is a key part Ministry of Economy and Finance to prevalence rate and of the World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy. start tackling issues of civil service in- school enrollment centives, performance and capacity. rate. There has also been greater ac- tural development, and indigenous cess to and utilization of health, edu- peoples land rights. Work to support decentralization has cation, and infrastructure services, resulted in a projected doubling of the and better targeting of health and edu- Helping the country to improve effi- average funds dedicated to Commune/ cation subsidies. ciency and transparency in revenue collection and to endorse the Extrac- What achievements are expected un- tive Industries Transparency Initiative der the extended CAS? (EITI) The extended CAS will continue to Providing technical support to imple- support the good progress that has been ment the new Organic Law on Decen- made during the original CAS period with tralization and Deconcentration, and new projects and analytical work in sup- support demand-side approaches to port of the CAS objectives. Highlights of good governance. work over the next several years include the following: Working with development partners to help the country prepare the new Coordinating with other partners on a NSDP(2011­2015). Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) on trade to identify areas for reform, to demand government accountability, Expanding the Bank's involvement in and to focus on agri-business, agri- early childhood and higher education, culture development and food prices. and in renewable energy development. Assisting the country to implement The Country Assistance Strategy For more information contact: legislation such as land law, social land Progress Report is available at all Mr. Bou Saroeun concessions, dispute resolution, state PICs, and on the World Bank Communications Specialist land management, forest demarcation, Cambodia websites. Email: sbou@worldbank.org communitymanagementofforestsand protected areas, smallholder agricul- TheWorldBankOffice Cambodia 113, Norodom Blvd. Phnom Penh,Tel: (855 23) 217 301 Fax (855 23) 210 504 Khmer website: www.worldbank.org.kh and English website: www.worldbank.org/kh