- Volume 1;Number 3 August 2003 Villagers in 50 communesaround the country discussstrategiesto improve their lives The four:'wheeldrive pick-up truck sportingPovertyReductionProgrampost- ersdrivesthroughthecommunewith loud- speakersalertingall villagersthattheshow was aboutto begin. A light rain is falling, the ground is muddyand it is completely dark (which leadsto a somewhatcomical sceneof road showfacilitatorsworking by themeagerlight of theircell-phones).How- ever,neitherthe light northe rain deters, themorethanhundred villagersfrom gath- ering to watch a 20-minute documentary entitled "Twenty StrategicActions to Re- ducePoverty attheLocal Level." We are atChun Rok commune, one of 50 com- munesin 13provincesandcities selected for a mobile road show to raise people's awarenessof the theNational Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS). The video,accompaniedby agrass roots manual covered suchstrategiesas ~ ~ -- continueonpage2 Wllagersgetherwatching"'Ideodocumentthe20 stretegiesin ChunRok commune Under the World Bank-financed gram. The aim is to bring people at the creasing. School enrollments have in- Education Quality Improvement Project provincial, district, and community lev- creasedwhile the drop-out ratehascome (EQIP),communities,teachers,and school els together with schoolstaff to help im- down. officials are working together under the prove the quality of education. The re- School libraries have come to be leadership of the Ministry of Education, sult of the work in thesethree provinces seenas an impom~t ingredient to im- YouthandSports(MoEYS) to makesome has provided many important lessons proving teaching and learning. They visible improvements in schools. learned that will be used to share these have become a way to provide students The EQIP project -funded in part experienceswith schoolsnationwide. with a sourcefor generalknowledge and by a $5 million World Bank credit and in Communities and school clusters instill a love for reading. For teachers, partnership with Voluntary Service Over- have worked closely together to under- libraries alsocanprovide additional tools seas,the World Food Programme andthe take a variety of projects to enhancethe to motivate students. UTiitedKingdom's Department for Inter- educational experiences of school chil- Schoolofficials andteachershave national Development aims to develop a dren. Some schoolclusters,for example, placed great importance to promoting model for enhancing teaching and learn- soughtto establishprimary school-librar- child-centered teaching methodologies. ing in a participatory way in all 1000 ies; invest in educationalmaterials; spon- A significant part of schoolcluster grants schools of three provinces :.- Takeo, sor regular teachertraining activities on has been apportioned to teacher train- Kanda! andKampot. District animators or pedagogical areas of specific interest; ing sessions during regular Thursday facilitators assistschoolclustersandcom- improve the environmentaroundschools; meetings and to prepare educational materialsandteachingaidsto enliven the munities to participate in theplanning pro- or constructwells andtoilets. From these cess with school staff, first to identify and othersimple improvemen~, thequal- teaching and learning process. Many schools have also invested their schools' needs and,second,to pro- ity of teaching andthe morale of teachers in the construction of wells and toilets. pose activities to meetthose needsto be haveimproved andcommunity participa- funded through the school grants pro- tion and interest in their schools is in- continue on page 2 , NPRS oq the road continuefrom page1 After the show, the facilitators distributing land to poor people in rural askedthe audienceif theywerewilling to areasfor crop pI ting; using high-yield adopt any of these strategies and which seedforricef .g;diversifyingcropsand ones were priorities in their particular maintaining horn gardens;feeding fish to commune. Most people in the villagt. cattle, pig, chick n, and ducks; building noted that what was most important for watersourcesfor ropsandanimalthrough themwasbuilding irrigation systemsand digging ponds d wells, and conStruct- roads.Two officers from the Ministry of ing small dams nd drains; constructing Planningaccompaniedthewhole tourand rural roads for t transport of goods to areputting togetheracomprehensivere- marketsand for etteraccessto hospitals porta long with a short video. and schools; pro oting handicrafts such Several donoI1s-including the as cloth, mats,a d baskets; micro-credit ABD, GTZ, World Bank, UNFPA, schemes;employng poorfarmers in local UNICEFF andUNISCO have beenhelp- andurbandevelo mentactivities;.improv- ing the government of Cambodia with ing local healthse Ices in poorrural areas; technicalassistanceand financial support providing the po sibility to the poor for in preparing the NPRS and disseminat- birth spacing;co suming m.orenutritious ing. The NPRS programwaslaunched in A villager watching on foodsincluding fi h,meat,vegetable,fruit, early March this year by Prime Minister. road show at Chun Rok Village.. iodized salt and sing boiled water; pro- The NPRS mobile road show be- by Discovery Channal. Future plans for viding basiceduc tion for all poor children gan on July 2 in Svay_Rieng province NPRS disseminatioh will look atanele- invillage andin asedinformal education andfinished onJuly 22 atKanipong Cham ment of service delivery in addition to for youthwho ha eno opportunityto con- province. The selectionof the provinces qualitative analysis. Line Ministry offi- tinue their studie in schools; promoting and villages for these road shows was cials have evinced an interest in partici- literacyprograms orpoorfarmersandpro- based on the Ministry of Planning and pating. This'will enablethepeople should viding specialsu portto girls to complete WFP's poverty mapof Cambodia, which to speak directly to their government. theirstudiesinp' ary schoolandcontinue shows geographically where the poorest For more information about to secondaryand rtiary school; andpro- people arelocated. NPRS or PRSP please visit websites: moting women's articipation in political, Earlier this year a large mobile at- www.nprs.gov.kh administrativean economicactivities. tractedover50,000peopleandwasfilmed or www. worldbank.org/prsp continue from p~ge 1These Schooldirectors,animatorsanddis-:: refonns,both asa vehicle for decentrali- investme ts have beenaccompa-nied trict office staff agreethatthe generalpro- zation and, through the formula funding ] with public warenessefforts to keepthem fessional discipline, morale, and owner- adopted,aspart of the pro-poor orienta- ] in clean an tidy conditions. Rub- ship of school programs has improved tion of the Govemment'seducation pro- bishbins and ru ish collection or burn-ing underEQIP. Teacherpunctuality and at- gram. pits are see in most schools. Stu-dents tendance has improved, especially for However, importantchallengesstill as well asteachers are consciousandtheir participation in professional devel- remainto improve Cambodia's education proud of the e improvements. opment sessions. system, including expanding girls' sec- An impo ant dimension of theEQIP An important feature of the EQIP . ondary-school access, raising teacher project is hat school administra- project is the emphasis it has placed on salaries and improving the quality of tors,educatorsa d community membershave the involvement of community members teaching. Community involvement is discretion ver the prioritization ofactivities in thedesignand implementationof qual- surely critical in theseareasaswell. andthe allocation of resources. ity improvementgrants.It waswell known The World Bank hopesto continue District and pr vincial representativesprovidefrom researchstudies in other countries to build the partnership started through guidan e, support and qualitycontrol. andpolicy studiesinCambodiaconducted theEQIP project with the Ministry ofEdu- The ent re budget of the school during the project pilot phasein 1998-99, cation, Youth and Sports and to support cluster grants, h wever, is decentralized that community involvement has bee~ a the MoEYS Education Sector Support directly into the andsof the cluster and major objective but often times with dis- Program. A newBasic Education project communityauth rs of the school cluster appointing outcomesin many otherlarge is currently underpreparationfor approxi- development pI ns. They are also r,e- projects in basic education. Community matelyUS$20-24million. The projectwill sponsible for t e implementation and participation has frequently beenlimited strive to expand access and enhance monitoring ofth ir initiatives. "Transpar- for the most part to providing funds for educational quality opportunities for all ency" mechanis se.g. Quarterly expen- building orrepairing schoolfacilities. Cambodianchildren. diture posters h ng on the walls of the The experiences of EQIP with For moreinform(l1ionpleasecontact: school,mention regularly in allceremo- school grants have helped model the Mr. OuEng nies at t!1eWat keep community and MoEYS Priority Action Programs (PAP) Email: ppu@bigpond.com.kh teachersfully in rmed onthe correctuse at the national level. PAP has become or visit WorldBank Website: of grant funds a ainst the cluster plan. one of the lynchpins of MOEYS' policy www.worldbank.org/kh August2003 TheWorldBankNewsletter 3 The Interna ional DevelopmentAs- parities across and within countries, to to Cambodia, there was much rebuilding sociation (IDA) is a division of the World bring more people into the mainstream, needed.But the Governmentdid nothave Bank. It lendsmo eyatno interest,known and to promote equitable accessto the the money or all the necessaryexpertise as "credits", to th poorestof developing benefitsof development.On average,IDA to accomplish what had to be done. Fi- countries. The m ney is not completely lends $5to $6 billion a year in totalto 81 nancial and information assistancefrom free. Government mustpay aservice fee countries. foreign agencies and countries that lend thatequal.75 per entof the total amount. When a country's economy starts or give money had to be found to help The countr does not have to start to grow and the average income of its the Government restore services and re- paying these loan back for 10 years and citizens live onmore than $865 per year, start its development. theioans are no ally repaid over a pe- that governmentis no longer eligible for Because Cambodia's average in- riod of 35 or 40 years. IDA loans are interest-freeloansfrom IDA. At thattime, comeis very low, it is eligible for interest- granted to a gOY rnment only if certain the governmentmustapply for loans that free loans suchasfunds from IDA. IDA requirementsare. place.This would in- include interest charges from another offers akind of head start,a way of help- cludeth,e g9vem ent's record in pov- division of theWorld Bank known asthe ing the country get going again. In Cam'- ertyreduction, ho the governmentman. International Bank for Reconstruction bodia, the first IDA credit was approved agesits economy or how well it has de- andDevelopment(IBRD). in October1993for$62.7million forEmer- velop~d a plan or spending the bor- IDA funds come from contribu- gency Rehabilitation project. A total of rowed money. It Iso canbe determined tions made by wealthier countries and 23 projects have beenapproved by IDA by what the g~ve ment is doing to stop from the interestpaYI:nentsmade on the for Cambodia for $547.2 million, out of the spread of IV IAIDS infectiQns IBRD loans. Othercountries thatcanaf- which six projects already been imple- .- among its popul ion. ford to pay interestend uphelping coun- mentedand 17projectsfor $337.1 million Themissio of illA is to support tries that cannot yet afford it. It is one of are currently underimple,mentation. efficient andeffec ive programsto reduce the many ways the World Bank fights poverty and impr ve the quality of life in poverty in the world. About 25 per cent For more information, please its poorest memb rcountries. illA helps of the loansmade bythe World Bank are contact: build the human apital, policies,institu- in the form of IDA loans. Mr.BouSaroeun tions, and physic. infrastructure needed Email: sbou@worldbank.org ill A andCambodia to bring about eq itable and sustainable or visit our website: growth. illA's go I is to reduce the dis- When peaceand stability returned www.worldbank.org/kh At present, 1 countries areeligible policies and institutions that have been private sector; (9) goods and factor mar- to borrow from A andCambodia is one found to be important for aid effective- kets; (10) policies and institutions for of them. Togeth r these countries are ness. Percapita income is also a deter- environmental sustainability; hometo 2.5billio people,comprisinghalf minant, with the poorestcountriesreceiv- (C) Policies for S~cial Inclusion! of the total popul tion of the developing ing higher allocations for.a givenperfor- Equity: (11)gender;(12) equity of public countries and esti ated1.1 billion people manc~level. How is the policy andinsti- resource use; (13) building human re- in DIA countries survive on incomes of tutional environment evaluated? sources;(14) social protection andlabor; lessthan US$l a ay. The Country Policy and Intu- (15) monitoring and analysis of poverty In July 200 ,the,donor representa- itional Assessment (CPIA) is anannual outcomes and impacts; tives agreed on e tablishment of IDA-13 exercise conducted by the World Bank (D)Public SectorManagementand Replenishmentth t will makepossiblethe in which World Bank teams assessthe Institutions: (16)property rights andrule- commitment ofS R 18 bi about$23 bil- quality of eachborrower's policies and based governance; (17) quality of bud- lion to IDA me ers over the next three institutions in tbe areas generally con- getary and financial management; (18) years,beginning n July 1,2002. IDA-13, sidered to be relevant to economic efficiency of revenue mobilization; (19) hasanincreased eof IDA grantsto help growth, poverty reduction andeffective- qualityof public administration; (20)trans- addressthe spec'al difficulties faced by ness of aid use. parency,accountability and corruption in the poorest and ost vulnerable coun- There are 20 items to be assessed the public sector. tries,which Cam .aisalsoeligible. The in CPIA and grouped into 4categories: The CPlA ratings represents 80% cutoff of grant ligibility is when the (A)FDXlOIDicMmJagenmt:(1)man- weight and the Bank's Annual Report of country's per ca ita Gross National In- agementof inflation andmacroeconomic Portfolio Performance -ARPP represents comereachesUS 360. balances; (2) fiscal policy; (3) manage- 20% weight, in determinationof the~Torld The 81 eli ible borrowers together mentof public debt,extemaland domes- Bank's illA country performance which have very significant needs for IDA re- tic; (4) managementand sustainability of .leadsto an allocation of development sources and so ese resources have to the developmentprogram; assistancefrom the Bank. The five indi- beallocated care lly. It is also important (B) Structural Policies: (:,) trade cators relating to public sector manage'- to ensure that th resources are used ef- policy and foreign exchangeregime; (6) ment (orgood governance)carry a higher fectively.Therefo ,their allocationamong financial stability; (7) financial sector weight thanthe other15indicators. Based countries is dete ined primarily by each depth,efficiency andresource mobiliza- onCambodia's performance asmeasured borrower's perro anceratings of those tion; (8)competitive environment for the continue on page 4 continue fro page 4 suItsand relative ratings compared with for 2004-2008thatis currentlybeingpre- by theseratings, for 2004-2005, Cambo- broad comparator groups, but would not paredwill aimto providefinancial and diawill getan A allocation of $70mil- involve providing information on other technicalsupportto the Governmentto lion per annum If its performance on countries' ratings or results. helpimproveCambodia'spolicyandin- theseratings-'-e pecially the governance On June 3, 2003, a dialogue on stitutional environmentso that the aid ratings where i lags other developing Cambodia's CPIA ratings_between the thatthe World Bank and otherdonors countries-was to improve, Cambodia Bank and the Government of Cambodia areproviding to Cambodiacanhave a could haveacce to a significantly higher washeld andheadedby theWorld B,ank's greaterimpal;:toneconomicgrowthand level of IDA res urces. Country Director for Cambodia,Mr. Ian povertyreduction. The CPI results continue to re- Porter. The ~eeting discussedthe exist'- For more information,please main confidenti Hor internal Bank infor- ing ratings and the measuresthat would contact: mation, but co try directors are asked need to be implemented to improve the Ms. NishaAgrawal to communicat and discuss the ratings ratings in the future so that Cambodia CountryManage!; Cambodia with Governme tcountetpartsinthecon- could have greater access to IDA re- Email: nagrawal@worldbank.org text of country ialogue. The discu~ion sources. The W.orldBank's new Country Mr.Chea Hunt,Economis would cover th country's individual re"' AssistanceStrategyfor Cambodia (CAS) Email: huotchea@worldbank.org