Cambodia: Civil Society Engagement Plan 2014-2018

I. BACKGROUND

1 Partnership with CSOs is a commitment in ADB’s long-term strategic framework. ADB recognizes that civil society and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) are development actors in their own right. Their efforts complement those of governments and the private sector and they play a significant role in development in Asia and the Pacific. Working at the grassroots level, civil society organizations (CSOs) fill a vital space in the development process, giving voice to marginalized communities, providing expertise and knowledge, testing innovative approaches to poverty reduction, and ensuring beneficiary participation in projects. ADB works in partnership with a broad range of CSOs to strengthen its efforts to reduce poverty and to increase the effectiveness, quality, and sustainability of its operations. ADB's cooperation with NGOs and CSOs takes place at the policy and strategy, country, and project levels. ADB formalized its commitment to engaging in partnerships with CSOs in Strategy 2020, the long-term strategic framework developed in 2008:

To address the risks and challenges facing the region, and to meet the many different requirements for achieving inclusive growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration, ADB will engage in partnerships with a more diverse group of institutions. Partnerships with international development agencies, multilateral and bilateral institutions, the private sector, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations, and foundations will become central to planning, financing, and implementing ADB operations (Strategy 2020, p. 17).

2 ADB strategic priorities for 2014-2020 further articulate this commitment. In 2013-14 ADB undertook a mid-term review of Strategy 2020 that included extensive regional and country consultations, including meetings in Cambodia in November 2013. Appendix 1 is a summary of the main messages from the consultations regarding ADB’s engagement CSOs. Inputs and feedback received through the consultations were carefully considered and incorporated in the mid-term review. The resulting Policy Paper of April 2014 sets out ADB’s strategic priorities for 2014-2020 and clearly articulates the commitment to collaborating with CSOs and to reducing the constraints to this collaboration that are posed by ADB’s standard business processes:

ADB will work with a wide range of partners, including the private sector, civil society organizations (CSOs), and philanthropic agents. Business process constraints to engagement with CSOs, such as CSOs being subject to ADB’s standard consultant recruitment procedures and contractual arrangements, will be identified and addressed. Greater opportunities for direct engagement of CSOs (and international organizations) on knowledge activities and with ADB projects may then be explored, while ensuring transparency and competition. CSOs will be more actively involved in the design and implementation of projects, particularly those that use grassroots participatory approaches to development, and in the monitoring of project activities and outputs. Their inputs and advice will be sought on the implementation of ADB’s safeguard policies. CSOs will also be proactively consulted on major

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policy reviews (Midterm Review of Strategy 2020 Policy Paper, April 2014, p. 36-37).

3 The Cambodia Resident Mission’s engagement with NGOs has evolved and expanded. Reflecting the corporate commitments of Strategy 2020 and with the aim of being more proactive in its relationships with CSOs, the ADB Cambodia Resident Mission (CARM) began hosting a regular NGO round table series beginning in 2008, and engaging with CSOs in a more formalized way under its Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2011-2013.1 This new Civil Society Engagement Plan (the Plan) highlights recent efforts in Section II and outlines what ADB Cambodia hopes to achieve in 2014-18 in Section III. The Plan should be read in conjunction with the Cambodia CPS and the 2011 Cambodia Civil Society Brief.2

4 Cambodia has a large and vibrant civil society offering many opportunities for partnership. The Cooperation Committee of Cambodia’s 2012 survey of the CSO sector found 1,315 active NGOs: 670 local, 321 international, and 324 associations. These CSOs implemented about 4,000 projects in 2012, providing benefits to at least 1.3 million households, primarily through work in the education, health, and agriculture sectors. CSOs directly employed about 43,000 people in Cambodia, of which 42% were women. In contrast, the ratio of men to women employed in public administration was almost 5.5 in 2013.3 NGOs employ skilled staff and have extensive local knowledge. Some are well resourced. This brings a range of opportunities for ADB. Indications are that NGOs in Cambodia account for nearly as much spending in the social sector (on the order of US$600 to $700 million in 2012 alone) as the government. While it is difficult to accurately measure the true size of the entire CSO sector, there is no question that it significantly contributes to the development of grassroots civil society. In 2012 nearly one third of CSOs surveyed said that they support other CSOs, community based organizations, or community groups.4

5 How does ADB work with CSOs? Part of optimising partnerships is to recognise that there are some ways in which ADB can work with civil society, and other ways it cannot. For example, ADB does not have a grant program to provide core funding or capacity building support to CSOs in Cambodia. Instead, ADB primarily seeks to engage with CSOs in two ways: through various forums for dialogue, information sharing and consultations, and through recruiting NGOs as consultants to help implement ADB-financed projects, or particular components of larger programs. See Appendix 2 for frequently asked questions about ADB-CSO cooperation.

6 Dialogue with CSOs adds value to ADB’s work in program design and monitoring as well as in terms of proactively mitigating potentially negative perceptions on the part of human rights or advocacy groups. Strengthening relationships with CSOs calls for all ADB staff working on the Cambodia country program to engage with civil society, through the support of the CARM NGO Anchor. Proactive, respectful and open engagement with CSOs will lead to better project design, smoother implementation, and better outcomes. This engagement can be done to great effect through normal

1 ADB. 2011. Cambodia: Country Partnership Strategy 2011-2013. Manila.2 ADB. 2011. Cambodia: Civil Society Brief. Manila.3 Ministry of Planning. 2013. Cambodia Inter-censal Population Survey 2013. Phnom Penh.4 Cooperation Committee for Cambodia. 2013. CSO Contributions to the Development of Cambodia 2012. Phnom Penh.

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operations. ADB has issued an updated guide on consultation and participation to facilitate this engagement.5

II. SUMMARY OF CARM CSO ENGAGEMENT IN 2013

7 Continuing previous years’ trends, CARM engagement with civil society was robust in 2013, through (i) policy and evaluation consultations, (ii) sector and thematic NGO roundtables, (iii) project-specific engagement, (iv) participation in external CSO events, (v) engagement of a senior CSO specialist as resource person and peer reviewer for the CPS 2014-2018, and (vi) launching the production of a short film to showcase CSO engagement in Cambodia. CSO engagement and reporting is coordinated by the CARM NGO Anchor in close collaboration with ADB sector specialists.

8 There were 3 policy and evaluation consultations: on the thematic evaluation of ADB support for climate change (August 2013, with the Independent Evaluation Department); on the Anticorruption policy (October 2013, with the Office of Anticorruption and Integrity); and on the mid-term review of Strategy 2020 (November, with SPD). The 4 NGO roundtables of 2013 addressed the draft environment and climate change assessment for the CPS (May 2013), how ADB can improve procurement of NGOs (May 2013); the draft public sector management assessment for the CPS (October 2013); and the draft education sector assessment (October 2013).

9 Examples of project-specific engagement in 2013 included:

Emergency Food Assistance Project Supplemental Financing (Ministry of Economy and Finance): Plan International was engaged in June 2013 to deliver the diversified livelihoods and nutrition component in 100 communes, through June 2015. At $3.96 million, this is one of the largest NGO contracts ever awarded in the Southeast Asia Department.

Second Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Ministry of Rural Development): Cambodian NGO Peace and Development Aid Organization continued implementing the community mobilization component involving the establishment of water and sanitation user groups.

Rural Road Improvement Project (Ministry of Rural Development): CARE Cambodia was engaged under a Gender and Development Cooperation Fund grant to work with government, contractors, and local women to increase women’s access to jobs in road construction and maintenance, working closely with Cambodia-based media and social marketing firm 17 Triggers to develop effective outreach and communication tools.

Greater Mekong Subregion Rehabilitation of the Railway in Cambodia (Ministry of Public Works and Transport): CARM and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade hosted four well-attended NGO outreach meetings in April, June, August, and December 2013, in addition to a number of smaller or individual meetings. Under the project’s Expanded Income Restoration Program, funding from Australia was used to engage the Credit Union Foundation of Australia, a civil society organization, to promote financial literacy at resettlement sites through training and counselling.

5 ADB. 2012. Strengthening Participation for Development Results. Manila.

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10 Finally, CARM staff fielded various requests for meetings with individual international and national NGOs, and participated in a number of smaller and larger external NGO events in 2013. In January, the Deputy Country Director participated in a panel discussion on Partnerships for Effective Development hosted by Oxfam. In May, the Country Director was a panellist at the National Deliberation on CSO Perspectives on Cambodia’s Development Framework Beyond 2015, hosted by the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia. In September, CARM sector staff participated in a national consultation on food security, climate change and water, hosted in Siem Reap by the NGO Forum on Cambodia.

III. THE PROPOSED CSO ENGAGEMENT PLAN 2014-2018

11 The Plan has five core elements, described in more detail below:

(i) consulting on ADB and CARM policies and strategies,

(ii) hosting regular thematic NGO roundtables,

(iii) enhancing project-specific CSO engagement,

(iv) building internal staff capacity, and

(v) strengthening the enabling environment.

12 Consulting on ADB and CARM policies and strategies. In past years CARM has met with a range of NGOs to seek inputs on the ADB Public Communications Policy and the Accountability Mechanism reviews. Per the commitments of the Strategy 2020 midterm review, ADB will seek the contributions of CSOs in Cambodia on any policies for review during the CPS period.

13 Hosting regular NGO roundtables. Past roundtable sessions6 have provided good opportunities for discussion and exchange, and will continue during this CPS period. They will be organized 2-3 times per year on different topics selected jointly by civil society and ADB. The roundtables have often benefited from visiting ADB technical specialists or senior management, and have evolved a set of principles which help to make the meetings participatory and open enough to benefit both CSO partners and ADB:

Dates should be set ahead of time, communicating with NGOs and asking for their input into topics. There is an ongoing demand for more information about how ADB works with CSOs, and this could be the topics of a future roundtable meeting.

The roundtables should be used as an opportunity both for ADB to learn from civil society and for CSOs to learn about ADB. For example, CARM could invite a CSO to give a presentation on the status of the Prime Minister’s annual civil society consultation.

The roundtables could be linked into enhanced informal communications – as part of a proactive approach to distributing information and raising awareness of ADB’s work in Cambodia. An email list maintained by the External Relations Officer

6 Past topics have included decentralization & de-concentration, climate change, gender, the political economy climate, and more.

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(ERO) could be used to share information about what ADB is doing (e.g. through links to CARM website updates). This would go a long way to increase specific knowledge of ADB in the NGO community.

14 Enhancing project-specific CSO engagement. Several projects in the CPS 2014-18 will have participation plans, but outreach and engagement is important even if they do not. The ADB guidance on Initial Poverty and Social Assessments (required for every project) states that a participation plan is highly recommended when participation of individuals and groups is considered important, and required where social safeguard issues are considered significant.

15 A number of projects under implementation and in the indicative assistance pipeline included in the Cambodia Country Operations Business Plan will potentially be of particular interest to CSOs and will benefit from CSO participation. These are identified below. They are a mix of lending and non-lending (grant) projects that have intensive engagement with NGOs who are involved in advocacy or project monitoring, and those that are suitable for proactive CSO engagement as partners in implementation:

Ongoing operations:

1. Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Rehabilitation of the Railway in Cambodia, Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) (approved 2008)

2. Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development Project, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) (approved 2009)

3. Strengthening Technical and Vocation Education and Training Project, Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MLVT) (approved 2009)

4. GMS Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Project, MAFF (approved 2012)5. Decentralized Public Services and Financial Management Sector Development

Program, Ministry of Interior (MOI) (approved 2013)6. Emergency Food Assistance Project Additional Financing, Ministry of Economy

and Finance (approved 2013)7. Climate Resilient Rice Commercialization Sector Development Program, MAFF

(approved 2013)

Proposed investments 2014-2016:

1. Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction Project (2014)2. GMS Tourism Infrastructure for Inclusive Growth Project (2014)3. Increasing Agriculture Competitiveness for Inclusive Growth (2014)4. Second Rural Roads Improvement Project, Ministry of Rural Development (2014)5. Technical and Vocational Education and Training Sector Development Program

(2014)6. Integrated Environmental Management in the Tonle Sap Basin Project (2014) 7. Second Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program Additional Financing (2015)8. Strengthening Secondary Education and Teaching of Math and Science, Ministry

of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS) (2015)9. GMS Second Corridor Towns Development Project (2015)10. Public-Private Partnership Development Project (2016)11. Provincial Cities Water Supply Project (2016)

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16 Projects under design offer a particular opportunity for increased civil society engagement. CARM staff who track incoming missions should inform the NGO Anchor of project design and fact finding missions. The NGO Anchor can then identify relevant NGOs—for example in consultation with umbrella membership organizations such as the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, the NGO Forum on Cambodia, the NGO Education Partnership, and MEDiCAM—and set up meetings for the mission team at the CARM office. The NGO Anchor could also make introductions and provide background information to the mission leader. Upon completion of the mission, the mission debrief should update the Country Director on outcomes of the NGO meetings, and Sector Directors should request that NGO consultations are documented in Back-to-Office Reports.

17 Projects with a gender action plan—those categorized as having a gender theme (GEN) or as having effective gender mainstreaming (EGM) according to ADB’s gender classification system—also offer opportunities for engagement with CSOs that focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment. As of May 2014 there were 19 GEN and EGM projects under implementation with specific gender action plans and targets, with another 18 planned for approval in 2014-2016. The CARM Gender Specialist and NGO Anchor should support project officers in identifying CSOs that are interested in these operations.

18 Building staff capacity. During this CPS period, the CARM NGO Anchor and the SERD Social Development Specialist (Civil Society and Participation) should organize occasional training for staff and government officers, where appropriate, on working with CSOs. Specifically, staff members have asked for help with how to handle confrontational situations with particularly critical NGOs. Future seminar-style training could bring CARM staff and NGOs together for example, asking a selected constructive NGO to explain about policy advocacy, what they aim to get out of it, and how ADB could respond.

19 Strengthening the enabling environment for constructive government and CSO engagement. Identifying specific opportunities to bring government and CSOs together around issues of common concern is a way to demonstrate the benefits of engagement in a practical, sector-specific way. This approach could pick up some of the recommendations from UNDP’s 2010 study on ‘Civil Society Empowerment and Democratic Governance in Cambodia.’7 Out of four recommendations for development partners, two are related to direct capacity building with CSOs at the grassroots, an area outside ADB’s main expertise. However there are two recommendations that lie close to ADB’s current work in Cambodia, particularly in its coordinating role as Lead Development Partner:

Contribute to a better enabling environment for CSO-Government dialogue through reinforcing the role of CSOs within aid coordination mechanisms; facilitating CSO-state dialogue on issues related to land and access to livelihoods; and building capacities and promoting mutual understanding of both state and civil society actors; and

Promote coordination, harmonisation and joint action among DPs in the area of civil society support.

7 Merlo, Carla. 2010. Civil Society Empowerment and Democratic Governance in Cambodia. UNDP. Phnom Penh.

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20 In August 2012, participants of a multi-stakeholder consultation on governance and partnership for effective development cooperation prepared a communiqué to the Government of Cambodia and development partners. There are three areas ADB has identified three issues to which it can consider following up:

Fund institutional and capacity building for CSOs’ ongoing engagement in the development process and mechanisms such as monitoring of the Technical Working Group joint monitoring indicators (JMIs).

Follow up on commitments in the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action and commit to fully implementing Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation.

Ensure that CSOs are meaningfully engaged in development processes of development partners and other development actors.

21 The CARM NGO Anchor and CARM and HQ project officers should assess the potential for enhanced engagement with CSOs in Technical Working Groups and sub-working groups and committees. Follow up with CSO partners to assess their capacity and willingness and the strength of their relationships with the formal development coordination mechanisms and look for opportunities to strengthen these. Identify specific TWGs where ADB could assist with engaging CSOs more.

III. STAFFING

22 Implementing this civil society engagement plan requires staff time, both from HQ and from CARM. The proposed staff are as follows:

CARM NGO Anchor (Senior Social Sector Specialist, international staff): 25% of time dedicated to supporting civil society engagement. As mission leaders develop contacts, the time spent making contacts and setting up meetings may be reduced, but regular civil society outreach events will also require planning and follow up, as will annual reporting (e.g. Civil Society Cooperation Report, CARM accomplishment report, etc.).

CARM Administrative Assistant: 20% of the Administrative Assistant’s time will be dedicated to supporting the NGO Anchor and the CSO outreach activities, particularly organizing meetings and maintaining records of meetings and attendance.

SERD Social Development Specialist (Civil Society and Participation): 20% of time to support and monitor implementation of the CARM plan, including missions to support events or capacity development as needed.

HQ and CARM mission leaders: time requirement will vary depending on the type of project, but should include regular mission outreach with CSOs.

IV. MONITORING AND REPORTING

23 Monitoring will be done simply, with the main purpose of reflecting on implementation and the impacts of the plan on CARM operations and relationships with civil society. The Plan will be shared with CSOs and will be available online. The CARM NGO Anchor will summarize CSO activities through regular annual reporting mechanisms such as the Civil Society Cooperation Report (prepared by the ADB NGO and Civil Society Center) and the CARM Accomplishment Report submitted to

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management. The CSO engagement plan will be more formally reviewed at mid-term along with the CPS as a whole, to ensure that the Plan remains useful to ADB and civil society stakeholders. SEOD will provide monitoring support and report to SERD management on implementation progress.

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Appendix 1Main messages on ADB’s Engagement with Civil Society Organizations

Excerpt from the January 2014 Summary of Stakeholder Consultations on the Strategy 2020 Midterm Review, available at:

http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/rpaper-ld4-summary-stakeholder-consultations-strategy-2020-mtr.pdf

(i) Engagement with CSOs should be an important consideration in the successful implementation of Strategy 2020.

(ii) ADB’s interactions with CSOs should go beyond conducting consultations. ADB should treat CSOs as partners and not just as vendors and contractors. ADB should enter into direct financing partnerships with CSOs and explore how they can become more active partners in the implementation of projects.

(iii) ADB should make greater use of CSOs for consultancy and technical work, including collaboration on knowledge products, given their cost effectiveness, technical know-how, and extensive reach into local communities.

(iv) ADB should support higher-impact community-driven projects with strengthened engagement of CSOs.

(v) Strengthening of CSOs is a must for participatory development to create conditions for inclusive economic growth. CSOs should be recognized as contributing directly to productive economic activities.

(vi) ADB should rigorously apply its environmental and social safeguards policies, in consultation with CSOs, to all its projects.

(vii) ADB also needs to improve information dissemination for greater transparency and awareness-raising of all stakeholders on the results and outcomes of its development projects.

(viii) There is great potential to harness social media to obtain feedback from CSOs.

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Appendix 2Frequently Asked Questions on ADB-CSO cooperation

http://www.adb.org/site/ngos/faqs

1. What do you mean by ADB-civil society cooperation?ADB works with civil society organizations (CSOs) which include NGOs, but also other types of groups such as trade unions, faith-based groups, and professional organizations. ADB-CSO cooperation can be summed up by these activities:

On the policy and strategy level: soliciting CSO views on ADB policy formulation On the country level: consultation on country strategies On the project level: collaborating on project identification, design,

implementation, and monitoring of ADB-financed projects

2. Why does ADB work with CSOs?ADB recognizes CSOs as development actors in their own right whose efforts complement those of governments and the private sector, and who play a significant role in development in Asia and the Pacific. In the context of ADB's long-term strategic framework, Strategy 2020, partnerships with a range of organizations, including CSO, will become increasingly central to planning, financing, implementing, and evaluating ADB projects.ADB’s NGO policy paper, Cooperation between Asian Development Bank and Nongovernment Organizations, provides a specific framework for action with NGOs.

3. Can we get ADB support and grants?As a rule, ADB works through the governments of its developing member countries and does not provide funds directly to CSOs. However, CSOs often apply for and are awarded contracts for components of projects and technical assistance activities. ADB’s Business Opportunities page provides information on proposed projects and contract awards. From time to time, ADB opens different funds to CSOs. Currently only the Pilot and Demonstration Activities of the Cooperation Fund for the Water Sector is accepting applications from CSOs, but if new funds become available, they will be posted on the website of the relevant sector.

4. How can we take part in ADB activities and projects?Civil society organizations can work with ADB in a variety of ways. CSOs who work in areas similar to the projects and technical assistance activities that ADB is funding should coordinate with representatives of the host country government or ADB resident missions to identify other opportunities for collaboration.

5. How do we contact ADB to learn more about civil society issues?Contact your local NGO Anchor of ADB’s CSO Cooperation Network. For general questions about civil society, please contact the NGO and Civil Society Center at ngocoordinator@adb.org

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