Volume 6, Number 5 May 2008

see FIRST page 4

see TRANSPARENCY page 2

Transparency and Accountability the Key Demandsfor World Bank-Supported Good Governance Project

First Training Course on Social Accountability in Cambodia

Construction activity in Cambodia doubled during 2007. Garment exports rosealmost 8 percent, tourist arrivals 20 percent, and overall GDP 9.6 percent.

Q. Could you tell us about the DFGGproject?

A. The Demand for Good Governance(DFGG) Project is expected to be a four-year $20 million IDA grant to the RoyalGovernment of Cambodia (RGC) which willhelp strengthen and link the work of stateand non-state institutions (like NGOs,grassroots groups, independent media,trade unions, etc) to support transparencyand accountability programs in Cambo-dia. The project, which has been success-fully appraised by a Bank team, will likelystart implementation in early 2009. It isarguably the first time that the Bank issupporting such a project in Cambodia,and perhaps elsewhere in the world, soimplementation will be extremely challeng-ing. Some things will work as designed,others may not, and the focus will be on

The World Bank has held its first Social Accountability School in Cambodia. The school is one of the activi-ties of the Program to Enhance Capacity on Social Accountability (PECSA). PECSA is part of the Demandfor Good Governance Project (DFGG) now under preparation, which will be supported by the World Bank.The World Bank Newsletter had an opportunity to interview Bhuvan Bhatnagar, DFGG’s Task Team Leader.

Eighty-one scholars from Governmentinstitutions and Civil Society Organizations(CSOs) from across Cambodia have com-pleted an extensive training program onSocial Accountability – the first held inCambodia.

The training course aims at improvinggood governance in Cambodia by buildingthe skills of Government and CSO actorswho can play an important role in tacklingthe governance challenges and helping theGovernment to be more effective and ac-countable.

This first Social Accountability Schoolran from March 24 till April 9, 2008. It stud-ied the theory and practice of social ac-countability in general terms as well as in

Demand for Good Governance Project Task Team Leader Bhuvan Bhatnagaraddresses the Social Accountability School opening in Phnom Penh on March 24.

Trainees at Cambodia’s first Social Accountability School, which ran fromMarch 24 till April 9, came from both the Government and Civil SocietyOrganizations to learn and exchange ideas on good governance.

2 The World Bank Newsletter May 2008

Continued from page 1learning lessons and improving the de-sign while implementing.

Q. Could you tell us about PECSA?PECSA is an ongoing $2 million Bank-

executed grant, which is a precursor tothe DFGG Project. It prepares non-stateactors for a productive engagement in theDFGG Project by building their capacityto support transparency and accountabil-ity in the areas of natural resources man-agement, public financial management, de-centralization and private sector develop-ment. It provides funds and other capac-ity-building support for training, coach-ing, mentoring, learning by doing andobserving, networking, and monitoringand evaluation.

Q. What is the Social AccountabilitySchool?

The Social Accountability School(SAS) is a three-week course on the basicconcepts and tools on social accountabil-ity, which was organized in Phnom Penhin March-April, 2008. The first week wasan orientation course – on the “what, whyand how of Social Accountability” – likea basic 101 course in a university. Weeks2 and 3 were more intensive skills-build-ing modules which were based on Cam-bodian as well as broader Asian experi-ence on Social Accountability. These weredelivered in a participatory and interac-tive manner, with discussions, videos, andeven role plays, interspersed with lec-tures and reading materials.

The SAS was designed by two of theleading capacity-building institutions inthe Asian region with hands-on experi-ence in social accountability: the Societyfor Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)from India, and the Ateneo School of Gov-ernment (ASoG) from the Philippines.They are working in partnership with aCambodian capacity-building institute,SILKA.

Q. Why is it important for Cam-bodia?

It is important for Cambodia becauseit will enhance the capacity of non-stateactors to constructively engage with thegovernment in support of better devel-opment outcomes and improving gover-nance. The RGC itself recognizes that itcannot meet these twin challenges of bet-ter development and improved gover-nance by itself: it has committed to do so,in partnership with civil society, with

grassroots groups, with independentmedia and other actors. This is the rea-son that government staff actively par-ticipated with civil society colleaguesduring the three weeks of the SAS.

Q. Who were selected to be part ofthis school? And how?

224 candidates from civil society and33 from government applied to attend theSAS based on a nation-wide open invita-tion; and eventually 60 were selected fromcivil society and 21 from government.From civil society, about 40 percent of the“students” came from the provinces andthe rest from Phnom Penh. All of the civilsociety participants were senior staff oftheir organizations. The government staffwere mainly, but not exclusively, from thekey DFGG Project state institutions,namely the Ministry of Interior (MOI),Ministry of National Assembly and Sen-ate Relations and Inspection(MONASRI), and (Radio National ofKampuchea) RNK.

Q. From your own experience,how has civil society made importantcontributions to improving governanceby using social accountability tools?

Based on the Bank’s global experi-ence, civil society has made importantcontributions to improving governanceby using social accountability tools inthree ways:

First, by complementing the work ofgovernment. For example, governmentstaff in national or provincial social sec-tor departments would hardly ever knowprecisely, in remote areas, where the poorlive, whether health workers or teachersare turning up for work and how they arebehaving with clients; and whether text-books or medicines are being deliveredon time and in promised quantities. Herecivil society actors, like NGOs, parent-teacher associations, and local healthcommittees, can play an important role byproviding bottom-up information andcritical feedback on service delivery togovernment staff, thus complementingtheir work.

Second, by providing a corrective tothe work of government. Sometimes, gov-ernment services get delivered as mo-nopolies, without the pressure of compe-tition to improve performance. So socialaccountability tools like report cards canbe an important corrective in this settingby providing citizens a voice to enhancegovernment performance, like in India and

the Philippines.Third, by providing a countervailing

force so that the government conducts itsbusiness with high standards of integrityand anti-corruption through tools like pub-lic-expenditure surveys, procurementwatch, investigative journalism, and name-and-shame campaigns.

In summary, social accountability prac-titioners can choose from a menu of toolsand techniques, depending on whether theobjective is to complement, correct, or toprovide a countervailing pressure. In Cam-bodia, based on the local context, the ini-tial emphasis of the Bank, through theDFGG Project, the PECSA, and the SocialAccountability Schools, is to build thecapacity of civil society for complemen-tary approaches to improve governance.

Q. Most of the SAS presenters arefrom India or the Philippines. Why hasthe Bank chosen to draw in specialistsfrom these countries?

These two countries (India and Philip-pines) have a long and rich experience ofsocial accountability practices and practi-tioners from which Cambodia can benefit.It was also thought that Asian experiencewould be more easily understood andadapted in the Cambodian context.

Q. After the SAS school finishes,will the Bank be able to help those train-ers put into practice the new skills theyhave learned?

The SAS is just the beginning of thecapacity building, not the end. This will befollowed up by distance learning, ongo-ing mentoring and focused coaching forselected participants in social accountabil-ity approaches by experts from India andthe Philippines. It will also by comple-mented by learning trips outside Cambo-dia to observe first-hand how practitionersin other countries are designing and imple-menting these approaches. There will befunds provided for action learning, bothin the DFGG Project and PECSA, so Cam-bodian practitioners can apply what theylearn on the ground, and learn from thisexperience. Finally, provincial and nationalnetworks of social accountability practi-tioners will be strengthened in Cambodiaso they can benefit from each other’s grow-ing experience.For more information please contact:

Mr. Preap KolDeputy Program Coordinator of

PECSAEmail: kpreap@worldbank.org

Transparency and Accountability the Key Demands ...

May 2008 The World Bank Newsletter 3

Washington (April 29) -- The followingis a statement on the global food crisismade on April 29 by World Bank GroupPresident Robert B. Zoellick after ameeting in Berne, Switzerland of theUnited Nations System Chief ExecutivesBoard for Coordination:

The next few weeks are critical foraddressing the food crisis. For 2billion people, high food prices are

now a matter of daily struggle, sacrificeand for too many, even survival. We esti-mate that already some 100 million peoplemay have been pushed into poverty as aresult of high prices over the last 2 years.This is not a natural disaster. Make nomistake, there is nothing natural about this.But for millions of people it is a disaster.

Donors must act now to support theWFP’s call for some $755 million to meetemergency needs. Roughly $475 millionhas been pledged, but pledges won’t feedhungry mouths. Donors must put theirmoney on the table, and give WFP maxi-mum flexibility – with a minimum of ear-marking – to target the most urgent needs.

This crisis isn’t over once emergencyneeds are addressed, as critical as thoseare. Though we have seen wheat prices fallover the last few days, rice and corn pricesare likely to remain high, and wheat rela-tively so. The international community

Battling the Global Food Crisis: Poor and Hungry CannotAfford to Wait, World Bank President Says

needs to commit to working together to re-spond with policy initiatives, so that thisyear’s crisis doesn’t become a generation’sfact of life. Already hunger and malnutri-tion, are the underlying causes of death ofover 3.5 million children every year, robbingthe future potential of many millions more.

Many donors, governments and inter-national agencies have plans and policies.Over the last days we have seen pledgesof financial support. The key now is towork together so that we can have an inte-grated international response.

So I thank the Secretary General for con-vening this session of UN Chief Execu-tives to help organize the UN response.

Ministers from over 150 countries haveendorsed a New Deal for Global Food Policy.We must turn these words into action.

As we discussed here in Berne, a NewDeal must embrace a short, medium andlong-term response: support for safetynets such as school feeding, food for work,and conditional cash transfer programs;increased agricultural production; a betterunderstanding of the impact of biofuelsand action on the trade front to reduce dis-torting subsidies, and trade barriers.

The World Bank Group will work withthe UN agencies represented here to iden-tify countries most in need so that, withothers, we can provide concessional fi-nancing and other support. We are already

working closely with the IMF and re-gional development banks, to integrateour work.

At the World Bank Group, we are ex-ploring with our Board the creation of arapid financing facility for grant supportto especially fragile, poor countries andquicker, more flexible financing for oth-ers. To address supply issues, we aredoubling our lending for agriculture inAfrica over the next year to $800 million.

We are urging countries not to useexport bans. These controls encouragehoarding, drive up prices and hurt thepoorest people around the world who arestruggling to feed themselves.

Ukraine set a good example last weekby lifting restrictions on exports of grains.This had an immediate effect by lower-ing prices in the markets. Others can dothe same.

As we co-ordinate action, we must bringin the private sector and agri-business.

These are all critical issues for inter-national action that must be fleshed outin the coming weeks so that millions donot find themselves in this same posi-tion next year.

But first and foremost donors mustact now to meet the emergency and raisethe $750 million for the WFP. The worldcan afford this. The poor and hungrycannot.

World Bank PresidentRobert Zoellickhanding a land titlecertificate to an elderlywoman in Prey Speu,Phnom Penh, during hisfirst visit to Cambodiain August 2007.

May 2008 The World Bank Newsletter 4

The World Bank Office Cambodia 113, Norodom Blvd. Phnom Penh, Tel: (855 23) 217 301 Fax (855 23) 210 504Khmer website: www.worldbank.org.kh and English website: www.worldbank.org/kh

H.E. Ngy Chanphal, Undersecretary of State at the Interior Ministry, addresses the Social Accountability School openingceremony. On his left is Bhuvan Bhatnagar, DFGG Task Team Leader, and on the right, Thida Khus, Silaka Executive Director.

more specific areas, such as concentrat-ing on social accountability practiceswithin the land and natural resource man-agement sector.

Speaking at the graduation day, H.E.Ngy Chanphal, Undersecretary of Stateat the Ministry of Interior, said the train-ees had had the opportunity to learn newexperiences from the Philippines, Indiaand Cambodia, and to put together theseexperiences and re-adjust them to fit intothe Cambodia context and the culture ofdevelopment.

“This is another successful stage thatthe government of Cambodia hasachieved,” he said. “We have moved stateand non-state institutions closer, whichis appropriate as our work is complemen-tary to each other. Civil society is a veryimportant partner; they can help the coun-try to have good governance. Lack oftrust between these two is very negative.Even though we are in different positions,we can see the same problems becausewe come from the same school and thesame trainers.”

Ms. Bun Rany, from Civil Aviation,spoke on behalf of government staff whoattended the training. She said that train-ees had a great opportunity to share andto learn from one another and especially

gained new knowledge about social ac-countability.

“Through this training we understandbetter what civil society is doing and whatthe government is doing, and how we bothcan work together to improve our soci-ety,” she said. “We will apply this newknowledge in our work and make our workmore effective.”

Mr. Sam Rithy, one of the civil societyrepresentatives, said that besides provid-ing knowledge to improve work on socialaccountability, the training course alsogave the opportunity to build up net-works and open the opportunity to havedialogue between government and civilsociety.

“This is a good time for us to under-stand each other; we, as civil society,shouldn’t be painted as the opposition,”he said.

Bhuvan Bhatnagar, World Bank Se-nior Social Scientist and Task Team Leaderof the Demand for Good Governance(DFGG), praised the training and said:“This training was very successful be-cause we had very experienced lecturerswho also practice these issues on theground in the Philippines, India and Cam-bodia. It was also a success because allthe trainees are very committed to learnnew ways of social accountability.”

A monk, Thorn Vandong, one of train-ees, said he was excited about new learn-ing and saw that the training was veryuseful for him.

“It is important to know how to en-gage people in the process of develop-ment, and how to have effective dialogueand communication, and the way that wecan monitor and track the national budgetas well as understand the process of pro-curement. These will stop the culture of‘painting’ [stereotyping] each other andthe culture of mistrust,” he said.

Two international institutes – the So-ciety for Participatory Research in Asia(PRIA) from India and the Ateneo Schoolof Government (ASoG) from the Philip-pines – which specialize in promoting goodgovernance at different levels within theregion and around the world – led andfacilitated the training course in partner-ship with SILAKA – one of the leadingcapacity building agencies in Cambodia –which had been selected to be a partnerfor the PECSA training program.

For more information please contact:Mr. Preap Kol

Deputy Program Coordinator ofPECSA

Email: kpreap@worldbank.org

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First Training Course on Social Accountability in Cambodia