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Mr. Heng CHOUCambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board

Council for Development of Cambodia

November 2010

Enhancing Results for Development Cooperation

Objectives of presentation

• How the Royal Government manages aid• What government-donor coordination mechanisms

have been established• What the challenges are• What to do to enhance coordination to achieve results

• National development framework• Development partners in context• Policy on managing development assistance• Mechanisms for managing development partnerships• Experience to date

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National development framework• Rectangular Strategy Phase II for Growth, Employment, Equity

and Efficiency– Royal Government’s Political Programme for socio-economic

development and reforms– Launched Sept. 2008 at the first Cabinet meeting– Builds on the Rectangular Strategy (2004-2008)

• National Strategic Development Plan 2009-2013– Operationalizes the Rectangular Strategy Phase II– Updating the NSDP 2006-2010 to cover 2009-2013 period– Overarching national development framework– Promote national ownership of development– Alignment of development partner resources

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Contextualizing ODA

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Managing development assistance policy• Strategic Framework for Development Cooperation

Management– Institutional arrangements– Responsibilities of Royal Government’s respective ministries and

agencies– Establishes CRDB/CDC as national aid coordination focal point

• Harmonization, Alignment and Results (HAR) Action Plan 2006-2010—making aid more effective

• Managing different aid modalities– Loan financing: Standard Operating Procedures (2005)– Grant funding: National Operational Guideline (2006)– Technical Cooperation: Guideline on the Management of Technical

Cooperation (2008)5

Coordination mechanisms• Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum

– Highest level for political dialogue and review of NSDP implementation

– Resourcing of NSDP

– Endorsing the Joint Monitoring Indicators (JMIs)

– CDCF is chaired by the Royal Government

• Government-Development Partner Coordination Committee– High-level dialogue (2-3 times per year) on both political and technical issues

– Government and development partners

– Monitoring the JMIs

– Cross-sectoral issues

• Technical Working Groups– Facilitate dialogue on sector and thematic issues

– Technical level and mainly on resourcing, implementation and monitoring

– Monitoring implementation of HAR Action Plan

– Formulate and implement JMIs6

What are the challenges?Framing the issues

• Development results– Reaching the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals

– Achieving the RS II goals

– Meeting the NSDP targets

• Aid effectiveness leads to development results– Stronger national ownership and leadership

– Strengthened national capacity and systems

– Delivery of development assistance more efficient

– Results drive actions

– Improved partnership: mutual accountable for results

• Aid effectiveness commitments/actions implemented– HAR Action Plan and Cambodia Declaration on Enhancing Aid Effectiveness

– Joint Monitoring Indicator on aid effectiveness

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• Third Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum (June 2010) discussed progress in meeting national and global commitments to aid effectiveness

• Paris Declaration monitoring exercises have shown progress has been made but continued effort is required

• Public Financial Management reforms have contributed to enhanced ownership

• Most sectors now have robust sector strategies to coordinate planning, programming, implementation and monitoring

• Predictability of external financing has significantly improved

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Challenges: Five key messages• Good progress in establishing tools and processes yield limited

results. High level Royal Government and development partner leadership is required.

• Efforts need to focus on simpler measures relevant to sector and central planning/budgeting process.

• Improved partnership dynamics are needed to support multi-stakeholder processes that deliver results.

• Broader and higher level engagement in development partnerships is necessary.

• Partnership in development must increasingly focus on capacity development to strengthen national systems.

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Aid Effectiveness and Development Results: An Agenda for Action

• Development assistance to Cambodia continues to grow (USD 989.5 million in 2009 to > $1 billion in 2010).

• Leadership and capacity remain the most likely route to impact at sector level.

• Increased focus on link to outcome level results shows positive development in aid effectiveness policy.

• Opportunity for applying and extending PBAs

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Royal Government’s Decision on Programme Based Approaches: Decision dated 02

November 2010

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Linking development assistance to results: the important role of information

• Cambodia ODA Database: A Government-wide system

of recording aid as input to NSDP implementation

• Aid information systems at sectors

• Monitoring and evaluation at sectors

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Aid effectiveness: Result means BE SMART

• 2008 Evaluation: HAR Action Plan too ambitious

• Small/less may be beautiful: a facilitated process in

which fewer but more relevant activities were

identified

• Aid effectiveness Joint Monitoring Indicator: a set of

results-focus aid effectiveness activities

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Joint Monitoring Indicators: it’s the results that matter• Joint Monitoring Indicators as a framework for mutual

accountability between the Royal Government and

Development Partners

• How we jointly monitor what we are doing together:

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MfDR: what lies ahead?• Proactive embrace yet political support for results is

key

• Address scattered and uncoordinated external

support to institution building in monitoring and

evaluation

• Too many information systems yet far less results-

tracking capacity