Excellency Ngy Chanphal, Secretary of States, the Ministry of Interior

Mr. Imada Akinori, Advisor, the Embassy of Japan

Ms. Sin Putheary, Executive Director, Cooperation Committee for Cambodia

Ms. Chi Socheat, Chair of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia Executive Committee

Excellency, Colleagues, Friends of the media, Ladies, and Gentlemen,

It is my sincere pleasure to join you in this important event.  I second Ms. Sin Putheary, Executive Director of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, in extending my warm welcome at this Awarding Ceremony.   

Taking this opportunity, I want to thank Mr. Imada Akinori, representing the Embassy of Japan for the Government’s continuous support in promoting inclusive and participatory governance in Cambodia.

The grant to strengthen Civil Society Organization (CSO) sustainability is supported by the project ‘Building Capacities for Civic Engagement, Peacebuilding and Inclusive Dialogue: Towards Inclusive and Participatory Governance’. This project aims to expand spaces for inclusive and meaningful dialogue to address aspirations of Cambodian people.  Thus, UNDP identifies that strengthening the capacities of civil servants and CSO sustainability is important to address people’s socio-economic development needs.

The role of CSOs depends on social and economic conditions and their evolution. A vibrant civil society remains crucial, and CSOs represent the values and interests of people at the grassroot level. In this context, UNDP conducted a civil society ecosystem mapping in the four provinces of Kampong Cham, Kampot, Ratanakiri and Siem Reap in partnership with the Provincial Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Networks. The study informed that financial viability, civil society networks and advocacy were the most strained among the seven dimensions of CSO sustainability (Note: the seven dimensions include (i) legal environment, (ii) organizational capacity, (iii) financial viability, (iv) advocacy, (v) service provision, (vi) sectoral infrastructure/networks, (vii) public image). This is why the grant to strengthening CSO sustainability focuses on these areas for its funding. 

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen,

I would like to congratulate the five applicants who won the grant today through a competitive process.  Seven proposals are prototype solutions for ensuring financial viability and civil society networks. The grants will be used to test proposed prototypes in the four provinces. Therefore, we look forward for the important insights and results to scale up successful solutions beyond the target four provinces. In doing so, we wish the grants will benefit civil society as a sector not only the grantees.  

Finally, I would like to thank the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, Ms. Sin Putheary and her team, for their efforts to build partner CSOs’ capacity throughout this process. We are very pleased to contribute to supporting CSO sustainability.

Thank you/ Saum Orkun.