Locations
Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Local Governance through Civic Engagement
Background
Various strategic documents such as the Rectangular Strategy Phase IV, United Nations Development Assistance Framework, and UNDP Country Programme Document informed that development challenges concerning ‘Peace’ of the 2030 Agenda include obstacles to participate effectively in development and public institutions, limited performance in transparency and responsiveness to the public, and lack of trust from the people in public services. Limited accountabilities and many remaining challenges in public sector reforms are identified as part of the causes.
The project will address limited accountability and many remaining challenges in public sector reform by supporting the Sub-National Democratic Development reform. The National Programme on Sub-National Democratic Development from 2021 to 2030 identified remaining key challenges and relevant ones for the project as follows.
Vertical accountability and trust (National–Sub-National Administrations-People)
People’s knowledge about their rights and how to hold SNA councils and SNA accountable
Mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues such as digital governance, climate change, gender equality and social equality and inclusiveness
Monitoring and reporting of Cambodia Sustainable Development Goals at the sub-national level
Key Expected Outputs
Output 1 - Women and men, including the under-represented, marginalized, and vulnerable have more accessible information, especially on local services, development projects, and rights to hold SNA accountable in three provinces
Output 2 - Women and men, including the under-represented, marginalized, and vulnerable have more opportunities and increased capacity and confidence to express their needs in local planning and monitoring
Achievements to Date (January 2024)
The year 2023 marked significant progress and key achievements for the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Local Governance through Civic Engagement project - as it continued its mission to strengthen transparency and accountability in local governance through civic engagement. Here are the notable accomplishments:
Formalization of Partnerships: The project successfully formalized partnerships with CPDD and NCDDS, laying a solid foundation for collaborative efforts in subsequent phases.
Information Ecosystem Mapping: Despite encountering delays in identifying a qualifying service provider, the information ecosystem mapping assessment was successfully finalized. This assessment's findings will serve as a cornerstone for developing targeted interventions and strategies to improve information accessibility, thereby fostering greater citizen engagement and empowerment at the local level.
Consultative Working Group Establishment: Bringing together governmental bodies, CSOs, and UNDP, this Working Group is dedicated to supporting and guiding NCDSS in the implementation of NP1 and Governance Survey. The active participation of CSOs fosters collaboration, enhancing transparency and democratic governance at the sub-national level. Tasked with monitoring, consulting, and reporting on NP1 and Governance Survey progress, the Consultative Working Group ensures alignment with program objectives.
Identification of CSOs Sub-Grantees: Four CSOs were selected as sub-grantees in December 2023 to raise awareness on various topics, including SNA planning and budget, SDG localization, and holding duty bearers accountable. These organizations - Youth Council of Cambodia (YCC), Save Vulnerable Cambodians (SVC), Khmer Youth Association (KYA), and Action for Development (AFD) - will commence project activities in January 2024.
Yobol.org platform: The development and deployment of Yobol.org, a monitoring platform for community feedback on public health services, emerged as a pivotal tool in enhancing citizen engagement and improving public service delivery within target municipalities. It serves as a secure space for community advocacy and concerns, specifically addressing local healthcare policy formulation for SNAs, while empowering CSOS by providing insights into community perspectives on public services and facilitating access to data and analysis for focused social accountability efforts.
Consultant Hiring for NP1 and Governance Survey by NCDDS: Two consultants - a Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant and an Information Technology Consultant - were hired to provide technical support for Governance Survey and NP1, further strengthening project implementation and monitoring capabilities.
CSOs Engagement: Three qualified CSOs - the Coalition for Integrity and Social Accountability (CISA) in Kampong Cham, Star Kampuchea (SK) in Siem Reap and Building Community Voices (BCV) in Ban Lung municipality - receive sub-grants, focusing on promoting social accountability and transparency through civic engagement, with a 30 percent allocation for activities supporting women's empowerment. Their extension until December 2024 accompanied by a cost extension of USD 13,000 per organization aims to enhance project impact and sustainability.
Capacity Building: In 2023, a total of 623 individuals, among them 417 women, 35 Indigenous people, of whom 28 women, and 300 youth, among which 160 women, received training on various topics including good governance, public service monitoring, Gender-Responsive Public Services (GRPS), reporting and minute writing, community journalism, and caption writing for social media. Such training aims to improve access to information related to council decision-making processes, thus empowering individuals and communities to actively participate in shaping their local governance structures.
National Dialogue and Policy Impact: The National Dialogue on National Budget Allocation for Sub-National Administration facilitated evidence-based budget allocation analyses and promoted CSO participation in policy development, influencing government decisions and policies regarding budget allocation for SNAs. Following the outcomes of national dialogues, CPDD finalized and submitted a joint statement on national budget allocation for SNAs.
These achievements reflect the project's commitment to driving sustainable change and empowering communities to actively participate in governance processes. Moving forward, the project remains dedicated to building on these successes, overcoming challenges, and realizing its vision of a more transparent and accountable local governance system.
1st 2024 Quarter Work Plan:
Moving forward, the project will continue to focus on achieving its outputs, ensuring accessibility to information and opportunities for marginalized communities to participate actively in local planning and monitoring processes.
Based on the information ecosystem assessment findings, the three municipal administrations and network NGOs in Banlung, Kampong Cham, and Siem Reap will co-design a prototype of information-sharing platform (e.g. Facebook, website, notice board etc.) on local services, budget, plans, policies, monitoring results etc. The workshop will be followed by prototype development phase and an experimentation process.
Four CSOs chosen as sub-grantees in December 2023 - Youth Council of Cambodia (YCC), Save Vulnerable Cambodians (SVC), Khmer Youth Association (KYA), and Action for Development (AFD) - for awareness raising activities on (i) SNA planning and budget, (ii) SDG localization, (iii) rights to hold duty bearers accountable will start project activities in January 2024, contributing to the project's overarching goals of promoting civic engagement and accountability within the targeted communities.
Terms of Reference (TOR) for the recruitment of individual consultants tasked with developing the management information system will be presented for discussion and consultation in Q1 2024.
Terms of Reference (ToR) for the media, info, and digital literacy (MIDL) training assessment of the current situation in the three target municipalities will be published in January 2024 with expectations for the hiring, inception report and the commencement of the assessment in Q1 2024.
Regarding the evaluation of the National Program Phase 1, the consultant's recruitment process started on 18th December 2023 and will close on 5th January 2024.
TORs for the selection of a service provider for the Governance Survey will be reviewed and discussed by the end of January 2024.
Field missions of UNDP team will be organized in Q1 2024 in the three target municipalities as they play a crucial role in understanding local contexts, fostering trust, and ensuring effective collaboration, all essential elements for the successful implementation of the STA project.
Continued support for CSOs sub-grantees, with a focus on women and vulnerable groups, will drive sustainable change at the grassroots level.
