Benefiting from the generous support of DanChurchAid (DCA) and Bread for the World (BfdW) to the tune of about 600,000 USD, this ambitious Project was designed to help fulfill the rights and enhance the voices of the Cambodian citizens in all decision-making process, contributing to making the Country’s development more participatory and sustainable. On the one hand, API aimed at actively engage the right holders, especially women, youth, people with disability, low-income citizens and their community-based organizations (CBOs), encouraging them to get involved in the processes of public planning and budgeting at district level, which since 2020 is playing an increasingly important role. This endeavour is based on the principle that citizens and CBOs must hold authorities accountable for optimal service delivery and more transparent budget implementation. Another objective of the Project was to create the conditions for an improvement in the citizens’ ability to access public information, especially when it comes to public budgets. The Project’s activities were carried out in nine of Cambodia’s provinces.
Watch Project videos, or dive into the details, following this link.
Results
♦ Results – Year 2024
In 2024, the Project contributed to compel the government, at relevant levels, to solving 78% of the CBOs’ main advocacy issues (referring to one main advocacy issue per CBO at a time, as defined in advocacy action plans). A total of 50 issues raised by CBOs were solved by sub-national and national authorities.
At the end of 2024, a total of 7.06% (19 out of 269) of public procurement projects in national-level focal areas (MoEYS, MEF, MOI and MoPTW) disclosed more information to civil society. Information aboutpublic procurement projects by the four target ministries wasdisclosed in terms of the announcement of procurement specifications, with the name of the company that got the award and price of procurement projects only but no detailed contracts.
In total, 1,952 (1,091 females) CBO members and citizens increased their understanding of using developed commune/district budget information, One Window Services, and procurement information through 51 event of the awareness campaign, by using Citizen Budget App and Facebook Chatbot (Pidor) in project target areas
Eight monthly A2IWG meetings were conducted to strengthen members’ capacities and discuss advocacy strategies to promote the draft Access to Information Law. API, in cooperation with the Budget Working Group (BWG), held a public meeting under the title”Consideration and preparation of the National Budget 2024 and the preparation of the financial plan for the year 2025″.
♦ Results – Year 2023
The government at relevant level solved 62% of CBOs’ main advocacy issues (referring to one main advocacy issue per CBO at a time, as defined in the Advocacy Action Plans).Among those main advocacy issues, 6 (12%) were fully solved and regarded advocacy on deforestation, forest crime and encroachment, lack of fertilizer-mixing techniques, and vegetable-growing soil; and 25 (50%) were partly solved and regarded land disputes, absence of code of conduct about people living with HIV/AIDS, issues of commune administrations not disclosing budget information to the public, issues of illegal fisheries and issues of deforestation, encroachment of communities land.
In 40% of target districts and municipalities (each), at least 3 civic engagement mechanisms were strengthened related to budget public forums, commune council, and district dialogue meetings in 4 districts/municipalities.
100% of the 50 CBOs’ representatives that engaged with authorities belong to under-represented categories (women, youth, indigenous people, and people with disabilities).
The government disclosed critical information to citizens about 2 out of 8 economic land concessions (ELCs) dealt with by the Project in the target districts and municipalities. Thom province.
A total of 45% (33 out of 83) of public procurement projects in national-level focal areas (identified in the preparatory phase of research and advocacy work) disclosed more information to civil society.
♦ Results – Years 2019-2022
We strengthened the citizens’ engagement in public planning, budgeting, and holding authorities accountable for service delivery and budget implementation. A total of 16.25% (13 of 80) of target CBOs advocated to the national government and local authorities on main issues related to commune planning and budgeting, on social services for youth in 20 communes, on the issues of women street vendors in Phnom Penh, as well as on improvements in public services offered by the commune administrations, health centers, primary schools and police posts in four districts, and One Window Service offices in five districts
The API’s website was re-developed with frequently updated content, stories and best practice. The new website was launched in July 2020 in a public event that saw the participation of API Board members, donor representatives, target groups, and development partners.
API’s CBOs Empowerment Strategy was produced. A total of 621 CBOs were mapped out in target areas. 63 CBOs were directly supported to produce advocacy plans. Thirteen (13) CBOs advocated to the national Government and local authorities on the following issues: a) the draft of the Law on Access to Information; b) commune planning and budgeting for social services; c) young women street vendors’ livelihood related issues; d) improving public services of district administrations; e) commune administrations; f) health centres; g) primary schools; h) police posts; i) One Window Service offices; j) Impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable groups in rural and urban areas, especially people with disabilities, low-income families and youth.
Case Study (Years 2020-2025 )
“Community Rights and Capacity in Finding Solutions through District Dialogue Meetings”
Dob Bath Development Agriculture Cooperative, Pursat Municipality, Pursat Province
The leaders of the Dob Bath Cooperative , assembled in front of Pursat’s City Hall.
Since 2022, the Dob Bath Development Agriculture Cooperative was struggling, because of its members’ lack of knowledge about modern and efficient techniques of mixing fertilizer with vegetable soil, resulting in low yields, and about the techniques for farming chickens and fish.
This Community covers an area comprising 4 villages, 17 hectares of land and 68 families, divided in 8 committees. The issue affected the people’s ability to grow vegetables resulting in low yields. The citizens realized that they needed to grow vegetables according to more modern techniques to obtain higher yields and increase the families’ income. The issue was reported to the agriculture section of the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries department, as well as to the municipal authority, but no solution was provided for a while.
Then the CBO leaders and representatives decided to contact API and request technical support and information on how to prepare a work plan to better lobby and participate in public forums, monthly district meetings, and commune meetings, to raise their issues face-to-face and request solutions from the sub-national level.
After they received training and coaching, API organized district dialogue meetings with all the relevant stakeholders with them. As a result of their advocacy, the community finally got coaching from the Agriculture Officer and was provided with vegetable seeds from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the municipal authorities pledged to cooperate with relevant offices and NGOs to provide further training to the community on planting and farming animals. Moreover, At the beginning of 2023, the ADRA organization arrived in the Kravanh district to implement their own aid project, but did not manage to identify the right CBOs. API intervened and with the Pursat municipal administration and agriculture department, facilitated for the Dob Bath Development Agriculture Cooperative to become the beneficiary group. The Cooperative attended a capacity building course on business plan, leadership, marketing plan, and agriculture techniques like using fertilizer, the demand of use pesticides, and was provided by the administration 3,000 USD as a starting capital.
