Officials meet donor groups

April 21, 2011
James O’Toole
The Phnom Penh Post

DONOR countries and development groups raised concerns about the controversial draft NGO law and other issues during a meeting with government officials yesterday in connection with more than US$1 billion in aid pledged to Cambodia last year.

NGOs and foreign governments have come out forcefully against the proposed law, which many say would create burdensome registration requirements and allow the government to shut down civil society groups arbitrarily. The law is expected to be advanced to the Council of Ministers in the coming weeks.

In prepared remarks at yesterday’s meeting, United States Agency for International Development Mission Director Flynn Fuller said the NGO law posed a significant threat to the Kingdom’s development.

“In these times of fiscal constraint, justifying increased assistance to Cambodia will become very difficult in the face of shrinking space for civil society to function,” Fuller said.

World Bank Country Manager Qimiao Fan also called for further discussion of the law. He too raised concern about property rights, an increasingly dire concern in a country where tens of thousands of people have been pushed off their land in recent years.

“With rapid urbanisation, the resumption of fast economic growth and the increasing interest from investors in large-scale commercial farming, land issues will become only more challenging, as exemplified in the Boeung Kak Lake area,” Qimiao Fan said, referencing the high-profile land dispute in Phnom Penh in which more than 4,000 families may ultimately be displaced by a project run by a ruling party senator.

US warns Cambodia over controversial law to regulate civil society

Apr 21, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - The United States has threatened to freeze aid spending to Cambodia if the government pushes ahead with a highly controversial draft law designed to regulate civil society.

The comments were made by Flynn Fuller, the country head of the US government's development agency USAID, during a closed meeting between the Cambodian government and donors in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

The meeting assessed Phnom Penh's progress in attaining a series of 20 benchmarks in areas such as judicial reform and land rights.

'In these times of fiscal constraint, justifying increased assistance to Cambodia will become very difficult in the face of shrinking space for civil society to function,' Fuller said, adding that the 'excessively restrictive' law would harm development.

Evictions, NGO Law High Among Donor Concerns

Children sit on top their inundated homes, where Shukaku, Inc., has been pumping fill into Boeung Kak lake, (File photo, Photo: Heng Reaksmey)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 20 April 2011

“Development partners would be interested in discussing the possible impact of the draft NGO law on the delivery of development assistance in the country.”

Cambodia’s donors on Wednesday raised a chorus of concern for forced evictions and a controversial law to regulate NGOs, as they met with government partners to discuss upcoming aid packages.

The groups met in Phnom Penh to discuss development plans, foreign aid pledges and Cambodia’s development needs for 2012. Donors pledged more than a billion dollars in aid to Cambodia last year.

Qimiao Fan, country manager for the World Bank here, said in statement that land issues, epitomized by the forced eviction of thousands of urban poor from a development area in Phnom Penh, continued to vex Cambodia.

“With rapid urbanization, the resumption of fast economic growth and the increasing interest from investors in large-scale commercial farming, land issues will become only more challenging, as exemplified in Boeung Kak lake area,” he said.

The World Bank found fault with its Cambodia operations earlier this year after a Bank program failed to issue land titles to residents of Boeung Kak ahead of a massive development scheme undertaken by the city.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Money for the Poor

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Corruption in Hun Xen's Cambodia and the regime's hope for $1 BILLION in foreign handout

Begging time in Phnom Penh

Click the control below to listen to RFA's Yun Samean's report in Khmer

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Foreign donors' STUPID ineptitude is showing up year after year ... when will they wake up and smell Hun Xen's STINKY injustice?

Foreign donors, Cambodian officials meet over development aid dialogue

April 20, 2011
Xinhua

Cambodian government officials, representatives of foreign development partners and civil society met here on Wednesday to revise the development progress under the foreign aid pledged by those donor countries and to hear Cambodia' s needs for 2011.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 18th meeting of the Government-Development Partner Coordination Committee on Wednesday, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon, minister of finance, said that most of the activities for 2010's social and economic development have been implemented and achieved the goals despite some challenges in resource constraints.

"Cambodia is on the right track to develop its economy, and ie expected to see growth of more than six percent in 2011 with almost all sectors," (sic!) he said.

Aid to Cambodia rarely reaches the people it’s meant to help

Year after year, smiling Cambodian government leaders attend these pledge conferences, holding out their hands. But first they have to listen as ambassadors and aid officers stand at the podium, look them in the eye, and lambast them for corruption and jaw-dropping human rights abuses. (Photo: Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Service)

Sunday, April 17
By Joel Brinkley

Opinions

The Washington Post

Representatives of more than 3,000 governments and donor organizations are meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Wednesday. If past experience is indicative, they will pledge to provide hundreds of millions in aid.

Year after year, smiling Cambodian government leaders attend these pledge conferences, holding out their hands. But first they have to listen as ambassadors and aid officers stand at the podium, look them in the eye, and lambast them for corruption and jaw-dropping human rights abuses.

Each year Prime Minister Hun Sen promises to reform. The donors nod and make their pledges — $1.1 billion last year. Then everyone goes home and nothing changes. In the following months, officials dip into the foreign aid accounts and build themselves mansions the size of small hotels, while 40 percent of Cambodia’s children grow up stunted for lack of nutrition during infancy.

This year should be different. Over the past two decades, the Cambodian government has grown ever more repressive. Now it is actually planning to bite the hand that feeds it: The legislature is enacting a law that would require nongovernmental organizations to register with the government, giving venal bureaucrats the ability to shut them down unless they become toadies of the state.

Hundreds of Millions Pledged, Many Reforms Sought [... and none of the reforms will see the daylight?]

The meeting between donors and Cambodia government officials at government place, Phnom Penh. (Photo: Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer)

Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Tuesday, 08 June 2010

“We expect that the Cambodian government will make the best use of our assistance to Cambodia in an effective and transparent way in order to achieve economic growth,” Masafumi Kuroki, Japan’s ambassador, said. “If there is no economic growth, it is very difficult to reduce poverty. So we will strengthen mechanisms to monitor aid.”

Donor countries and international development agencies offered Cambodia up to $1.1 billion in aid this year, which came amid calls for reform. But those reforms can sometimes seem as varied as the streams of aid that accompany them. Local governance, macro-economics, education, the judiciary—each has proponents for reform.

“The money is going down, but there is no local accountability over how that money is spent,” Richard Bridle, a representative of Unicef, told VOA Khmer during an annual donor meeting last week. Once there is local accountability, he said, “they you get the level of scrutiny that allows citizens to be able to hold public servants accountable for the services that are supposed to be there.”

Bridle, whose Unicef pledged $16 million for the government, urged decision-makers to approve local financial laws that could be implemented as early as this year.

His suggestion represents a core reform inside public administration, but it wasn’t the only one. Many conditions were put forward by donors during last week’s two-day meeting.

Donors also pushed for reforms to battle corruption, which costs the country as estimated $500 million a year, or nearly half what donors pledged. The government passed an anti-graft law this year that was 15 years in the making, but it remains to be seen how well it will work. German Ambassador Frank Marcus Mann, in statements during last week’s meeting, asked the government how it will implement the law effectively.

Donors also urged the government to maintain economic stability and to reduce poverty, something they said will require efficient use of the money.

“We expect that the Cambodian government will make the best use of our assistance to Cambodia in an effective and transparent way in order to achieve economic growth,” Masafumi Kuroki, Japan’s ambassador, said. “If there is no economic growth, it is very difficult to reduce poverty. So we will strengthen mechanisms to monitor aid.”

Annette Dixon, the World Bank’s country director, told VOA Khmer at the end of the meeting that she wanted to see more economic diversity, improved competitiveness and investment climate, and land concessions that provide benefits to the poor. The World Bank is also looking for more transparency in managing the revenue of natural resources, she said.

Cambodia’s budget deficit, too, remains a concern.

IMF representative John Nelmes said the government should try to keep the deficit below 5 percent of GDP, which it could do by eliminating tax exemptions and tax holidays for investors that are not in fact the main attraction to them.

The EU, meanwhile, would like to see stronger education and higher enrollment.

“The number of people dropping out of school is still quite high,” said Rafael Dochao Moreno, Charge d’Affaires of the European Commission in Cambodia. “So it is one of the things that you should try to make sure of, that boys and girls have the same rights to go to school. So we can increase the number of girls going to school, and the second is that the rate of students abandoning school should be reduced.”

For all the concerns, donors offered about $110 million more this year than they did in 2009.

International finance institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and Global Fund, provided the majority of funding, around $352 million.

Japan offered $131 million, followed by China with $100 million, and the US and Australia with $61 million each. Nine countries from the European Union pledged $255 million, including $65 million from Germany. The UN’s 13 agencies pledged $86 million in total.

Cambodia has around 4 million people living below the poverty line, and donor support has remained a major contributor to national development. Aid has steadily increased, from $700 million in 2006 to $1 billion last year. According to funding data, that could change, with donor funding expected to fall to $958 million in 2011 and $750 million the year after

Meanwhile, Cambodia is carrying around $4 billion in debt.

Rights and development organizations said during last week’s meetings they wanted to see more reform of the judicial system and greater transparency in the management of natural resources, but donor representatives said development can take a long time.

In the end, in a joint statement from the government and donors, each side said they were committed to pushing reforms in public administration, the judiciary, revenue management, and the implementation of the anti-graft law, among others.

Donors pledge $1 billion but criticise corruption

PHNOM PENH, 3 June 2010 (IRIN) - Donors pledged the largest aid package in Cambodian history this week while at the same time scolding the country for failing to implement various reforms.

Donors pledged US$1.1 billion in aid for this year - up from last year’s $950 million - during a two-day conference ending on 3 June. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen insisted his government would use the funds effectively, calling reform a “life-or-death issue for Cambodia”.

But rights groups say donors should take a tougher stance to weed out corruption; the country was last year ranked the world’s 22nd most corrupt by Transparency International.

Activists say much of last year’s money has been diverted from the projects they were intended for, such as schools, roads and hospitals.

“The onus for protecting donor aid falls squarely at the door of the donors themselves,” said Ou Virak, head of the Phnom Penh-based Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.

Donors needed to do more to make sure their aid was put to good use, he added.

The World Bank is also unconvinced there has been adequate progress. "It is important for the government to take the lead in aligning resources to development priorities," Annette Dixon, country director for the World Bank, said at the conference.

The Bank said the Cambodian government had to be more transparent with its public finances and handling of natural resources after allegations that foreign oil companies paid bribes for oil exploration deals in the Gulf of Thailand, off Cambodia’s southwest coast.

Last summer, Carol Rodley, US ambassador to Cambodia, said Cambodia lost about $500 million to corruption each year, a remark the government condemned as "politically motivated”.

"It's normal that these donor countries raise this issue of corruption,” Phay Siphan, a government spokesman, told IRIN. "The new anti-corruption law will reduce those improper activities."

Some lawmakers have praised the anti-corruption law, passed in March, which requires government and military officers to disclose their wealth to an anti-corruption body.

But critics say the law was passed hastily and that it contains disturbing amendments, including prison time for whistleblowers.

Various drafts of the law lingered in the National Assembly, the lower house, for 15 years before the bill suddenly went to the floor in March.

Friction

Despite the prime minister’s assurances, Cambodian officials have in recent months issued increasingly bold warnings to donor governments and the UN, complaining of interference in internal matters when they urge officials to clean up corruption, halt arbitrary land evictions and curtail defamation lawsuits against opposition lawmakers.

In March, Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong threatened to have UN country head Douglas Broderick expelled after Broderick had requested the government spend more time drafting the anti-corruption law. The foreign minister called this an “unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Cambodia” in a letter to Broderick. The UN has stayed silent on the issue.

Cambodian officials claim the country has been transformed from a war-torn pariah state to a politically stable destination for tourists and investors.

But activists say that is not enough. “The aid situation has done pretty well in infrastructure,” Donald Jameson, a former US embassy official in Phnom Penh, told IRIN by telephone from Washington DC. “But there is very little being done about the quality of education, healthcare or corruption in the judiciary.”

About one-third of Cambodians still live on $1 a day or less, according to government statistics.

Playing the China card

Some analysts contend that China, Cambodia’s largest donor, is shaking things up by increasing the size of its aid packages each year, with few conditions. Cambodia now makes more decisions in the interests of China, observers say.

In December, Cambodia deported 20 Uighur refugees from Xingjian, a province in northwest China. The UN and US condemned the decision, claiming it was against international refugee law.

After the expulsion, China awarded $1.2 billion in aid and soft loans to Cambodia.

Aid donors' record COMPLACENCY?

Cambodia's donors pledge record 1.1 billion dollars for development

Jun 3, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's donors on Thursday pledged a record 1.1 billion dollars in financial assistance for 2010 amid warnings that the country needs to improve accountability and transparency.

Japan was again the largest donor, said Finance Minister Keat Chhon, who outlined the government's main focus areas.

'We have our priorities: roads, water, human resources, electricity,' Keat Chhon said. 'These are the top four priorities. We also need funding for legal reform.'

The two-day donor conference, which concluded Thursday, saw Cambodian officials, foreign donors and non-governmental groups gather to discuss the country's most pressing issues.

Last year, donors provided 951 million dollars, around half the government's budget, and, at the time, the largest sum given.

In recent weeks, media reports have revealed that millions of dollars of revenues from resource industries were not properly accounted for.

The World Bank on Thursday singled out as 'critical issues' the need to improve transparency and accountability in Cambodia's handling of public finances and natural resources.

Other complaints have revolved around the use of aid. Japanese Ambassador Masafumi Kuroki indicated his country would provide 130 million dollars, before adding that aid effectiveness could be improved.

'There is increased monitoring of aid between the government and partners, and I think we have to further promote this process of monitoring of aid,' he said. 'There is already a mechanism to do that, and we have to strengthen that mechanism.'

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen told the conference that good governance was 'the most important prerequisite for a sustainable and equitable economic development and social justice.'

'In the context of this vision, the royal government considers the fight against corruption as a top priority,' he said, citing a new anti-corruption law and an ongoing crackdown on illegal logging and fisheries as evidence of the government's commitment.

And he said agriculture was the top development priority for the country's mainly rural population because it could both bolster economic growth and ensure food security.

He also pledged to pay more attention to granting land concessions to the poor. Land concessions are a highly contentious subject with large investors in possession of more than 1 million hectares.

The conference was reminded by World Bank country head Annette Dixon that 4 million Cambodians - around one-third of the population - live in poverty while many more are on the margins.

'Life continues to be extremely challenging for the majority of Cambodian rural families, who remain vulnerable to shocks,' she said.

More of Hun Xen's broken promises at the donor meeting?

In Donor Meeting, Hun Sen Vows Deeper Reforms

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 02 June 2010

“The Royal Government considers the fight against corruption as a top priority during its fourth mandate. We have a strong will for implementing these reforms.” (sic!)

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday moved to assure international representatives and aid agencies he was committed to deepening government reforms and fighting corruption, as an annual donor meeting got underway.

Speaking at the opening of the Cambodian Development Cooperation Forum, where donors are expected to pledge more than $1 billion in aid to Cambodia, Hun Sen said the government had made the “utmost efforts to firmly and deeply implement various reform programs and consider them as life or death issues.”

The government will present a $6.2 billion development plan to donors this week, part of an updated five-year strategy for continued reform and poverty alleviation. More than 100 participants from donor countries and international aid groups such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund joined senior government ministers for two days of talks.

“The Royal Government considers the fight against corruption as a top priority during its fourth mandate,” Hun Sen said in a speech that lasted more than an hour. “We have a strong will for implementing these reforms.”

Speaking on behalf of the donors, Annette Dixon, the World Bank’s country director, said meetings would center around “key reforms, which the government is undertaking, particularly in decentralization, public financial management and reforms of the civil service.”

“Further strengthening transparency and accountability in the management of Cambodia’s public finances and natural resources will be fundamental for ensuring more sustainable and inclusive growth,” Dixon said, adding that the government had made important achievements in passing an anti-corruption law and updated penal code.

Critics of the anti-corruption law have said it lacks the teeth to root out the country’s endemic corruption.

Ensuring aid transparency in the absence of political will

Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

Dear editor

An interesting platform has been set for the Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum by recent revelations of Total’s 8 million dollar contribution to a “social fund” as part of an oil deal with the Royal Government of Cambodia and allegations of corruption against the Australian BHP Billiton and Securency companies. The new Anti-Corruption Law is no ‘magic formula’ to end corruption in Cambodia rather, the manner of its passing as well as its content, serve only to exacerbate suspicions of an absence of the political will needed to tackle corruption.

As the NGOs list suggested govt reform article in last Wednesday’s Phnom Penh Post firmly established, the issue of transparency must be top of the donor’s agenda at this week’s meeting. However, it is not enough that the donors seek undertakings from the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) in relation to transparency rather they too must acknowledge their own responsibilities with regard to transparency and apply those same standards to themselves and to their practices.

The Accra Agenda for Action, which was concluded at the 2008 High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Ghana, considers the effect of corruption on aid and places the burden of transparency on donors of aid through a number of duties, as follows:

“publicly disclosing regular, detailed and timely information on volume, allocation and, when available, results of development expenditure to enable more accurate budget, accounting and audit by developing countries”

With this in mind, the donors who attend this week’s meetings must remember that, once the pledges have been made and the cheques have been signed, the real work begins. It is no longer enough for donors to publicise their aid through the provision of figures. As impressive as these figures sound - $951.5 million dollars in 2008 and $689 million dollars in 2007 – they do not provide much information by which to measure progress. Accordingly, the donors must not only secure undertakings from the RGC that they will abide by stringent accounting and reporting procedures but that they, the donors, must also act to ensure the integrity of their aid packages with the publication of information. In this regard, they must publicise their respective aid agreements with the RGC as well as, and to the greatest extent possible, information concerning the priorities, prerogatives, projects and programs that those packages seek to put in place.
By applying stringent transparency procedures, donors can empower four very important watchdogs in the battle against corruption in recipient countries, as follows:

• The intended beneficiaries: The principle of aid transparency reflects the fact that an informed population decreases the vulnerability of aid to corruption. Donors must act to ensure that the Cambodian people are informed of the amount of aid that the RGC receives but also what this aid is expected to achieve;
• The media: The English language press in Cambodia in particular has proved itself to be capable of embarrassing the RGC. The recent publication on 22 February of a leaked document by the Phnom Penh Post which outlined RGC plans for the funding of military units by private companies and individuals provides a good example of the role that the independent media in Cambodia can play. By ensuring transparency and publicizing information as to the aid given to the RGC, the donor community can ensure that if the entire proceeds of aid are not accounted for the media will be in a position to ask some questions and, if aid has indeed been diverted, to name and shame the individuals in question;
• NGOs: The global economic crisis has ensured that there is less aid available internationally. One of the knock-on effects of this is that NGOs are likely to exact a greater degree of scrutiny on the effectiveness of the aid that does remain. With the provision of adequate information, NGOs will be an important ally to donors in the battle to protect their aid from corruption;
• Taxpayers: Just as an informed population in recipient countries is likely to decrease the possibility of corruption, an informed population in donor countries – whose tax payments make up the aid packages – can ensure that “dead aid” to recipient countries can have political consequences at home too.

This letter does not seek to divert attention from the obligations of the RGC in terms of transparency where aid is concerned. However, in a system where corruption has flourished and, as is likely to be the case, will continue to do so, it is time for the donor community to act to ensure that the aid they provide goes to the intended beneficiaries and not towards widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots. By empowering these important watchdogs through the provision of detailed information relating to aid donors can do a great deal to ensure the integrity of aid in the absence of a willing partner in the RGC.

Yours sincerely,

Ou Virak
Cambodian Center for Human Rights

Cambodia promises aid use [-More broken promises?]

Jun 2, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA vowed on Wednesday to use international aid effectively and bring reforms after criticism that billions of dollars in donor money has done little to improve the impoverished country.

Opening a two-day meeting between the government, donors and development partners, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the country would continue public administration, land, judicial and financial reforms.

'The royal government has made its utmost efforts to firmly and deeply implement various reform programs and consider them as a life or death issue for Cambodia,' he said. Mr Hun Sen went on to say his government will ensure 'the effective, transparent and accountable utilisation of the development resources provided by development partners.'

But, speaking on behalf of donors, World Bank country director Annette Dixon complained 'progress has been limited' in government work to improve strategic planning and aid management. 'It is important for the government to take the lead in aligning resources to development priorities,' she said.

The World Bank last week began to investigate allegations that mismanagement of its US$28.8 million (S$40.6 milion) land-titling project has left more than 20,000 people facing forced eviction from their homes in the capital Phnom Penh. The programme was created to implement a system of land ownership in Cambodia after the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime destroyed legal documents, but there has been criticism about evictions at the hands of the army and police.

Formal pledges of aid to Cambodia will be announced on Thursday and are expected to reel in over one billion dollars for this year. However, activists have complained of rampant cronyism and corruption. Cambodia received more than US$951 million in pledges last year, despite demands by rights groups that donors get tough on the government's apparent refusal to reform. 'The Cambodian government has been promising to reform for years but nothing had changed,' Global Witness campaigns director Gavin Hayman said in a statement. 'Donors simply cannot continue to turn a blind eye.'

Foreign donors concerned about accountability in Cambodia

Wed, 02 Jun 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's donor conference opened Wednesday with warnings that access to land, improved transparency, and accountability for use of natural resources will be essential for the country's development goals.

World Bank country head Annette Dixon noted that 4 million Cambodians - about 30 per cent of the population - live in poverty while many more "live precariously near poverty."

"Life continues to be extremely challenging for the majority of Cambodian rural families, who remain vulnerable to shocks," she said.

Dixon applauded reforms in managing public finances, and said the government had strengthened social protections for the poor.

She said donors remained "strongly committed" to development efforts help the poor, despite global financial woes, "which in turn heightens the need to improve aid effectiveness and accountability for results."

Cambodian officials, non-governmental groups and foreign donors are meeting for two days to discuss the country's most pressing issues. On Thursday, donors will announce how much money they will give to help the government for it development goals.

In 2009, donors provided 951 million dollars, around half the government's budget. The finance ministry said it expected pledges of more than 1 billion dollars this year.

Prime Minister Hun Sen told the conference that good governance was "the most important prerequisite for a sustainable and equitable economic development and social justice."

"In the context of this vision, the Royal Government considers the fight against corruption as a top priority," he said, citing a new anti-corruption law, and an ongoing crackdown on illegal logging and fisheries, as evidence of the government's commitment.

Hun Sen said agriculture was the top development priority for the predominantly rural population, saying it could bolster economic growth and ensure food security.

He also pledged to pay more attention to granting land concessions to the poor. Land concessions are a highly contentious subject, with large investors in possession of more than a million hectares.

Non-governmental organizations said improvements in some health indicators showed similar gains could be made in governance, land use and natural resources. They called for reform of the judiciary, which is seen as corrupt and inefficient.

On Tuesday, the Britain-based organization Global Witness, called on donors to pressure the government to deliver meaningful reforms in the face of "gross mismanagement" of its natural resources.

Global Witness is not participating in the conference.

Foreign donors meet to help the dictator oppress Cambodia?

Foreign donors meet in Phnom Penh for aiding Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, June 2 (AP) - (Kyodo)—International aid donors opened the annual Consultative Group meeting here Wednesday to decide on the level of aid disbursements to the country for 2010.

More than 100 representatives from 16 donor countries, including Japan and the United States, and from seven international financial organizations such as the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, are attending the forum. They are expected to make aid pledges at the end of the two-day meeting.

The group has met annually since 1996, and as of today, Cambodia has received foreign aid worth about $4 billion.

In December 2008, considering the global economic crisis, Cambodia had sought about $500 million for 2009, but it received $951.5 million, almost double, as China pledged $257 million, followed by the European Union with $214 million and Japan with $113 million.

Cambodia received aid pledges of $690 million in 2008.

Delivering a speech at the opening of the forum to the group, Prime Minister Hun Sen promised that his government will continue to tackle several key issues including corruption, judicial reform, and land disputes, all of which have been often cited by the donors as being areas of concern.

On Monday, Global Witness, a London-based environmental advocacy group, urged international donors to tackle the gross mismanagement of the country's natural resources.

"The Cambodian government has been promising to reform for years, but nothing had changed," said Global Witness Campaigns Director Gavin Hayman.

Three days ahead of the meeting, members of parliament of Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy Party issued a statement praising and acknowledging the progress made in several areas but saying more work remains in key sectors.

Cambodia is one of the world's poorest nations with some 35 percent of its 14.5 million people living below the poverty line, defined as earning less than $1 a day.

Agencies Concerned Over Use of Funding

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
25 November 2008

Non-governmental organizations expressed concern for the government’s develop plans for the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable Tuesday, as Cambodia prepares for its annual donors meeting next week.

Cambodia will meet with international donors at its annual Consultative Group meeting Dec. 3 through Dec. 5, and is seeking at least $500 million in development aid.

But a group of three large umbrella organizations said Tuesday the aid money should be prioritized for land, agriculture and natural-resource management, as well as human development and good governance.

“We are requesting the government to re-correct the implementation of the development policy,” said Sek Barisoth, a program officer for Pact Cambodia, a group of non-governmental agencies. “It is unfair and not targeted to affect the poor and vulnerable.”

People are often forced off their land for development, he said. “We are very concerned that the policy of the government is negative, and some implementation of the policy is not clear.”

Government officials from various ministries will join the meeting next week.

Ou Vuddy, general director of the Ministry of Land, Urbanization and Construction, said the government could not accept all the recommendations from the NGO sector.

“It is different from the facts in all fields, so this report should be re-corrected,” she said.