Cambodian school girls attend the inauguration of the achievements of UNDP-managed infrastructure projects in Battambang province in July.

Hok Chi Im, a 13-year-old girl in Samlot district, Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia, used to resign herself to having only one shower a day because the water source, a stream, is far away from her home.

 

Ki Nariya, a 12-year-old student, remembered how her studies were often interrupted by rain. Since the classroom did not have full-length walls, the wind blew the rain inside, sending the students to cram in the middle of the room and forcing their teacher to halt the lesson.

Those tough days are now over for the two girls, new wells and schools built through an EC/UNDP initiative which empowers local government to oversee infrastructure projects in four Battambang districts.

The projects provide thousands of villagers in Samlot, Kamrieng, Phnom Proek and Sampov Loun districts with a better access to clean water, education, market and other services.

Over three years, 10 school buildings, 107 wells, more than 70 kilometres of roads, two women’s vocational training centres, eight concrete bridges, 114 culverts and one water spillway have been built in 24 communes in those districts.

More than 1,000 villagers joined government officials and UNDP representatives in a ceremony in Kamrieng district in July to celebrate the achievements.

“These valuable achievements will go a long way to benefit of the people in the four districts,” Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, who is also the Minister of Interior, said during the ceremony to mark the conclusion of the project. He thanked the European Commission and UNDP for their support.

Hok Chi Im, whose parents are corn farmers in Samlot, no longer needs to walk long distances to get water after a well was built close to her house last year.

 “Now I can have three showers a day. It is more convenient to have a well nearby,” she said smiling.

And after Ki Nariya, a sixth grader at Chul Seima primary school in Kamrieng, and her classmates moved to a new concrete building late last year, she no longer has to worry about lessons being interrupted by rain.

“I am so happy with the new classroom. It is also bigger than our old classroom,” she said.

With the new building, which has five classrooms, the school has been able to reduce the number of students  per class to 50 from 70. Although it is still high, the reduced number allows teacher to pay closer attention to each student, said Ms. Saing Thoeun, the school’s deputy director. 

“They can learn in a healthier environment. They don’t sweat a lot as they did in the past when they were squeezed in” due to lack of space, said Ms. Saing Thoeun, who worked as a teacher when the district was still under the control of Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

Before the region was reintegrated into the national government in 1996, the four districts remained isolated due to ongoing armed conflict.

Over the past 13 years, the landscape once regarded as a major battleground and hazardous  because of explosive remnants of war has been transformed into an agricultural hub. Corn and cassava plantations stretch over hillsides and as far as an eye can see. Corn trade is bustling, taking advantage of newly built roads and bridges.

“We can move corn out of the field a lot easier, and buyers can also bring their trucks in to collect the produce. We are able to sell at a better price. That is because there are better roads and bridges,” said Chou Savuth, a 28-year-old corn farmer.

In managing the 1.7 million Euro fund for the EC, UNDP worked closely with Battambang Province’s Rural Development Committee and executive committee that served as important mechanisms to coordinate planning and implementation of development projects at local levels. The mechanisms are product of the decentralization and de-concentration reforms that give more decision-making power to local administrations, allowing them to deliver services quicker to local residents.

But not all went without a hitch. High commodity prices in 2007 forced a scale back in the projects within the available fund. As a result, seven of the 10 school buildings were built with only four classrooms each instead of five as originally planned.

Despite the challenges, UNDP’s deputy country director for operations Mr. Ismael Toorawa said the projects were a “success story” of close cooperation between the provincial administration, the EC and UNDP in implementing a multi-sectoral programme at sub-national level, unlike other projects where development partners sign agreements with national ministries.

“Previously, the line ministries decided and were responsible for delivering sector interventions through their line departments whereas under the current system, it is possible for provincial, district and commune administrations to deliver services such as schools, training centres and local roads,” he said.  “The success of this project is an indication that the reforms are working.”