Remarks by Country Director Elena Tischenko at Stakeholder Meeting on Cambodia Human Development Report 2011

Remarks by Elena Tischenko, UNDP Cambodia Country Director

at the Stakeholder Meeting on

Cambodia Human Development Report 2011

6 July 2011, Cambodiana Hotel

Excellency THUK Kroeun Vutha, Secretary of State of Ministry of  Environment
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Very warm welcome to this stakeholder meeting on the 2011 Cambodia Human Development Report. It is my pleasure and privilege to say a few open remarks at this important meeting as we come very close to the launch of the Cambodian Human Development Report 2011.  Thank you for taking time from your busy schedules to join us today.

As chair of the Senior Advisory Panel, I’d like to thank all of you for your valuable inputs and contributions throughout the preparation of this report. As most of you are aware, this CHDR 2011 was initiated in early 2009, starting with the identification of the theme and undergoing a very participatory and inclusive process organised through many consultations with relevant stakeholders.

It has been a long road, but we are very close to our destination now. I am very pleased to show you how the report will look. The 2011 Cambodia Human Development Report has been now finalised and it is our pleasure today to present the Report’s rationale, key findings and policy recommendations. I would like to extend my very deep appreciation to the entire CHDR team, led by our Senior Advisory Panel members. We are honoured that H.E. Keat Chhon and H.E. Mok Mareth have agreed to co-sign the Report’s foreword, exemplifying the cooperation and coordination that have gone into the preparation of this document.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

National Human Development Reports that have been produced for several decades in countries all over the world are in-depth, independent, nationally-owned policy analysis documents. They provide important insights into the human impacts of issues and events currently affecting any particular country. High quality research and analysis, coupled with a commitment to broad, collective ownership and respect to different viewpoints are the key principles that are observed to ensure that the Report’s findings and recommendations  belong to Cambodia and to the Cambodian people and do not represent any special interests. The CHDR that we have before us today is an impressive example of such an impartial, evidence-based approach to examining a very important issue, namely the human development dimensions of climate change and possible responses to this challenge. I would like to stress that the document that we review today is not the report on climate change but it is a Human Development Report. It puts people and human development at the centre of its analysis and its recommendations.

Looking back to the time when the theme of this report has been selected and its scope defined – an exercise that has taken place before I started my assignment in Cambodia – I can only applaud the decision for the CHDR to focus on climate change.  Cambodia is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts including natural disasters, and this vulnerability does not necessarily come from high exposure, as compared to other countries, but rather from low adapting and coping capacities.  These capacities can and should be strengthened as part of a broader national response to the manifestations of climate change.  Also importantly, the CHDR identifies climate change as a source of special, and increasing, vulnerability for the poor and near poor. It therefore emphasises, in its recommendations, the need to address structural dimensions of poverty and vulnerability in addition to enhancing adaptive mechanisms and capacities.  

When focusing on climate change as a source of vulnerability and a threat to country’s development gains, the CHDR pays special attention to rural poverty and vulnerability.  With vast majority of Cambodia’s poor people living in rural areas and depending on agriculture, understanding of the root causes of rural poverty and vulnerability is essential to understanding the human development implications of climate change, and to developing the means to mitigate those effects.

As complex a challenge as climate change should be met with the matching strength and robustness of the response.  For such a response to be effective and measure up to the threats posed by climate change, it has to transcend different sectors of the government, involve sub-national and local actions, mobilise communities, generate accessible funding and build strong knowledge and awareness base. We are very pleased that preparation of the CHDR has fully embraced the values of this broad participation and multi-disciplinary approach, as evidenced by the very representative group that gathered here today, as well as by the inclusive process that CHDR enjoyed throughout its preparation.

Allow me to briefly recall the key milestones of this inclusive process:
- There have been four Senior Advisory Panel meetings with representatives from all key ministries, NGOs, development partners, private sector, and academic institutions.

• The authors and the UNDP team have worked to review, respond to, and incorporate all of the comments received from the Senior Advisory Panel, development partners, peer reviewers, and those that resulted from the roundtable discussions.
• Small group discussions were held then with civil society organizations and with experts in such areas as water resources, forestry, agriculture, health, and climate change to obtain their inputs and feedback.
• The Report also has gone through a thorough editing process and has been reviewed by two independent experts.

The Senior Advisory Panel last met in March when the authors presented the first draft of the report. Further fine tuning has then been undertaken in line with substantive comments from the Ministry of Environment.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and express my appreciation for the interest that has been shown in this report by our development partners who are actively supporting climate change efforts in Cambodia.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

As we are nearing the completion of a comprehensive preparation process for the CHDR, I am pleased to report to you that English version of the Report will be printed by the end of July and  Khmer translation is currently being edited.

Preparations are underway for the National Launch event that has been tentatively scheduled for the second week of August, with provincial launches to follow from October to December. Other communication and public dialogue activities around CHDR, including some of them focusing specifically on youth, will be implemented throughout the remainder of the year.

We look forward to carrying on the energy and momentum created in CHDR preparation into a very important next stage of making it public and putting it into a wide use. For that our continuing and fruitful collaboration is essential. Many thanks again for your active participation and valuable support to the CHDR that will remain a key factor of success in the future application of this important instrument.

Thank you.