Mixed findings from studies to measure local governance performance

Accountability – what is it? Many Cambodians in the countryside would respond with such a question when asked what they think about the local authorities they are living under.

Their feedback was among the recently released findings of the studies to gauge citizen’s perceptions of local governance in 25 communes of five Cambodian provinces. Still limited in scope, the findings shed some light on the progress of local governance in the surveyed communes as well as challenges that will need further attention by the government as it works toward deepening democratic reforms.

The Secretariat of National Committee for Sub-national Democratic Development (NCDD) released the results at a seminar on 31 May. They were the products of two surveys the NCCD – with support from UNDP – did in what was the first attempt to measure effectiveness and responsiveness of local governance. The results were mixed but also offered lessons learned.

“We will gain new knowledge and useful information from these studies – knowledge and information to help us to address our shortcomings,” H.E. Sak Setha, Secretary of State of Ministry of Interior and also Head of NCDD Secretariat, said in his remarks at the seminar.

The NCDD is the inter-ministerial mechanism for promoting democratic development through reforms at the local level throughout Cambodia. In 2008, it launched two surveys. One of them explored factors influencing commune council performance and outcomes in 12 communes in Siem Reap, Kratie, and Preah Sihanouk provinces. The other was conducted on citizen’s perceptions of local government in 25 communes in Banteay Meanchey, Ratanakiri, Kampot, Kampong Thom provinces, and in Phnom Penh city.

A follow-up monitoring and evaluation study was conducted in 2009 and found that local governance index – a barometer for measuring local governance performance –has improved by 11 percent since the 2008 baseline survey. And people’s perception of commune council transparency appears higher where commune council chief and clerk are better educated and more experienced.

However, the findings have also revealed other challenges. Most Cambodians surveyed had a poor understanding of the term “accountability”, making it difficult to use as a local governance indicator to measure progress. The “complaint boxes” installed at commune offices to solicit citizens’ views about accountability of local officials were not being used by villagers because they either did not understand their purpose or were afraid of being noticed by local officials when posting their complaints. Additionally, participation of the citizens in commune council affairs remains limited. Only about 50 percent of surveyed participants found it useful to join a commune council meeting, while others regard it as solely a business for local officials.

The increase in local governance index was “a piece of good news”, said H.E. Leng Vy, General Director of General Department of Local Administration and Deputy Head of NCDD Secretariat. But he added that further studies on citizens’ perception and feedback would be needed to assist in policy-making to guide local governance and development in the future.

UNDP supports the work of NCDD through the Strengthening Democratic and Decentralized Local Governance (DDLG) project. Funded by the European Commission and UNDP, the project contributes to poverty reduction in Cambodia by strengthening local governance institutions, systems, and processes to be more effective and have greater ownership over policies and projects that respond to the needs of local communities.