Support for Aid Coordination

Purpose of Project

Support for Aid Coordination works to strengthen the Royal Government of Cambodia’s capacity to manage development assistance in order to reduce poverty and achieve the Cambodia Millennium Development Goals. The project supports the implementation of the Government’s Strategic Framework for Development Cooperation Management, which aims to improve aid effectiveness to maximize its benefits for the people of Cambodia. The Government has designated the Cambodian Rehabilitation and Development Board of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CRDB/CDC) as its focal point in its relations with donor countries, agencies and NGOs. The project supports the CRDB/CDC in carrying out its responsibilities.

Main Activities

• Conduct an organizational review and needs assessment of the CRDB/CDC and deliver a comprehensive strategy to develop its capacity.
• Provide policy advice and logistical support to the CRDB/CDC to support Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and aid coordination processes.
• Provide technical assistance and logistical support to strengthen partnerships between the public sector and civil society at the national and sub-national levels, and to enhance awareness among Non-Governmental Organizations of harmonization, alignment, and managing for results.
• Provide policy advice and logistical support to the CRDB/CDC in analytical work and the preparation of aid-effectiveness policy papers for national and international forums (such as the annual Aid Effectiveness Report), and in conducting best practice workshops on aid effectiveness for line ministries and agencies.
• Provide advice and logistical support to TWGs on implementing the Government’s action plan on harmonization, alignment and results, and on building capacity of government institutions to improve the effectiveness of development assistance.
• Provide technical and logistical support for the development of a web-based system to collect data from donors on actual and planned aid disbursements and provide information to all stakeholders.
• Provide support to set up and improve the aid management information database system in all ministries and agencies.

Key Results

• CRDB/CDC supported line ministries and agencies in developing their leadership of the 19 Technical Working Groups (TWGs) which bring together government bodies, development partners and civil society. The TWG Network helped to develop joint monitoring indicators for aid effectiveness for all sectors, which were endorsed by the Government-Development Partners Cooperation Committee.
• The CRDB/CDC prepared and presented the Cambodia Aid Effectiveness Report at the Cambodia Development Cooperation Forums held in June 2007, December 2008 and June 2010. The reports analyzed trends in development cooperation and provide policy recommendations.
• CRDB/CDC maintains an on-line Cambodia ODA Database to promote transparency in resource use. Project support enabled a similar NGO information system to be placed on-line in 2009.
• CRDB/CDC formed a partnership with the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, a civil society umbrella group that considers governance and aid effectiveness issues, to strengthen the capacity of NGOs to coordinate their support and be accountable to citizens.
• Cambodia has participated in a number of South-South and regional initiatives. Its work with Lao PDR and Vietnam on the Joint Initiative on Mutual Accountability was shared at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held in Accra in 2008. CRDB has hosted regular Learning Exchanges for countries in the region, reflecting Cambodia's status as a practitioner of good aid management.

Background

Cambodia is one of the most heavily aid-dependent countries in the world, with most of the development budget provided by donors. In addition, aid is highly fragmented, with relatively low coordination among donors compared with other aid-dependent countries. Thus, effective aid coordination and increased government capacity to manage aid coordination are crucial to gaining maximum impact for poverty reduction. In recent years, the Government has increased its ownership of aid coordination. In late 2004 it adopted a new aid coordination mechanism which paved the way for the joint government-donor Technical Working Groups (TWGs) at the sector level for regular dialogue, plus a high level Government Development Partner Coordination Committee that meets three times a year to give policy guidance, set priorities and resolve issues raised by the TWGs.