Cambodia

The development objective of the Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development Project is to improve the identification and use of state lands transferred to eligible,... Show More + poor and formerly landless or land-poor recipients through a transparent and well-targeted process. The indicator on the 'number of communes' is being addressed through this restructuring wherein the number of communes will be decreased from 20 to seve Show Less -

Ratings for the Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP) for Cambodia were as follows: outcomes were moderately unsatisfactory, the risk to development outcome... Show More + was significant, the Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately unsatisfactory. Some lessons learned included: multiple sources of information are required to inform project management. Because of the late establishment of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system and its focus on land titling, the Bank and the Government had very little 'real-time' information on what was happening on the ground. The project needed an on-line management information system (including regularly updated maps), an accompanying socio-economic research agenda to examine impact (given the complex Key Performance Indicator (KPIs)), and a continuing process of communication with Civil Society Organizations. The objectives should be kept as simple as possible and should avoid including vaguely-specified impacts and outcomes whose achievement requires the satisfaction of conditions outside the project's control. Broadly-defined outcome indicators are difficult (if not impossible) to measure and show that the operational aspects of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) had not been sufficiently thought through at the design stage. For a results framework to be credible, it is essential to have the core elements of an M&E system established before project implementation commences, including having all base-line data prepared. The LMAP design relied on a separate, donor-funded Informal Settlements Program to be implemented in parallel to ensure that the poorest and most tenure-insecure communities would benefit from titling. This parallel program covered Phnom Penh alone and no comparable arrangements were included under LMAP to address similar issues elsewhere. This introduced an unidentified risk and should have been accompanied by a detailed plan for coordination between the two programs in Phnom Penh and plans to develop a similar arrangement for State lands elsewhere. The project's design called for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to play an advocacy role (in raising public awareness, bringing disputes to the fore and providing legal assistance to the poor), but it was unrealistic to expect that the Government and NGOs will be able to engage in formal contracts. This requirement, with hindsight, could have been handled via a Bank-executed Trust Fund, as has been done in more recent land and natural resource sector projects in Cambodia. Show Less -

The objectives of the Avian and Human Influenza (AHI) Control and Preparedness Emergency Project for Cambodia are to: control outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry... Show More + and thus to limit the economic costs of the disease and the potential for its expansion into humans; and minimize the risks and consequences of a pandemic by planning for such an outbreak, both in terms of human health services but also in terms of preparedness in society as a whole. The reallocation is necessary to cover the cost of urgently needed training/workshop events to increase Ministry of Health's (MOH's) implementing capacity and, more importantly, to ensure staff readiness to respond quickly and effectively in the even to an outbreak with numerous human cases. This source of financing is probably the only alternative currently available to cover this priority activity. On the other hand, the negative reallocation to the consulting services category is not expected to impact the implementation performance because: 1) the amount originally allocated to this category seems slightly overestimated; 2) the existent consulting agreement with World Health Organization (WHO) will provide coverage of most to the needs; and 3) there are other potential sources of external funding for some of the needs for technical assistance and capacity building. The reallocation does not affect the total amounts of original grant agreement, therefore, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has endorsed this proposal. Show Less -

The main development objectives of the Rural Electrification and Transmission Project are to improve power sector efficiency and reliability, while reducing electricity... Show More + supply costs, improve standards of living and foster economic growth in rural areas, by expanding rural electricity supplies, and, strengthen electricity institutions, the regulatory framework, and the 'enabling environment' for sector commercialization and privatization. Negative impacts include: air quality, soil erosion, water quality, noise pollution, worker/public safety, and loss of agricultural productivity. Mitigation measures include: 1) concrete batching plants to be located downwind and away from inhabited areas; 2) groundcover to be left undisturbed as much as possible; 3) fuel or hazardous materials securely stored at least 20m from any surface water and above flood level and the proper wastewater treatment, water supply and waste disposal facilities for workforce; 4) activities to be conducted during daytime hours and local residents informed of construction schedule; and 5) tower footing design should minimize permanent land use requirement, and should allow access for farming in and around footing area. Show Less -

The objective of the Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development Project for Cambodia is to improve the process for identification and use of state lands transferred... Show More + to eligible, poor and formerly landless or land-poor recipients selected through a transparent and well-targeted process as indicated by: (a) the adoption rates of improved land management and agricultural production systems in Social Land Concession (SLC) sub-projects; (b) proportion of land recipients which meet poverty criteria and were landless or land-poor prior to project interventions; and (c) the effective implementation of dispute resolution procedures under the project, related to challenges to the land recipient selection process. The restructuring will allow for the financing of Priority Operating Cost POC by: (i) closing the existing disbursement category for Merit Based Pay Initiative (MBPI) or Priority Mission Group (PMG), and (ii) creating a new disbursement category for POC. A disbursement condition will be added for this new category, requesting that the POC arrangements (comprising terms of reference, management contract, and implementation agreement as per the POC guidelines) agreed between the ministry and the Council of Administration Reform (CAR) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), is acceptable to the Bank and will not be changed without prior consultation with the Bank. While no changes in institutional structure are anticipated, but staffs turned over are significant, it is possible that an enhanced reliance on support from national and international technical advisors and consultants may be required to maintain high quality performance standards in the affected components of the project until the interim POC scheme becomes effective. Show Less -