Cambodia Profile

Kingdom of Cambodia

 

Official Language Population growth Life expectancy Khmer (other languages95%, English, French) 1.77% (2009) 62,1 years (2009) GDP Per Capita Infant mortality Rate of illiteracy $10.8 billion (2009) $731 GDP Per capita (2009) Annual growth rate (2009):0.1%. Inflation (2009): 4.5%. 54,8 per 1000 live births (2009) 26,4 %(2004) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last three decades (1970-2000) were a period of time where political regime changes had led to several painful transformation from Kingdom to Republic in1970, from Republic to Communist Regime in 1975, from communist to socialist State guided by Vietnam in early 1980s, from socialism to semi-liberalism in 1989, and finally to a liberal democracy in 1993 (Constitutional Monarchy) through the United Nations-backed international efforts. The United Nations made a mistake to Cambodia by suddenly introducing the western liberal democracy to this traditionally “illiberal State”. (Öjendal, 1996) The United Nations appears to have believed that a political change can start with a sudden regime change from above (at the central government level) and therefore paid little attention to the rural society from its historical viewpoint. With the application of the UN-implanted western liberal democracy to the central government level being proved mistaken (Öjendal 1996). The coup led by Lon Nol in 1970 ended Sihanouk’s monarchy and brought in a US-backed Republic.  Not before long, the China-backed Khmer Rouge took over the state machinery in 1975.  Education, market, taxation system, press, all ceased to exist.  Later, the Vietnamese invasion in 1979 overthrew the Khmer Rouge and installed a socialist government which had to start from zero. Cambodian government of 1979 had neither institutions nor staffs. The state itself needed to be re-created. It was not until 1989 (with a massive constitutional revision) that private ownership and a market system were recognized following the economic liberalization in late 1980s.  It should be noted that ‘governance’ comprises all activities of government, the private sector and civil society, all of which tend to improve the representation of popular interests as well as the management of national and local affairs (UNDP, 1995, 1997).  The re-opening of the country following the UN-backed Peace Accord Agreement in 1991 has resulted in the emergence of civil society - mostly consisting of non-governmental organizations— which, “together with the UN, provided virtually a parallel system of governance” (Devas 1996: 32). One of the major reasons for low quality public service delivery in Cambodia is the absence of an effective system of incentives and accountability mechanisms in the Cambodian civil service. Given the serious problems afflicting the civil service - low pay, low skills, low capacity, and corruption - a strategically sequenced civil service reform will have to be accelerated in the short term and carried out over the medium term if the Government’s vision of poverty reduction is to become reality. The reform program must look at every possible avenue for strengthening civil service management, by introducing in practice a merit-based system that guarantees that human resource expenditures are subject to controls (on hiring and promotion) and fully integrated with the budget formulation process; improving civil service pay, to attract and retain skilled staff, especially for high level management and priority sector staff; and rationalizing civil service employment, to ensure that human resources are wisely deployed in high priority sectors. Indeed, one of the principal risks to the PRSP is the capacity of the civil service to deliver. Moreover, it is clear that low public sector wages provide a breeding ground for corrupt practices. At the same time it is apparent that weak merit-based civil service management and low pay are the leading causes of Cambodia’s relatively poor standing on public sector performance. The World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) ranks Cambodia  in the fourth lowest quintile among fellow low income countries on issues pertaining to public sector management and institutions, indicating significant room for improvement.