Consultative Workshop Report on Formulation of a National Engagement Strategy of ILC in Cambodia May 30-31, 2013 Imperial Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Organized by STAR Kampuchea with financial support of the International Land Coalition (ILC) Phnom Penh June 28, 2013
I. Introduction With the financial support of the International Land Coalition (ILC), STAR Kampuchea (SK) conducted a two-day Consultative Workshop on May 30-31, 2013, at the Imperial Garden Hotel, Phnom Penh. 30 participants (List of the Participants is attached as Annex 3.1. Consultative Workshop Program to the NES-Cambodia Paper), to the NES-Cambodia Paper), attending the workshop were from 19 institutions, which are funding agencies, development partners, NGOs and networks. First, the workshop aimed at sharing the preliminary results and recommendations of the Scoping Paper, which was conducted by STAR Kampuchea in December 2012, with ILC country members, NGOs, and stakeholders for discussion and validation. Second, the workshop aimed to develop the National Engagement Strategy for Cambodia (NES- Cambodia with involvement from ILC members, NGOs, and stakeholders through reflecting the progress, issues, and challenges in the land sector. The following results are inputs obtained from the workshop which were valuable to the development of the NES-Cambodia Three Years Action Plan (2013-2015). II- Achievements Before staring the consultative workshop, Ms. Chet Charya, Director of STAR Kampuchea, warmly welcomed the participants by highlighting the essence and objective of the workshop, which was carried out in connection with the International Land Coalition (ILC) who works at global, regional and national levels. Generally speaking, she added that the National Engagement Strategy (NES) is one of the ILC tools as a long-term engagement in selected countries to achieve better results through multi-stakeholder dialogue and a national land alliance for coordinated action. She explained that ILC is a global alliance of 152 civil society and intergovernmental organizations, working together to promote secure and equitable access to and control over land for poor women and men through advocacy, dialogue and capacity building. She also stressed that ILC provides the opportunity to its members and stakeholders to build a network with different organizations working on land governance in Cambodia. The main goal of ILC is to improve the coordination and cooperation among these organizations with the help of joined actions, starting dialogues, sharing information and coordinating work processes. To this end, she pointed that a coordinated cooperation (by ILC) between its partners and the NGOs, stakeholders, the private sector and the Cambodian government can be an imperative tool to achieve the goal of supporting the landless and vulnerable people to have equal access to land rights. After her meaningful opening remarks, Ms. Chet Charya induced the workshop program and invited the participants to introduce themselves, while naming the main topics and the major activities of their organizations as well as the single provinces, where their respective organization is engaged. Most of the participants organizations are focusing on land conflicts and natural resources, community empowerment and capacity building on different laws, advocacy through media, and youth empowerment in decision making processes.
After the introduction of the mission 1 and vision 2 of ILC Karishma Boroowa and Andrea Fiorenza, representing ILC, presented the National Engagement Strategy (NES) by addressing the questions, what is NES, why NES, how to develop a NES, who is involved, and what is the future of NES. They mentioned that NES is an ILC initiative which aims to facilitate collaboration amongst CSOs and IGOs members, at the national level, to increase opportunities for engagement with national governments and other key-actors involved in national land related processes. NES arises from the awareness that corrections in the inequalities of access to land at country level, which can be more effectively achieved, in favor of poor and marginalized groups, through the collaborative and coordinated efforts of multiple actors, rather than simply adopting overlapping or even confrontational approaches. NES is developed in two phases, the first entails its formulation, and the second is the actual implementation of the strategy. The formulation of the NES is typically carried out through consultations and workshops of national multi-stakeholders, where participants will identify priorities, potential synergies and agree on joint actions to be undertaken. Some of the key questions that have been identified for discussion during the debates including: 1) What are the key land governance-related challenges facing the country? 2) Does the country have the required legal and regulatory framework to respond to these challenges? 3) If a framework of progressive land laws exist in the country is it properly implemented?4) Where land reform has occurred, are beneficiaries taking full advantage of the land they have acquired? 5) Who is contributing what to address land-related challenges? During the formulation process a roadmap will be created which will be used to drive the implementation phase. The roadmap is a strategic and operational document, which defines actions, roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, and guides the multi-stakeholder platform over a period of two to four years. The actors that would be included in the NES formulation are: 1) All ILC members within the country; 2) ILC s regional members (academic organizations, farmers organizations); 3) International members (IGOs and global civil society organizations (CSOs), active in the country; 4) Bilateral donors. In addition to these actors, an important aspect of the NES formulation process includes the engagement/ involvement of 1 A global alliance of civil society and intergovernmental organizations working together to promote secure and equitable access to and control over land for poor women and men through advocacy, dialogue, knowledge sharing and capacity building 2 Secure and equitable access to and control over land reduces poverty and contributes to identity, dignity and inclusion
all relevant parties in the country, including national and local CSOs that are not ILC members, as well as government entities and private sector organizations. Another session was to share the Scoping Study (2012) and it recommendations by Mr. Sothat, the Consultant contracted by SK, with the participants. He started with giving information on the background of SK and it s partnership with the International Land Coalition (ILC) to conduct the Scoping Study. It aimed to assess land-governance related issues in Cambodia to reflect the progresses, issues, and challenges in the land sector in order to inform their strategic engagement in Cambodia together with other NGO partners. Then he drew the findings and recommendations of the Scoping Study through his PowerPoint presentation as follows. The study found that the land governance in Cambodia is generally weak and the progress has been slow. The weak land governance is the result of the following three broad factors: i) unclear identification and demarcation of state lands: public and private state lands have not been properly identified, demarcated, and registered; ii) ambiguity of private ownership: the early land reform was not accompanied by the issuance of formal land certificates or legal means of recognition to landholders. Until now just over one third of the land parcels have formal titles; and iii) weak institutions and law enforcement: non-independent court system and weak functioning of land dispute mechanisms at all levels. Moreover, the land issues is Cambodia have been complicated by a number of factors which include population growth, market force, economic growth, land market, and land policy. Uncooperative relationships between the government and NGOs are also an impediment in the land sector. It was pointed out that limited capacity of NGO staff in legal aspects hampers them to work effectively with communities and the government. Also, NGOs themselves recognize the fact that their activities are fragmented and/or duplicated. As a way forward for NGOs to engage in Cambodia s land sector, the study suggests NGOs focus on building the capacity of their staff, improving the coordination of their activities and representation of the NGO community, continue to advocate and monitor the land reform in a more constructive and nuanced way, assisting the commune/sangkat councils to produce the Commune/Sangkat Land Use Planning and get approval from the provincial governors, collaborate with the government to provide support services to the beneficiaries of land reform programs, promoting the farmer-investor partnerships, and establishing a learning forum among NGOs.
At the end of his presentation, Mr. Sothat affirmed that the recommendations were collected through interviews with different stakeholders who are working on land issues in Cambodia and through other valid documents.. He stressed that the workshop was an important event for the participants to comment, give inputs, and share their current work experiences, related to land issues which are crucial to the formulation of NES- Cambodia as well as to the future work of CSOs to address land issues in Cambodia. During and after his presentation, participants gave, raised, and shared their comments and concerns which among others were lack of mechanisms to monitor the ELCs and SLCs, lack of good government related to issuing the land titling, lack of understanding on Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure and so forth. There were some reactions regarding the methodologies of the study and the recommendations, suggested by the Scoping Study, seems not responsive to the real situations, After constructive discussion, Mr. Sothat divided the participants in three groups to prioritize the issues, related to land based on the recommendations from the Scoping Study and the participants experiences for 2013-2015 NES- Cambodia. The prioritized issues from each group were summarized and put together as below: Group I: National Land Policies - Advocacy - CLUP: Commune Land Use Planning - Education/Raising awareness training - Strengthening mechanisms Group II: Land Conflict (IP, Women) - Social Land Concessions - Economic Land Concessions (Forestry) - Evictions - Training - Dispute Resolution - Strengthening mechanisms - Registration of communal land - Free, Prior and informed Consent (FPIC) Group III: Strengthening networking/coordination - Mapping - Monitoring Following the instruction of the facilitator, each group prioritized the following issues for the formulation of NES Action Plan which can be achieved during the years 2013-2015. Group I: National Land Policies I. Commune Land Use Plan (CLUP)
Problem statement: - CLUP3 started in 2007-2010 which was implemented in 11 provinces of the potential natural resources - Government thinks if each commune has CLUP means it can well manage the natural resources (Land, Forest, river, lakes, ponds, geographic, demo-graphic, etc ). In Pursat province, there are 49 communes, 6 districts. But only 8 communes have CLUP. CLUP process is very slow due to lack of good relations among interdepartment - Lack of budget for processing CLUP - The capacity of commune council is still limited Objective: Speed up the land use planning process at the commune level (Land use planning book 2013-2022). Expect Outcomes: - Two communes out of 41 communes will have Land Use Planning Books (Pursat- Total 49 communes) - Commune council will be using land use planning books effectively - Natural resources will be protected for benefiting the poor and vulnerable people Activities: - Organize trainings to commune councils on natural resources mapping - Support CC to build good relationship with related key stakeholders and competent authorities - Financial support to CC activities - Organize the consultations with communities (Participatory approach) - Raise awareness to communities on sustainable use of natural resources II. Land Policy Advocacy Problem statement - National policies - Lack of involvement of CSOs in land policy consultations - Government provided short time for collecting inputs/comments from CSOs - Most inputs/comments from CSOs were not incorporated in the final version of land policies - The capacity of CSOs is still limited for analyzing legal frameworks - Moratorium (Directive 01) 3 Pursat, Sihanoukville, Siem Reap, Koh Kong, Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, Kep, Kratie, Kg. Speu, Kg. Cham,
- Most of ELCs are continued to approve and grant by the government - ELCs moratorium is just provisional (not permanent) - No publicly available information about granted ECLs in Cambodia Objective - Advocate for participating of CSOs in Land policy formulation, including gender mainstreaming, for benefiting poor and vulnerable people - Advocate the government to issue a permanent moratorium - Lobbing the government to demarcate and register state land Expected Outcomes - Most of CSOs inputs/comments will be incorporated in the NES- Cambodia Pater including gender issues - Permanent moratorium will be issued and implemented in Cambodia Activities - Conduct meetings with CLP/MLMUPC and relevant stakeholders for building cooperation and update the timeframe of policy formulation - Consultative workshop with the participation of communities/csos on land policy development - Build capacity of CSOs for policy analysis for valid comments and frameworks - Prepare a statement and share for widely endorsement from CSOs and communities - Support technical and financially state land mapping Group III: Land Conflict (IP, Women) Issue I- Economic Land Concession (ELC) Problem Statement - Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) affect the rights, livelihoods, culture, habitat of the people and communities and destroy the natural resources Objective Objective: To empower communities who are affected by the economic and social land concessions through strengthening local governance at the sub-national level and enhancing the rights to land of the community people in three provinces ( Pursat, Banteay Meanchey, and Svay Rieng) Expected Outputs - 70% of the target community members received land titling - 75% of the community people in the target area received credible information from the sub-national government on ELCs
- 70% of the community members have rights to manage their land for income generation - Authorities, people and concessionaires create a culture of talking and negotiating for the common good Expected Outcomes - Community people use their land to improving their livelihoods - Authorities, community people, and companies adopt a culture of having discussions and consultations for their shared benefits in ELCs & SLCs areas Activity 1 1.1 Strengthen capacity on advocacy of the affected communities 1.2 Networking with stakeholders involved in land rights Activity 2 2.1. Strengthen the capacity of the public service providers 2.2. Disseminate important information, related to the public service delivery Activity 3 3.1. Conduct training courses on agriculture and craft in the affected communities 3.2. Conduct World Food Day event 3.3. Coordinate contacts between the communities and media Activity 4 4.1. Provide training courses on the importance of participation in development processes to the affected communities 4.2. Conduct consultative workshops for the affected communities and stakeholders 4.3. Evaluate the project Issue II- Collective Land Registration Problem Statement Collective Land Registration is a crucial issue that needs to be urgently addressed as it negatively affects the rights of the IP communities Objective Empower the communities to have collective land titles in 2015 through registration according to the relevant policies of the government Results
- 5 communities received collective land titles. The Land Use and Management Committees are established and function - Equal access to non-timber forest products from the community collective land Activities 1.1. Provide trainings on the process of collective land registration 1.2. Disseminate the information about collective land registration 1.3. Internal rule for Land Use and Management Committee 1.4. Organize the communities and management plan of the communities 1.5. Provide training to the communities 1.6. Evaluate the project Group IV: Strengthening networking/coordination Identifying important issues -Bilateral and multilateral organizations, funding agencies, ILC member, and NGOs are involved in different levels of activities related to land issues, but there lack coordination among them. - NGOs and NGOs do not trust each other because some work too close or support the government How to strengthen the organizational commitment Action 1 - Discuss common positions and analysis - A platform for discussions is needed - Integrate the representative organizations of each country - Common understanding between the different donors of what should be founded - Small groups/key actors/ horizontal - On the community level: bringing actors together - Contact OHCHR to get support for an informal forum on land information sharing. OHCHR could play a decisive part in providing a platform to improve the coordination and cooperation of the different stakeholders and organizations. Action 2 - Identify actions, reactions, and positions & funding sources of the bilateral and multilateral organizations, and funding agencies - Discuss among ILC members about the NES- Cambodia Paper and Detailed Budget and Action Plan
III. Meeting between ILC and Cambodia ILC Partner After the consultative workshop, ILC representatives (Andrea Fiorenza, and Karishma Boroowa), SK (Chet Charya, Te Sokkhoeun, Nhek Sarin, and Madlen Schneider), NGO Forum of Cambodia (Touch Sotha) and the independent consultant Ngo Sothat met to reflect the results from the consultative workshop. Remarks as follow: - Activities raised by the workshop are broad and need to be more specific. The Consultant has to specify them - Both SK and NGO Forum of Cambodia should identify its own activities that should be done in the next three years - No clarity about the level of NGO Forum s engagement in NES-Cambodia formulation because its staff (Sothat) has no authorization to make decisions. She will bring this to discuss with her Coordinator and Director. - Karishma and Andrea shared the sample of NES in Nepal which SK and NGO Forum should take as an good example to write the NES- Cambodia - Mr. Sothat is responsible to formulate the NES- Cambodia, including NES- Cambodia Paper and the Detailed Action Plan and Requested Budget for 2013-2015 III- Closing Session The Consultative Workshop successfully ended on May 31, 2013 at 5:30 pm with fruitful and collaborative results.