This action is funded by the European Union ANNEX 2 of the Commission Implementing Decision on the Annual Action Programme 2015 in favour of Cambodia to be financed from the general budget of the European Union Action Document for Support to the electoral reform in Cambodia 1. Title/basic act/ CRIS number 2. Zone benefiting from the action/location 3. Programming document Support to Electoral Reform in Cambodia CRIS number: DCI-ASIE/2015/038-007 Financed under the Development Cooperation Instrument Kingdom of Cambodia The action shall be carried out nationwide. Multi-annual Indicative Programme 2014-2020 for the European Union's cooperation with the Kingdom of Cambodia 4. Sector of Sector 3: Governance and Administration concentration/ thematic area 5. Amounts concerned Total estimated cost: EUR 10 000 000 Total amount of EU contribution EUR 10 000 000 6. Aid modality(ies) Project modality and implementation Indirect Management with the United Nations Office for Project Services modality(ies) (UNOPS) 7. DAC code(s) 15151 Elections 8. Markers (from General policy objective Not Significant Main objective CRIS DAC form) targeted objective Participation X development/good governance Aid to environment X Gender equality (including X Women In Development) Trade Development X Reproductive, Maternal, New born and child health X RIO Convention markers Not Significant Main objective [1]
targeted objective Biological diversity X Combat desertification X Climate change mitigation X Climate change adaptation X SUMMARY The project will support the electoral reform process initiated by the political agreement reached by the two main political parties in Cambodia in July 2014. The EU measures will support the implementation of the reform through a package of assistance mainly to the future National Election Committee (NEC) for the establishment of a new voter list and for the holding of the elections in 2017 and 2018, as well as support to civil society. The support will include: A) Technical Assistance (long and short term) to the newly created National Electoral Committee (NEC); B) a procurement component to support the electoral process during voter registration and voting; and, C) support to CSO s activities to strengthen their observation capacities and reinforce their role in conducting civic education/information throughout the whole electoral process, notably prior and during the voter registration period (if the regulations to be developed by the NEC allow for such activities). Different stakeholders will support and/or implement a number of critical tasks that will complement EU support. Close coordination and timely implementation will be essential for the success of the elections. The EU will play a key role in policy dialogue and interaction with the Government and the NEC. It is proposed to sign a PAGODA with UNOPS for implementation of the action, because of the absence at this point of a Cambodian institution able to manage the funds, the extremely tight timeframe for implementation and the variety of activities to be funded using different procedures. The support from UNOPS will be technical, through handling all aspects of personnel contracts, procurement and financial disbursement. The EU Delegation will focus on its role as lead partner in the policy dialogue for electoral reform. [2]
Acronyms and Abbreviations AFIS CEC COMFREL CPP CNRP CSO ERA EU GDI ICE IFES IRI JICA LEMNA MoI NA NEC NGO PAGODA PEC UNDP UNICEF UNOPS USAID Automated Fingerprint Identification System Commune Electoral Committee Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia Cambodian People s Party Cambodian National Rescue Party Civil Society Organisation Election Reform Alliance European Union General Department of Identification Identification Certificates for Electoral Purpose International Foundation for Electoral Systems International Republican Institute Japan International Cooperation Agency Law on Election of Member of National Assembly and its Amendments Ministry of Interior National Assembly National Electoral Committee Non-Governmental Organization Pillar Assessed Grant or Delegation Agreement Provincial Electoral Committee United Nations Development Programme United Nations Children's Fund United Nations Office for Project Services United States Agency for International Development [3]
1. CONTEXT 1.1 SECTOR / REGIONAL CONTEXT / THEMATIC AREA Cambodia covers 181,035 km 2 with a population of approximately 14.60 million people 1 (out of which 7.3 million are female). Nearly 9.6 million individuals were eligible to vote in the 2013 National Assembly elections. Eight political parties participated in the elections but only two won seats in the National Assembly, namely Prime Minister Hun Sen s Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) headed by the opposition leader Sam Rainsy. The CNRP disputed the election result, claiming victory in the polls and citing widespread irregularities and fraud. As a result, the 55 CNRP elected opposition candidates refused to take their seats until mid-2014. In July 2014, an agreement between the government and the CNRP then opened the way for the CNRP members to take their seats in return for a meaningful electoral reform. The bi-partisan political culture that has emanated from this agreement is referred to as the "culture of dialogue": it is based on mutual recognition and openness to dialogue as a matter of principle. Since then, a Joint CPP-CNRP committee reviewed the law on the National Election Committee (NEC) and the Law on Election of the Members of the National Assembly (LEMNA). The drafting was completed on 6 March 2015, and the draft laws were presented to the public on 9 March 2015. The National Assembly approved the draft laws and the new NEC was nominated on 13 April 2015. The 22 July 2014 settlement between the CPP and the CNRP offers a window of opportunity, as it involves an agreement to undertake electoral reform advocated for years by the international community, the opposition and civil society 2. This represents a key opportunity for the EU, in coordination with other development partners, to contribute to a meaningful electoral reform in a manner that also complements the EU s continued support for good governance in the country. Focal Sector 3 of the MIP 2014-2020, focusing on Governance and Administration, includes a EUR 10 million allocation in support of electoral reform, conditional on positive political developments in this field 3. The conditions are now met to mobilise this support. Furthermore, this reform implements key recommendations made by the EU Electoral Observation Missions (EOM) since 1998, in particular the recommendations of the EOM of 2008 and the EU Expert Mission of 2013. Following the political agreement of 22 July 2014, there have been advances and setbacks in the culture of dialogue. In the second half of 2015 relations between the two main parties deteriorated, however, elections are planned for 2017 and 2018 and relations between the parties continue to evolve. The situation will remain under close review. The project is based on the 1 2 3 Source: 2014 EU formulation mission extrapolated from MoI official data (General Department of Identification) and UN Data for calculating average population growth). The World Bank population estimate places the total population of Cambodia at 15.135 million in 2015. http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/agreement-07222014154033.html Section 3.3. of the MIP 2014-2020: Governance and Administration: "Specific objective 4 related to the support to electoral reform is to assist the National Election Committee to ensure that local and national elections meet international electoral standards, including through implementing recommendations from election observation missions." [4]
assumption that for both the CPP and CNRP, the political agreement still holds and the "culture of dialogue" is ongoing. The EU Electoral Observation Missions that will be deployed for the next general elections in 2018 will reinforce this action. 1.1.1 Public Policy Assessment and EU Policy Framework The centrepiece of the July 2014 agreement between the CPP and the CNRP was electoral reform, and the two key issues identified were to ensure the independence of the NEC and to establish a comprehensive and accurate voter list. In the political negotiations between the two parties, other issues have emerged, such as the role of civil society in the electoral process. National Election Committee (NEC) In line with the political agreement of July 2014, the following measures have been implemented to increase the independence of the NEC: On 30 September 2014, the National Assembly of Cambodia amended the Constitution to make the NEC a constitutionally mandated and independent body. According to the new NEC law and in line with the status of NEC as constitutional body, the new NEC is comprised of members nominated by both parties: four (4) members nominated by the CPP and four (4) members nominated by the CNRP 4. The ninth member was agreed upon by both parties and was chosen among civil society representatives. NEC members' mandate is 5 years. Voter registration Over the past twenty years, repeated voter registration exercises have proven unsuccessful in achieving the establishment of a reliable voter list. The credibility of the list was low, due to a significant portion of the data being inaccurate, and the registration procedure being subject to irregularities at all levels. The new LEMNA concretises the political will to overhaul in a radical way the procedure for voter registration, and mentions the data contained in the Khmer Citizen ID card as the basis for compiling information. However, it leaves considerable ambiguity on the issue of voter registration and in particular on the nature of the unique voter identifier 5 and its link with the National ID. These issues will need to be solved in the NEC electoral regulation. It is foreseen that the new NEC will have completed the drafting of its internal rules and the electoral regulation by the end of 2015. Role of the civil society The CNRP has acquired the right to include members of the opposition in the NEC, but this has come at a price. The CNRP has had to make concessions to the CPP in the LEMNA which have somewhat alienated civil society and a portion of its electorate. In particular, the LEMNA 4 All NEC members will nonetheless be required to relinquish membership of their respective political party. 5 It is not clear if this unique identifier will be biometric (fingerprint or other) or not (photo or other). [5]
contains a series of provisions which curtail freedom of expression of the civil society, notably Articles 148 and 159 ( penalties on CSO or associations and NGOs with partisan activities in period of electoral campaign ). 1.1.2 Stakeholder analysis In terms of stakeholders, there is firstly the Cambodian population as a whole and its women, youth, and minority groups in particular, whose participation and representation needs to be enhanced in order to ensure the inclusivity of the electoral process. All stakeholders listed below have been involved in the design of this project through regular meetings and consultations. National Election Committee Although the NEC is new, the NEC secretariat has been operating for several years and can be considered a well-established institution. This is reinforced by the fact that it has become a constitutional body, which will ensure automatic government funding. The NEC does have some capacity but it needs to be enhanced and expanded before the next elections. However, several key issues concerning the NEC are still pending and will be dealt with in the next months with the design of the NEC internal regulations and procedures. If the provisions of the new internal NEC regulation imply that a substantial portion of the staff of the secretariat must be replaced, there is a risk of a serious loss of expertise. This is considered unlikely as electoral expertise acquired by the NEC Secretariat is necessary for carrying forward the procedures for the next elections. Even so, the capacity of the NEC is likely to be a constraint, with 25 Provincial/ Municipal Election Commissions (PECs) and 1,633 Commune Electoral Committees appointed by the NEC during the election period to assist the NEC at provincial and commune levels. An entirely new voter registry, based on the Khmer Citizen ID card, will be generated in each Commune. Biometric technology is expected to be introduced to establish the voter registry, which will represent an additional challenge. According to the LEMNA, each polling station must accommodate a maximum of 750 voters, and each village should have a polling station. Therefore at least 17,000 polling stations will need to be set up for the next elections. Ministry of Interior In 2011, the Ministry of Interior started to collect data and register citizens for the purpose of delivering biometric ID cards to Cambodian citizens 15 years of age and above. The new biometric ID card, which is referred to as the Khmer Citizen ID card in the LEMNA, contains the same data as the current ID card such as: the name and surname, date of birth, gender, permanent residence and colour photo, in addition to the biometric scan of ten [6]
fingerprints (using an AFIS technology 6 ). This data are incorporated into the chip of the ID card, which also contains a scanned copy of the birth certificate, of the relevant page of the family book, and of the certificate of residence. However, the temporary residence addresses, as well as the polling station locations, are not included. According to the latest information, the General Department of Identification (GDI) of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has already printed and delivered 3.7 million cards and is expected to deliver 2.5 million more by the end of the year 2015, totalling 6.2 million cards 7. Based on the current capacities (9,000-12,000 ID cards/day) 8, the total number of ID cards that could be delivered by the end of 2016 is 8.7 million. Unless current capacity is increased, this figure will fall short of the total number of eligible voters projected (10.24 million). It should be noted that this figure includes Cambodian youth between the ages of 15 and 18 years. Table I (provisional): Data projection Eligible population ( 15 years old) for a biometric ID card (civil registry) Year Projected population (in million) Eligible population Average Population Growth 2014 14.34 9.88 1.8 2015 14.60 10.06 1.8 2016 14.86 10.24 1.8 2017 15.13 10.42 1.8 2018 15.40 10.61 1.8 Source: 2014 EU formulation mission extrapolated from MoI official data (General Department of Identification) and UN Data (average population growth). Table II (provisional): Planned number of biometric ID cards distributed/ to be distributed Year Planned number of biometric ID cards distributed/ to be distributed 2011-13 2.1 2014 1.6 2015 2.5 2016 2.5 Due to the fact that dates of birth have been entered in the database, it is feasible to extract the names of all Cambodians who are 18 years or older. This data (including biometric ones) could 6 7 8 The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is a biometric identification (ID) methodology that uses digital imaging technology to obtain, store, and analyse fingerprint data. According to Dermalog, the German company that has provided the biometric technology, the Ministry of Interior has so far purchased a total of 7.2 million cards. According to Dermalog, the current capacity will allow the printing of 10,000 ID per day; with the acquisition of new printers, the capacity could be increased by 50%. Therefore 15,000 ID cards could be printed. [7]
be thereby extracted and handed over to the new NEC as a base for the establishment of a biometric voter registry. The data could be combined with the latest voter registry produced by the current (outgoing) NEC. This information is complementary as the NEC has collected information on temporary addresses and has already assigned voters to polling stations. It is stated in the LEMNA that voters that do not have the National ID card will receive an identification document, although the details of this document are not yet clear. See problem analysis for more details on this issue. Political Parties Forty-three (43) political parties are officially registered in Cambodia. Eight (8) parties participated in the 2013 National Assembly elections; only two (2) are represented in the National Assembly, namely the CPP and the CNRP. These two parties are represented in the NEC. It is not known at this point if other political parties will emerge in the next couple of years that could seriously challenge the agreement reached between the CPP and CNRP. This bipartisan formula for the NEC remains valid as long as there is no other party represented in the National Assembly and hence the composition of the NEC may change after the 2018 general elections. Civil Society Organizations There are numerous civil society organizations primarily engaged in the field of good governance and human rights. Most of them remain financially fragile and heavily dependent upon international funding. Nevertheless, they played an important role in deploying a large number of domestic observers during the 2013 general Elections. The Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) was by far the largest domestic observation group, having successfully deployed 11,958 observers in all the 25 provinces during the last election. The Election Reform Alliance (ERA) of which COMFREL is the secretariat has been particularly active in following up the negotiations between the CPP and the CNRP revolving around the draft NEC and LEMNA laws and was constantly advocating for public fora when debating the electoral packages. Due to their active role in the electoral reform process and the threats to their freedom of expression in the draft LEMNA, it appears relevant to ensure support to CSO s role in the democratic debate and in monitoring the voter registration process and the elections themselves. Donor community The EU and the Japanese Government are at the forefront of supporting the electoral reform process. The Japanese are firmly engaged and are likely to be an important donor, with their intervention focusing on 3 pillars: 1) support to NEC; 2) voter registration; 3) voter education. The financial scale as well as the details of their support still need to be finalised. USAID requested applications with a deadline on 10 April 2015, to implement a four-year activity [8]
entitled Cambodia Democratic Reforms programme in Cambodia. The grant will be USD 8.5 million with up to 20% sub-granted to max. 5 local NGOs. The Australian government is cooperating with UNICEF to support the design of a strategic plan for the General Department of Identification. Within the context of this work, they are assessing the quality of the process of issuance of the Khmer Citizen ID card. This project will be implemented in close coordination with other donors. International Organisations/international NGOs UNDP is not part of the policy dialogue on elections, and does not plan to resume engagement on the issue. The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the International Foundation for Elections Systems (IFES) have been implementing the project Accountability in Governance and Politics (AGAP) for the last 6 years. The project ended in September 2015. 1.1.3 Priority areas for support/problem analysis Up to now, the establishment of the NEC as constitutional body, and the NEC law have at least enshrined the independence of the NEC in the legal framework, and the LEMNA, although not particularly precise on the mechanism of voter registration, moved the discussion on the voter registry to a technical level. The EU Delegation considers that these steps demonstrate that the electoral reform process is advancing, and has already delivered the first expected results. However, much remains to be decided, and slippages may still occur. The next key milestones in the electoral process are the following: Milestone Timeframe Main actors NEC establish 1) Own Before the end of NEC 9 internal regulations for 2015 its functioning 2) Electoral regulations and procedures. Main issues As the LEMNA is silent on technical issues relating to voter registration, decisions on procedures need to be taken by the NEC. This is the first test for the newly formed NEC on its capacity for taking complex technical decisions. Production of national IDs Continuous MoI The MoI needs to at least double its capacity for issuing ID cards if it hopes to have the population covered by the end of the voter registration period. 9 According to Art. 51 of the Law on Organization and Functioning of the NEC, it is is to adopt its internal regulations & regulations & procedures for elections based on 2/3 votes of members. Beside these two matters, NEC shall decide on all matters on absolute majority. [9]
Preparation of the voter registration exercise; implementation of the voter registration exercise; finalization of the voter registry for the commune elections; update for the next elections; finalization of the voter registry for the National Assembly elections 1 st May 2016 to February 2018 (with pubic voter registration periods from 1 May to 31 July of each year) NEC and Communes Councils 1) Concerning registration of voters, it is not yet clear if all registering voters will receive a confirmation of registration ("voter information notice"). 2) It is stated in the LEMNA that voters that do not have the National ID card will receive an identification document, although the details of this document are not yet clear. In any case, this makes the voter registration process closely linked to the output of the MoI The more the MoI manages to produce IDs, the less it will cost to undertake the registration of voters. It is understood that the more limited the timeframe, the higher the cost 10. Voter education will also be key at this stage to avoid disputes originating from incomplete understanding of the new procedures. It needs to be sensitive to factors such as gender, language/ethnicity, and level of education in order to ensure comprehensiveness of the voter registration process. Publication of the voter registry for commune and National Assembly elections, dispute resolution mechanisms Holding of electoral campaigns for commune and National Assembly elections Polling day for Commune and National Assembly elections Not defined in LEMNA; to be defined by NEC regulations and procedures. 21+1 days before polling day February 2017, February 2018 CC, NEC, PEC, CEC NEC, Political parties, civil society, citizens NEC, Communes The resource-intensive registration process will be in 2016; the 2017 exercise will be lighter The design of the dispute resolution procedures needs to be closely followed The LEMNA seriously curtails the role of civil society during this period. It also contains provisions that place political parties at risk of exclusion from the electoral race on the grounds of offences which by international standards do not warrant such farreaching penalties. International monitoring of the process will be important. Low level of participation of women in politics 11 should be taken into account in CSOsupported activities. Deployment of an EU Electoral Observation Mission for NA elections is recommended 10 11 3 months to register 10 million voters in 1633 communes means that each commune must process around 70 voters per day. Assuming biometric data needs to be captured, processing a voter with a biometric ID card will be quick; processing a voter without a biometric ID card will be slower, since the biometric data needs to be captured and a voter card must be produced. Women hold only 22 per cent of seats in the National Assembly, two ministerial-level positions and 17 per cent of seats in the commune councils. [10]
2. RISKS AND ASSUMPTIONS Risks The risks remain significant in Cambodia s highly politicised environment. Each move towards the reform of the electoral framework is seen as an instrument to win or lose future elections. Risk Impact Mitigating measure NEC does not meet the citizen s expectations in terms of neutrality. NEC regulation sets a procedure for voter registration that is not sophisticated enough to produce a comprehensive and accurate voter registry. NEC regulation sets a procedure for voter registration that is so sophisticated that financial resources, including resources allocated by development partners, are insufficient to implement it. NEC internal rules foresee substantial changes in staff, resulting in loss of know-how and institutional memory. Civil society withdraws participation in the electoral process. Article 84 of the LEMNA, on obligation of the civil society to maintain a strictly neutral position, stifles participation of CSO in the political debate. Proportion of the population that does not have a biometric Khmer citizen ID card is substantial enough to produce a mismatch between resources allocated to voter registration and actual job at hand. Public opinion may disown the electoral reform agreements. The integrity of the electoral process is questioned. Voter registration encounters major implementation problems; integrity of the electoral process questioned; donors interventions are discredited. Setting up of voter registration is further delayed; Shortage of skilled staff. CSO do not participate in the electoral process. CSO do not participate in the political debate, or are punished for doing so. Time and resources are insufficient to register all voters who do not have the Khmer Citizen ID card. EU and other donors can closely monitor the process and encourage continuous dialogue with civil society. EU can provide limited technical assistance to the NEC during the design of the regulation through mobilization of a Key Expert under a Framework Contract. Same as above. Japan has announced that that it will be providing in the short term Technical Assistance in aid coordination. EU can also support donor coordination and adjust its own intervention to fill in urgent gaps. Through political dialogue, the EU can also encourage the RGC to increase resources available for the process. EU and other donors technical assistance will mitigate the negative impact. EU and other donors avoid withdrawal of CSO by providing support and funding to encourage CSO to play its role in the electoral process. EU to advocate in its political dialogue for clarity on application of the law, and emphasis on the overarching importance of respecting freedom of expression. EU to advocate for an accurate and realistic estimate of GDI capacity. [11]
Assumptions The intervention is based on the assumptions listed below. 1. The legal framework (NEC law and LEMNA) is conducive to an effective and timely conduct of the voter registration; 2. NEC regulation is approved by December 2015; 3. RGC allocates sufficient resources to step up the issuance of Khmer Citizen ID cards, and removes existing bottlenecks; 4. Qualified staff are available to conduct the registration exercise; 5. The voter registration process and its different steps follow the planned time schedule. 6. The Political Agreement of 22 July 2014 still holds for both parties, and the "culture of dialogue" continues. The EU will carefully monitor the continuation of the 'culture of dialogue. Should it become clear that the 2017-2018 elections will take place in an environment that is not conducive to effective democratic electoral competition, or will not be inclusive, transparent and credible, the EU reserves the right to suspend the Financing Agreement. 3. LESSONS LEARNT, COMPLEMENTARY AND CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES 3.1 LESSONS LEARNT The process towards the political agreement of 2 July 2014 was long with a series of setbacks and advances. Likewise, the "culture of dialogue" as a principle of engagement is not straightforward. Setbacks have occurred and may continue to occur. In the past, the EU, along with other Diplomatic stakeholders, has been instrumental in bridging differences and maintaining the culture of dialogue. Continuation of this engagement will help create conditions to help ensure the culture of dialogue remains on track. The 2013 EU expert mission recommended preparing the voter registry based on biometric data to ensure its sustainability, accuracy and completeness. The expert mission of December 2014/January 2015 provided further recommendations in order to qualify this recommendation with safeguards. The mission pointed out that biometric technology recognises duplicates and can detect glitches related to spelling errors and multiple registration attempts. It can foster confidence in the reliability of the voter list and strengthen political consensus. It could ultimately promote the convergence and technical reconciliation between the civil and voter registries by providing voters with a unique identifier, which is included in the long-term strategy of the General Department of Identification. Nevertheless, the use of biometrics entails its own set of technical challenges, from setting an accurate threshold for identification of duplicates, to mobilizing human resources for processing duplicates. Furthermore, it should not be seen as a political panacea and cannot sort out all the problems that have undermined the quality of past electoral processes in Cambodia. Technical challenges are inherent to the design of the biometric tools to be used, but political problems can [12]
be addressed, inter alia but not exclusively, through a comprehensive citizenship law, better staff training and more intensive information campaigns. 3.2 COMPLEMENTARITY, SYNERGY AND DONOR COORDINATION While detailed technicalities of the voter registration process are not yet known, it is clear that all inputs must be provided in a very tight timeframe, and will require substantially more financial resources than funded by this action. This will make donor coordination all the more important, to ensure complementarity, synergy of actions and timely availability of resources. The EU Delegation and Japan, being in the lead in the international community's support to electoral reform, are ideally placed to support this coordination. The NEC indicates a willingness to look at two levels of coordination, one at the policy level and one at the technical level. It has already created an ad-hoc committee to coordinate with the EU and Japan. The EU will be in the forefront in supporting the NEC in its donor coordination role. This EU project may be complemented by actions supporting the participation of civil society in the electoral process and democratic debate, funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) starting early 2016 12. The EU is also supporting decentralisation within its bilateral programme, and supports several projects under the Local Authorities thematic programme. Synergies between programmes and projects will be ensured where relevant. Furthermore, it is planned to field an EU Electoral Observation Mission for the 2018 elections. 3.3 CROSS-CUTTING AND OTHER ISSUES Due to its nature, the project is at the heart of three crosscutting issues: promotion of women and youth participation, respect of minority rights and democratic governance. Youth (aged 18-25) constitute the core of the electorate and cannot be considered as a minority of the population. Cambodia is a young society and the electorate in 2017-2018 will be formed by a majority of young Cambodians, many of whom will be voting for the first time, and who remain underrepresented in the leadership of the current political arena. Support can be provided to encourage youth participation in the democratic debate. Women's political participation in Cambodia is low: only 23% of candidates during last elections were women, and 20% of parliamentary seats were given to women. The LEMNA does not assign quotas to women in electoral lists, and the NEC law does not prescribe a quota for women among the NEC members. Gender balance can be addressed on one side by promoting gender equity measures within the NEC internal rules and within the elections regulations. Support can also be provided to encourage women's participation in politics. 12 This option will depend on the results of the EIDHR call for proposals launched in early 2015, and for which the results are not yet known. [13]
Minority issues (linguistic/ ethnic) are highly sensitive as they impact groups in different ways: Some minority groups, such as indigenous groups, are marginalized from democratic processes and actions both from the NEC and the MoI have been insufficiently targeted to minorities for registration (civil registry or voter registry) 13. Voter education activities can be designed to ensure these populations are given the means to participate in the elections. On the other hand, it is strongly perceived that some groups, non-eligible on grounds of nationality, are allowed to vote in support of the ruling party. There are allegations that biometric ID cards have been delivered to foreigners, so that they could become eligible voters if biometric ID cards are the sole identification documents required to vote. However, at the same time, the law on nationality is inconsistently applied and many Vietnamese residing on Cambodian soil, some of who were born in Cambodia, are technically without nationality. The question is extremely sensitive and data on the magnitude on one or the other problem is incomplete. Entry points on this issue are not forthcoming. These cross-cutting issues will be addressed through: i) proper sensitization of women and youth during the voter registration process; ii) support to gender balance measures by the NEC; iii) ensuring that voter education campaigns and materials reach out to minority linguistic groups, through translation and other forms of cultural adaptation; iv) integration of the action points foreseen in this project into a greater framework for the promotion of democratic governance. An important factor to take into account will be the fight against corruption and bribery. Implementing partners will have to ensure that effective measures are in place. 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION 4.1: OBJECTIVES / RESULTS AND OPTIONS The General objective is to support electoral reform in Cambodia. The Specific Objective is to contribute to the credibility and acceptability of the Commune elections in 2017 and the National Assembly elections in 2018. Priority Action 1: Support to the NEC Result 1: The newly formed NEC administers elections in an efficient and credible way and plays its role of neutral, competent and independent body in the 2017 and 2018 elections. Priority Action 2: Support to the electoral process, in particular voter registration and polling 13 Twenty-four (24) indigenous ethnic groups can be found in 15 out of 24 provinces of Cambodia. Forty-seven (47) indigenous groups form the majority in the sparsely populated provinces of Rattanakiri, Stung Treng, and Mondulkiri and speak different languages. In the past voter education programmes were only conducted in Khmer. [14]
Result 2: Electoral operations are conducted smoothly and procedures are followed in a way that is technically satisfactory, efficient, transparent, inclusive and timely. Priority Action 3: Support to CSO to strengthen their role during the electoral processes Result 3: An exhaustive voter and civic education campaign is conducted during the registration period and throughout the Commune and National Assembly electoral processes; a credible CSO observation exercise is conducted throughout the country; other activities enhancing the role of the civil society are supported in function of needs and priorities identified, such as enhancing the role of women in politics, youth engagement in the democratic debate, inclusion of minorities and other key actions. 4.2: MAIN ACTIVITIES Priority Action 1: Support to the NEC Activity 1.1: Conduct of an organizational audit to clearly identify needs in terms of training for NEC officials, equipment and technical assistance. An operational and organisational audit will help the newly established NEC to, firstly, identify weaknesses in its structure and needs in human resources and equipment. Secondly, the audit will help the NEC in identifying corrective measures and appropriate next steps for timely organisation of the elections, as well as key areas where ad hoc support is needed. Gender balance within the NEC will be considered in this organisational audit. Activity 1.2: Capacity building of the existing and the newly hired NEC staff, aiming notably at upgrading the skills of the NEC officials in key electoral areas such as (i) drafting of the operational plan 14 ; (ii) drafting and implementation of voter registration procedures; (iii) drafting and implementation of consistent dispute resolution procedures; (iv) updating training materials and communication products for voter education; (v) conducting training of voters registration staff. Emphasis will be on increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the NEC. Activity 1.3: Procurement of equipment necessary for the NEC to properly carry out its activities. Following activity 1.1, equipment needs for the proper functioning of the NEC will be identified and a procurement plan will be designed. For implementation of activities under Priority Action 1, it is envisaged to mobilise Technical Assistance, which can be two long term experts that will assist the NEC. Short term experts can also be deployed following specific needs identified by NEC during the process. Priority Action 2: Support to the electoral process, in particular voter registration and polling Activity 2.1 Purchase of electoral equipment 14 The operational plan will set out the different tasks to undertake for each component of the electoral process (voter registration, voter education, the election and counting processes, etc.) [15]
Overhauling the technical systems supporting the elections is fundamental to the current electoral reform. New equipment will need to be purchased for voter registration and polling, notably with the possibility that biometric identification may be used to confirm the identity of voters at polling stations. Following the approval of NEC regulations, and following the Activity 1.1, a list of equipment necessary for holding the voter registration and polling exercises will be established. Equipment will be purchased based on the needs, available resources from the government and stakeholders, and available opportunities. If appropriate, equipment that could be purchased include: ID card readers, printers, mobile phones, computers, servers, etc. Consideration will be given to aspects relating to sustainability, such as conservation, update and maintenance of equipment. Priority Action 3: Support to CSOs to strengthen their role during the electoral processes Activity 3.1: Voter and civic education campaign during voter registration period and throughout the Commune and National Assembly electoral processes. The EU will financially and technically support one or several selected NGOs or consortium of NGOs, to conduct voter education through dissemination of NEC-designed printed materials and production of TV and radio voter educational spots as appropriate, in line with legal requirements of the regulation. Activity 3.1 will take place throughout the electoral processes and specifically during the crucial phase of the voter registration. A consultative workshop with the participation of stakeholders which may include CSOs, political parties, the NEC, government institutions, local authorities, community leaders and academia could be held to discuss how CSOs could effectively contribute to raising the standard of elections in Cambodia, particularly during the 2017 and 2018 general elections. Inclusiveness will be a particular focus. Activity 3.2: A credible CSO observation exercise, abiding to the highest standards, is conducted throughout the country. CSOs can be supported technically and financially in order to strengthen their capacity to provide training on electoral observation, monitoring activities, reporting of irregularities/incidents of violence, intimidation and abuse of political rights or freedoms, as well as misuse of state resources for election campaign purposes at all stages of electoral process. This applies notably to the period during the voter registration phase and the review of the voters list, but also to the electoral disputes resolution period and on polling and counting day. This Activity would be complemented by the fielding of an EU Electoral Observation Mission. Activity 3.3: Other activities to enhance the role of civil society are supported in function of needs and priorities identified. Continuous dialogue with CSO will allow fine-tuning and readjusting priorities on the basis of emerging needs, in co-ordination with other stakeholders. Promoting the role of women in politics may be one of these activities. [16]
Particular attention will be given to include women and youth in all activities (eg. recruiting women to be trained to become trainers) as well as a special focus on women, youth and minorities as beneficiaries of the activities. 4.3: INTERVENTION LOGIC Shortcomings of the voter registry have been pointed many times as the key factor in the lack of credibility of past elections. As electoral results were not accepted, this hindered the consolidation of democracy. This was pointed out by previous EU Electoral Observation Missions and Expert Missions. The July 2014 political settlement between the two parties provides a window of opportunity to provide meaningful support in this area. The approved electoral laws have strengthened the political will to introduce an in-depth change in the way elections are conducted. The intervention logic of this project supports this radical change by addressing the needs of the NEC to implement this reform, by upgrading not only human resources but also equipment. It also does not limit itself only to addressing the technicalities of running elections, but also the issues of acceptability and credibility, by supporting civil society s role in the electoral process. However, the intervention must be carefully planned and adapted to the situation as it evolves in order to be relevant: the NEC regulations which will be crucial in determining the parameters of the next elections are still to be drafted. Also, as the NEC has only been nominated in April 2015, a thorough assessment of existing capacities and resources has not been undertaken yet. Therefore, the organisational audit (Activity 1.1) will give the EU the means to identify, on the basis of the legal framework determined by the electoral laws and the NEC regulations, as well as on the basis of the capacities, resources and equipment available and earmarked for conducting the elections, what are the specific activities that can be supported within the broad framework defined above. 5. IMPLEMENTATION 5.1 FINANCING AGREEMENT In order to implement this action, it is foreseen to conclude a financing agreement with the partner country, referred to in Article 184(2) (b) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. 5.2 INDICATIVE IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD The indicative operational implementation period of this action, during which the activities described in Section 4 will be carried out and the corresponding contracts and agreements implemented, is 48 months from the date of entry into force of the financing agreement. Extensions of the implementation period may be agreed by the Commission s authorising officer responsible by amending this decision and the relevant contracts and agreements; such [17]
amendments to this decision constitute technical amendments in the sense of point (i) of Article 2(3)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014. 5.3 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET SUPPORT COMPONENT N/a 5.4 IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES 5.4.1. Indirect management with an international organisation: UNOPS This action may be implemented in indirect management with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in accordance with Article 58(1)(c) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 15. This implementation modality entails to undertake all priority actions listed above, namely: 1: Support to NEC 2: Support to the electoral process, in particular voter registration and polling 3: Support to CSO to strengthen their role during the electoral processes UNOPS will manage all contracts needed to implement these three priority actions. This implementation modality is justified because the selected partner will add value to the process by taking charge of procurement processes while the EU concentrates on the policy and political dialogue. The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is therefore retained for the implementation of the Action, for the following reasons: UNOPS has extensive experience in implementing support to election projects, with access to pre-qualified expertise on all issues relating to elections, and procurement procedures that will allow to implement activities in a timely way. It also has experience with PAGODA. The EU Delegation has experience with UNOPS for implementation of actions relating to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The EU Delegation s experience in this sense has been that UNOPS: o offers value for money in terms of technical and financial management; o is capable of handling politically sensitive files; 15 UNOPS has successfully passed the pillar assessment (https://myintracomm-ext.ec.europa.eu/dg/devco/financecontracts-legal/audit/compliance-assessment/pages/current-status-of-pillar-assessment.html) [18]
o does not substitute the EU Delegation in policy dialogue; o gives an appropriate level of visibility to EU support. The entrusted entity would carry out the following budget-implementation tasks: definition of eligibility, selection and award criteria; launching and evaluation of calls for proposals and tenders; award of grants and contracts; concluding and managing contracts, carrying out payments, recovering moneys due. 5.5 SCOPE OF GEOGRAPHICAL ELIGIBILITY FOR PROCUREMENT AND GRANTS The geographical eligibility in terms of place of establishment for participating in procurement and grant award procedures and in terms of origin of supplies purchased as established in the basic act and set out in the relevant contractual documents shall apply, subject to the following provisions. The Commission s authorising officer responsible may extend the geographical eligibility in accordance with Article 9(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 on the basis of urgency or of unavailability of products and services in the markets of the countries concerned, or in other duly substantiated cases where the eligibility rules would make the realization of this action impossible or exceedingly difficult. 5.6 INDICATIVE BUDGET Indirect management with UNOPS EU contribution (amount in EUR) Indicative third party contribution, in currency identified n/a 9 810 000 Evaluation Audit 140 000 n/a Communication and visibility 50 000 n/a Total 10 000 000 n/a 5.7 ORGANISATIONAL SET-UP AND RESPONSIBILITIES The NEC has indicated that two working groups would be set up, one at a political level and one at a technical level, with the participation of development partners. At technical level, the Ad-hoc committee to coordinate with the EU and Japan has been set up and is functional. The EU will be part of both groups, and will continue to play a key role in policy dialogue and interaction with the Government. [19]
The support of UNOPS will be exclusively technical. By handling all aspects of personnel contracts, procurement and financial disbursement, UNOPS will allow the EU Delegation to focus on the political dialogue and on achieving the electoral reform. The EU Delegation will closely link implementation, policy and political levels. This will be crucial to monitor the evolution of the project within the political context and take decisions as challenges occur, in consultation with headquarters if needed. Division of tasks and responsibilities will be further developed in the PAGODA that will be signed between the EU and UNOPS. A structure will be developed whereby the EU and UNOPS meet on a frequent basis (monthly, if feasible) to follow up on project implementation, and to take related implementation decisions as needed. 5.8 PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND REPORTING The day-to-day technical and financial monitoring of the implementation of this action will be a continuous process and part of the implementing partner s responsibilities. To this aim, the implementing partner shall establish a permanent internal, technical and financial monitoring system for the action, in which the EU Delegation will be involved. The implementing partner will elaborate regular progress reports (at least annually, and more frequently if needed) and final reports. Every report shall provide an accurate account of implementation of the action, difficulties encountered, changes introduced, as well as the degree of achievement of its results (outputs and direct outcomes) as measured by corresponding indicators, using as reference the logframe matrix (for project modality) or the list of result indicators (for budget support). The report shall be laid out in such a way as to allow monitoring of the means envisaged and employed and of the budget details for the action. The final report, narrative and financial, will cover the entire period of the action implementation. The Commission may undertake additional project monitoring visits both through its own staff and through independent consultants recruited directly by the Commission for independent monitoring reviews (or recruited by the responsible agent contracted by the Commission for implementing such reviews). 5.9 EVALUATION Having regard to the importance and nature of the action, a final evaluation will be carried out for this action or its components via independent consultants contracted by the Commission. The final evaluation will be carried out for accountability and learning purposes at various levels (including for policy revision), taking into account in particular the impact of the electoral reform that this programme is designed to support. The Commission shall inform the implementing partner at least 3 months in advance of the dates foreseen for the evaluation missions. The implementing partner shall collaborate efficiently and effectively with the evaluation experts, and inter alia provide them with all necessary information and documentation, as well as access to the project premises and activities. The evaluation reports shall be shared with the partner country and other key stakeholders. The implementing partner and the Commission shall analyse the conclusions and recommendations of the evaluations and, where appropriate, in agreement with [20]