Advocacy in Cambodia: Increasing Democratic ... - Pact Cambodia

Landless Families:
O’thkov Village, Roleab Commune, Sampao Meas District, Pursat
Until 2001, 74 families in O’thkov Village did not own land and had no place to live, mainly because most of them had sold
their land to buy medicine for sick family members or to settle debts. In addition, some families had their lands taken from
them by military officers, and others had migrated from other provinces because they thought they would have better
prospects in Roleab Commune. Members of the 74 families included victims of war, returnees, widows, disabled people,
and migrants who had either been fishing for years in the Tonle Sap area, living on government forestry land, or residing in
established villages.
In June 2000, Oxfam GB and local development workers held a meeting with these landless families, who eventually formed
a group called “the Landless Community O’thkov.” After a philanthropist donated five hectares of land to the group, 45
families settled there. By 2001, after the philanthropist donated an additional three hectares, a total of 74 families had
settled on the land.
A group of representatives from O’thkov approached different NGOs seeking financial and technical support. Concern
Worldwide assisted the community in prioritizing its main needs, and the community received the following assistance:
· WFP and Seila provided food for work and road construction;
· Church World Service (CWS) funded $1800 for a cow bank project;
· Oxfam Quebec funded $100 for a pig raising project for five families;
· HOPE provided three open-wells; and
· Agri-sud (a French organization) began an Agricultural Development for Peri-Urban program, supporting 15 families in
family agricultural production.
The above support notwithstanding, there has been no major support given to the community by key local authorities. In
October 2001, OXFAM Quebec, a representative of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and a representative of the Ministry
of Social Work visited the community to learn about landless families, but provided no support.
Although these families now have a place to live, they still have problems satisfying their basic needs, especially regarding
food and health care. They do not have land to cultivate rice and still live under the poverty line (2100 calories per day). Five
community members have died due to sicknesses and food shortages. The people’s main means of livelihood is selling their
labor. Some men to go the Kravanh mountains to collect sub-forest products, but most of them return with serious malaria
sickness and lack money for treatment. Some women have become sex workers in others areas. The plight of these
landless families continues. Through their initiative, they were able to solve some of their problems, but continued advocacy
is needed to address their other livelihood issues.
Advocacy for the urban poor originated when
21 local and international organizations concerned
with urban poverty came together in an informal
network that eventually transformed into the
Urban Sector Group (USG). The proximity of
Phnom Penh’s urban poor to NGOs’ offices,
coupled with the fact that some groups were
already working in poor areas with great needs,
generated attention for the sector. Financial and
technical support from agencies such as the Asian
Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) in Thailand
and ACHR in the Philippines, as well as the
presence of the UN Center for Housing Rights,
served to further strengthen urban poor advocacy.
Outside actors can play a fundamental
catalyst role in initiating advocacy campaigns. The
goal for any outside actor is to create a strategy
that will eventually empower the affected
communities themselves to lead the initiative. Due
to Cambodia’s unique civil society history,
however, affected communities were often
bypassed in campaigns. Many outside actors are
now realizing that long-term sustainability comes
when affected communities play a strong role in
campaigns and eventually claim campaigns as
their own.
Local Identification of Issues
Often local communities initiate advocacy
activities when problems directly impact their
livelihoods. Fisheries and land represent examples
of advocacy campaigns that were brought to
national attention by the villagers concerned. They
organized numerous demonstrations in front of
the National Assembly, protesting land grabbing
and restricted access to fishing resources.
Accounts of violations also filtered through to the
national level in reports from provincial NGOs.
There was a considerable amount of violence
associated with these issues that caught the
attention of human rights and community
development organizations.
Issues that have not stemmed from local
initiatives include child rights, Commune Council
Increasing Democratic Space
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