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

Increasing Democratic Space
existence of an international labor code promoted
by the ILO.
Some assert that attaining a policy change
depends on the extent to which the change
threatens political power. For example, while the
domestic violence law may prove to be surprising
and perhaps even disquieting to Cambodian men,
the affects are limited to the man and woman in
question and therefore do not encroach on the
political sphere of government officials. This may
explain why it has been possible for NGOs and the
Ministry of Women’s Affairs to move the domestic
violence agenda forward. Similarly, lobbying by
NGOs to update the Family Law is not likely
perceived as a threat.
By contrast, NGOs have also had input into a
number of legislative bills such as the new land
law, community fisheries law, forestry law, penal
code, and others, which are much tougher to deal
with because they directly threaten the livelihoods
of some government officials. Therefore, it comes
as little surprise that legislation was initiated by
donors with leverage, such as the multilateral
banks. The only “tough” issue initiated solely by
NGOs was the Commune Council Election Law
lobbying issue, which advocated unsuccessfully for
changes in the draft commune council election
law. This campaign is considered ongoing.
As mentioned elsewhere in this report, the
executive and ministerial directives
(proclamations, sub-decrees, circulars, etc.) that
are passed to support new or modified legislation
are as important, if not more important, than the
laws themselves because they include details on
implementation. Until recently civil society groups
had limited input into these policies because they
were not able to access the legislative process.
Now, NGOs are able to join government working
groups to discuss directives, for example on land
law sub-decrees. NGO access to sub-decree
working groups relies heavily on personal contacts
rather than on institutional procedures and is
therefore not guaranteed as a consultative
procedure. Because sub-decrees are so important,
it is imperative for NGOs to advocate for their
input to be institutionalized through the legislative
process.
Legislation does not readily translate into
enforcement, as demonstrated by the poor
implementation of provincial sub-decrees on the
reduction of private fishing concessions
that led to higher number of conflicts at
the local level. When disputes arise,
NGOs form networks to assist plaintiffs.
NGOs facilitate meetings between groups
of villagers and provincial or department
authorities. Human rights and legal
services NGOs assist with court cases.
The consensus is that cases brought against
companies or military officials are not resolved in
favor of the plaintiffs. Occasionally, however,
NGOs and local activists have been able to
negotiate a solution with authorities or organize
sufficiently to put violators in check. As
communities become increasingly frustrated with
the lack of effective government action and their
situation becomes more desperate, they are
increasingly taking matters into their own hands
to put a halt to violations.
There are clear examples of advocacy
campaigns having an impact on policy
formulation. There is a need to institutionalize the
interaction between civil society and the
government through the creation of consultative
procedures. These procedures will help define how
civil society and government can work together
to create policies that reduce conflict with affected
communities.
Enlarging Democratic Space
Civil society organizations have had to press
for the right to give input to new legislation at each
step. They have been assisted in their efforts by
policies of the multilateral banks that insist on
government consultation with civil society –
policies that came about because NGOs lobbied
the banks at the international level throughout the
1980s and 1990s. The idea of consultation is
difficult for government officials because they feel
threatened and it represents a new way of working
in collaboration with civil society.
In cases where there has been serious
engagement between civil society organizations
and government policy makers, the process has
not been smooth but the outcome has usually been
satisfying to all sides. In presenting the draft
community fisheries sub-decree to the Ministry
of Agriculture, the Department of Fisheries was
able to feel confident that they listened to all
arguments and produced the most reasonable
draft. When the Ministry then altered the draft
and removed many of the provisions responding
to the communities’ requests, the Department of
Fisheries was able to exert its influence and to get
some of the articles put back to protect the
integrity of community groups.
The fisheries example highlights the effect of
using a bottom-up approach to policy making: if
In cases where there has been serious engagement
between civil society organizations and government
policy makers, the process has not been smooth but
the outcome has usually been satisfying to all sides.
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