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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Increasing Democratic Space Proactive and Reactive Approaches to Lobbying NGOs may take a proactive or reactive approach when advocating on the legislative process. The proactive approach occurs when advocating agencies have as their main mission advocacy on a particular piece of legislation. In such cases they usually have specific change objectives and resources are allocated towards reaching those objectives. Examples of proactive approaches include initiatives by women’s NGOs to introduce a domestic violence law and update the existing family law. The reactive approach has been used when advocates have not been programmatically and financially prepared for advocacy on a particular law because a particular bill was drafted quickly or in a closed process that NGOs were not aware of. This situation creates certain disadvantages to the advocacy campaign, including limited access to resources due to lack of planning. Unfortunately, much of the advocacy that NGOs have done in the last decade has been reactive, though as Cambodian advocates gain experience they are learning how to gain access to and influence the legislative process at an earlier stage. Advocacy Strategies Strategies used by advocates to influence the legislative process are basically the same as those for all advocates. Information collected through research and documentation provides critical arguments for advocates and lawmakers alike. While in some cases legislators may actually not be aware of a problem, in most cases they simply do not have resources to conduct studies and demonstrate the degree of a problem. Establishing personal contacts with decision makers and engaging them in a campaign is another important strategy for advocates. Engaging decision makers means helping them to understand issues, imparting them with the belief that it is within their mandate to influence legislation, and providing them with information needed to further support their arguments for change. Once decision-makers have been engaged, advocates need to provide them with opportunities to get a first-hand view of issues through site visits or contact with affected stakeholders. Another effective advocacy strategy is lobbying the ministry most relevant to a particular piece of legislation. Being able to give inputs to a draft law at the ministerial level is critical to ensure that issues of concern to the public are reflected in the draft. Successful advocates work with line ministries at different stages and assist them to accomplish their mandated function. The more ownership the ministry has of the draft law that does not include the voice of the people through a consultative process, the harder it will be to advocate for it. One strategy is to let the ministry take credit for the drafting or technical work even though much of it could have come from civil society. The ultimate objective is to make the ministry or technical department an advocate for the law. Campaigning After Submission of Draft Legislation Being able to get modified or new legislation drafted or proposed is a significant achievement, but it is only one of many steps in this type of advocacy campaign. Advocates need to continue efforts to ensure that the final version of the legislation contains what they feel is needed, and that this version will be promulgated. Enacted legislation usually delegates responsibility to the executive branch, i.e. the Royal Government of Cambodia, to pass regulations that detail implementation of the law, as the legislative branch does not have the time, resources, or required expertise to specify how laws should be implemented. Regulations issued by the government also constitute law and include: • sub-decrees (anu kret); • proclamations (prakas); • decisions (sach k’dei samrach); and • circulars (sarachors). With the exception of the Community Fisheries Sub-decree, the advocacy campaigns examined in the attached case studies focus solely on laws passed by Parliament. Less attention has been paid to executive regulations, which often enumerate the most important aspects of a law. Therefore, campaign efforts should not cease simply because legislation is passed. Efforts must extend beyond enactment and be closely involved with the implementation of the law as well. For instance, the new Land Law requires the passing of a dozen subsequent sub-decrees that are essential to implementation. This presents a challenge for civil society organizations to closely monitor the development of the sub-decrees as well and to advocate for participation in the drafting of those regulations. Factors Contributing to Satisfactory Outcomes Establishing good relations with a ministry is perhaps the most important factor in achieving a successful outcome to advocacy efforts. Other factors include lobbying parliamentarians through 34
informal contacts and being able to correctly identify the influential figures in the various government bodies. Popular action, for example demonstrations to protest land disputes and labor disputes, lends weight and legitimacy to advocacy efforts. Finally, good coordination and understanding between NGOs and IOs are also cited as factors that contribute to successful campaigns. Obstacles to Success The pervasive reluctance by government officials to open up the legislative process to include civil society organizations represents the most difficult obstacle encountered by advocates. Lack of legal technical skills is also a hindrance. Translation of drafts has also been cited as an obstacle in achieving agreement between stakeholders on a number of legislative bills, as was the case with the Land Law. Important issues to consider when trying to influence the legislative process: • Issues should be identified using different methods such as surveys and case studies, and research should identify articles being violated in order to build an argument for change. Conclusion Yeng Virak concludes that in most cases legislative lobbying has not resulted in satisfactory outcomes, i.e., in sound laws that mitigate negative impact. However, some change objectives have been reached. Achievements made by civil society organizations in their advocacy efforts have centered primarily on education of stakeholders about the process and enlarging the democratic space. Advocates are gaining experience and building their advocacy skills while implementing advocacy campaigns on various laws. During the course of this research it became apparent that NGOs need to develop their capacity to influence lawmakers during the legislative process and apply pressure on the government to make the process of passing legislation and regulations transparent and participatory. The need for consultative procedures looms large and the country would benefit from institutionalizing processes that enable and ensure public participation in politics. Along these lines, Yeng Virak suggests institutionalization of a two-hearing process for every piece of legislation introduced. This would require that hearings take place both at the executive level and at the legislative level, in which the public could participate and provide input. Footnotes 1 Copies of the full article Influencing the Legislative Process are available at Pact. The article goes in depth regarding examples of civil society working closely on legislative issues. For a diagram and explanation of the Cambodian legislative process, see next page. • Reports should always be made available in Khmer. • Campaigns should communicate issues to a larger group of stakeholders and enable people to become effective advocates themselves. • There is a need to build coalitions and avoid overlapping of advocacy efforts. • Advocates need to understand the legislative process clearly. • At the legislative level, advocates need to stay one step ahead of the draft law. • Advocates need to continue their efforts after laws are passed, as the executive branch may issue sub-decrees soon after enactment which should also be monitored. Monitoring of enforcement should also be included as part of the advocacy effort. Increasing Democratic Space 35
Page 1 and 2: advocacy in cambodia: increasing de
Page 3 and 4: executive summary The Cambodian non
Page 5 and 6: sectors reviewed in this document
Page 7 and 8: livelihood of populations, includin
Page 9 and 10: Pursat Rice Miller’s Association,
Page 11 and 12: Protected Forest and Land Dispute:
Page 13 and 14: implementation. Without policy impl
Page 15 and 16: drafts incorporated into the new La
Page 17 and 18: the relocation site and not at the
Page 19 and 20: Landless Families: O’thkov Villag
Page 21 and 22: Short-term and long-term implicatio
Page 23 and 24: EMOs do not traditionally base thei
Page 25 and 26: or even fearful to solve conflicts,
Page 27 and 28: collection of information on public
Page 29 and 30: each month. Facilitating Engagement
Page 31 and 32: analyzing impact of advocacy activi
Page 33 and 34: communities and NGOs can work with
Page 35: influencing the legislative process
Page 39 and 40: CHART OF LEGISLATIVE PROCESS (10) K
Page 41 and 42: considerable public attention, but
Page 43 and 44: lessons learned Advocates have lear
Page 45 and 46: ecommendations The following are re
Page 47 and 48: conclusion Outside of human rights
Page 49 and 50: conclusion of the forum, the govern
Page 51 and 52: level can sustainable resource use
Page 53 and 54: literature, interviews, and field v
Page 55 and 56: Future Considerations The following
Page 57 and 58: Timeline of Land Issues Over the Pa
Page 59 and 60: The new Land Law will require betwe
Page 61 and 62: labor The garment factory labor mov
Page 63 and 64: input from AFL-CIO, the largest lab
Page 65 and 66: intervene are by activating the Lab
Page 67 and 68: ights have, in principle if not in
Page 69 and 70: commune council election law The ca
Page 71 and 72: maximize the group’s collective i
Page 73 and 74: communication between EMOs and dono
Page 75 and 76: The CCEL campaign was the first opp
Page 77 and 78: in every four women (25%) aged 15-4
Page 79 and 80: estimates the number of sex workers
Page 81 and 82: elections saw an increase to 14 fem
Page 83 and 84: healthcare. While many women know t
Page 85 and 86: losing influence. For this reason,
Page 87 and 88:
plaintiffs at a disadvantage. A sec
Page 89 and 90:
level to increase interaction betwe
Page 91 and 92:
courses for members of the media (p
Page 93 and 94:
economic issues NGOs are advocating
Page 95 and 96:
come together to discuss problems a
Page 97 and 98:
the issue on the government’s age
Page 99 and 100:
premier center for rights-based and
Page 101 and 102:
Penh. Watson, Gabrielle, 2000. Advo
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?