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

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Case Studies EMO members did not feel that it would be useful to advocate this position as they felt women should be better educated first. Eventually however, the EMOs agreed to advocate for the NEC to adopt a policy encouraging political parties to promote party lists comprised of 30% women candidates. Some women’s groups felt they could work directly with the parties to promote this objective. The EMOs spent considerable time and effort advocating for the proposed changes in the draft CCEL by using the strategies described below. The law was finally passed in March 2001, but none of the proposed changes were incorporated. The only change that was incorporated was the backup position regarding the composition of the NEC. NGO Coordinating Committee (NGOCC) When the CCEL draft came out, NGOs were concerned about a provision to establish an NGO Coordinating Committee (NGOCC) to coordinate NGO observers and provide election education. No consultation had taken place with NGOs regarding this provision in the draft. The government proposed that the NGOCC be comprised of representatives from EMOs, human rights groups, and other social justice NGOs listed by the Ministry of Interior. The NEC would ultimately approve the NGOCC’s activities and have the power to dissolve it. EMOs feared that the Commune Council Election Law had been written in a way calculated to undermine the independence of EMOs, by giving the NGOCC the ability to monitor NGO finances and control the NGO election statement. EMOs decided to lobby for a reduction in the NGOCC’s power and subsequently met with a number of legislators and government officials to explain their views. The Ministry of Interior countered that the NGOCC was simply a mechanism to ensure that every polling station had an observer, but it did eventually agree to review articles concerning the new agency’s formation. As late as March 2001, EMOs were still lobbying against the NGOCC but in the end the government maintained its original provisions. It was this issue that caused EMOs to consider withdrawing from the election process. Intermediaries and legal advisors argued that articles describing the NGOCC’s role could be interpreted in a number of ways, and a liberal interpretation would be acceptable. Donors understood the EMOs’ concerns, but felt that their threat to withdraw from the election process was unreasonable, as no action that compromised the EMOs’ integrity had actually occurred. The impasse was eventually surmounted through dialogue between the EMOs and the NEC Secretary General, first at COPCEL meetings, and then in follow-up meetings. In the discussions EMOs learned that NEC technical staff agreed with the EMOs’ interpretation of the articles, and this put the EMOs more at ease. Unfortunately, the Secretary General’s interpretation of the statute was different from the NEC’s, and EMOs continued to perceive the NGOCC as an obstruction to their work. The NGOCC limited the EMOs’ direct access to the NEC, and tried to control the EMOs by setting conditions for the issuance of official NEC accreditation cards. For example, the NGOCC claimed that EMO requests for accreditation cards were made too early and that EMOs did not provide enough information. EMOs were not advised what additional information was needed however, and even after providing complete information some applications were still rejected. After studying the law, COMFREL informed the NGOCC that it had no right to reject requests, but rather could only indicate if requests were satisfactory or not. Requests could only be denied by the NEC. Ultimately, EMOs simply bypassed the NGOCC, submitting their requests directly to the NEC, which did not risk rejecting EMO requests due to concerns about negative donor reactions. Advocacy Strategies Board members of election monitoring coalition groups are for the most part committed staff of other human rights and governance organizations. EMO staff tends to be particularly experienced in the area of human rights. It comes as little surprise then that EMOs, even those organizations that are relatively young, are strong. A solid tradition of advocacy enables them to use a range of strategies to reach their objectives. Setting Objectives & Distribution of Tasks When the CCEL campaign was first envisioned, EMOs had at least 20 issues that they wanted to advocate. A critical part of their advocacy process was narrowing down their objectives so that they could focus their energy on a few top priorities. Thus, out of 20 or so initial objectives, only three objectives were retained. Another step in their advocacy process was assigning tasks to each organization according to its capacity and availability. Examples include assigning individuals to lobbying delegations, establishing a system for sending emails, and assigning groups to studying articles in the draft law. While delegating tasks seems like a very basic strategy, the process of doing so provided a good way of identifying resources and comparative strengths between advocating groups in order to 68
maximize the group’s collective impact. In total, advocacy campaign activities included opinion polls, public forums, and information collection in early 2000, and the campaign continued for more than nine months, until the CCEL was officially adopted in March 2001. As part of the CCEL campaign, EMOs conducted provincial opinion polls, organized public forums, and interviewed government staff and ordinary citizens in various provinces. Follow-Up with Responsible Government Agencies As soon as EMOs observed a problem related to election laws, they immediately held a meeting and decided on follow-up action. They also made it a point to follow proper procedures with the government so that government agencies would respect the process. In one example, when the NEC informed the Provincial and Commune Election Councils that they did not need to use a blackboard or other means of transparent public display during the vote count, EMOs first contacted the NEC and asked for the blackboard policy to be reinstated. EMOs also contacted donors to inform them of concerns that the count would not be transparent. If the response from the NEC was too slow, EMOs continued to follow up with regular calls to inquire about the issue. In this way, EMOs tried to send government agencies the message that if they did not react to inquiries or complaints they would be closely monitored and it was in their interest to provide a more rapid response. Provincial Opinion Polls and Public Forums As stated previously, in order to build a case for proposed changes in the CCEL, the three election coalitions held a series of public forums in the provinces and conducted surveys at the grassroots level to assess public opinion. The surveys included interviews of people from different government departments (education, police, finance), and most respondents indicated they preferred a direct electoral system. The EMOs interviewed government staff and ordinary citizens in various provinces and found that 80% EMO representatives meet with Minister of Interior H.E. Sar Kheng. NICFEC organized 75 drama performances in 24 provincial towns to raise public awareness on CCEL issues. preferred a direct electoral system. The process of conducting the public opinion poll was particularly interesting because initially the three EMOs were not equally convinced as to the merits of a direct electoral system. The fact that the three agencies did separate field surveys in different provinces and came up with the same findings, i.e. that 80% of the population preferred the direct system, was a significant factor in bringing consensus to their views. In addition to helping consolidate the opinion of the EMOs, the polls represented an active effort to assess the interests of the general population and identify the will of the people. This was an important step in legitimizing the campaign, as the opinions of NGOs are not always aligned with the opinions of the majority of the population. The EMOs wrote a statement to NGOs, government, and the media about their conclusions from the public opinion campaigns. Additionally, NICFEC organized 75 drama performances in 24 provincial towns to raise public awareness on the issues. They also distributed flyers and invited NGO provincial and commune coordination committees to attend workshop on these issues. Lobbying Government and Party Officials and Personal Diplomacy Perhaps the most important form of advocacy on the CCEL took the form of personal diplomacy and group meetings with key decisionmakers. For example, board members of the three election coalitions met with members of the Constitutional Council to raise their concern that the electoral system did not allow independent local citizen groups to compete in commune council elections. EMO representatives also met with leaders of the three main political parties, the Prime Minister, and the Co-Minister of Interior. Most of the individuals with whom the EMOs met agreed with the validity of the EMOs’ arguments. This agreement was only expressed in private Case Studies 69
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advocacy in cambodia: increasing de
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executive summary The Cambodian non
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sectors reviewed in this document
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livelihood of populations, includin
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Pursat Rice Miller’s Association,
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Protected Forest and Land Dispute:
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implementation. Without policy impl
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drafts incorporated into the new La
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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 and 36: influencing the legislative process
Page 37 and 38: informal contacts and being able to
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: commune council election law The ca
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
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