The Girl-Child and Government Service Provision.pdf - Tanzania ...

Regulation and taxation neededCorruption and a cash economy are said to cost the Cambodiangovernment millions of dollars in lost revenue. Towardsa Private Sector Led Growth Strategy for Cambodia, a2003 World Bank study on six sectors of the Cambodianeconomy, showed potential losses of up to US$226 milliondollars each year to the GDP of the country due to marketand administrative distortions. This in turn would generateUS$28 million in government revenue, according tothe Phnom Penh Post (August 15, 2003). The governmentneeds to build its revenue base and ensure that the privatesector can grow in order to provide not only revenue butalso employment. The IMF’s representative recently saidthat Cambodia needs a 6 per cent annual growth in itseconomy to make any serious inroads on poverty. If povertylevels and government financial management are notsufficiently improved, then basic service such as educationand health will remain grossly underfunded. In 1997 publicserviceexpenditure from the government’s own revenuescontributed only one-third of the total spending in thisarea.The futureCambodia, with assistance from the international community,must place the needs of children at the heart of ongoingreform. Its financial commitment to the service sectorneeds to reflect the seriousness of its commitment. Currentlythe average family spends US$100 on health care peryear, 10 times the per capita level of the government(US$1.84). While public health and education are officiallyfree, a widespread informal system of user fees goes unchecked.The low literacy and skill levels and inadequatehealth base of Cambodia’s population need to change forthe country to progress. Child-protection standards andservices are few. Inaction from government or donors willensure failure to equip this generation of children to meetthe challenges they face now or to prosper in the future.Children themselves see the problems. They have called onthe nations to honour the commitments they have madeand to work with them for a world safe for children.We are not the sources of the problems,We are the resources needed to solve them.We are not expenses, we are investments . . .You call us the future, but we are also thepresent. 12Notes1The Human Development Index is a composite index measuringaverage achievement in three basic dimensions of human development:a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standardof living.2Human Development Indicators 2002, United Nations DevelopmentProgramme, 2002.3Sources for this section are “Economic Monitor: Cambodia,” inFar Eastern Economic Review, July 2000, 57; and Cambodia CountryBrief – June 2000, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia.4By decree of the RCG a new district, Koh Krolor, has been established,so the number of districts could also be considered 13.5Banan District Database, Provincial Development Plan, 1998.6Household Survey, 1999, Banan ADP, World Vision Cambodia.7Pierre Fallavier, “Reporting on Slums in Selected Cities for theGlobal Report on Human Settlements 2003 – Phnom Phenh”,UN-HABITAT, August 2002.8Ibid.9Sources for this section are the Cambodia National PopulationCensus, 1998; the Report on the Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey,1997; Population Matters in Cambodia, June 2000; and theCambodia Human Development Report 1999 – Village Economyand Development; and NGO Statement to the 2000 ConsultativeGroup Meeting, May 2000.10Sources for this section are the Report on the Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey (1997); Population Matters in Cambodia (June 2000);Cambodia Poverty Assessments, Ministry of Planning (October1999); NGO Statement to the 2000 Consultative Group Meeting(May 2000); 1999 National Health Survey; and UNAIDS CambodiaCountry Profile, 3d ed. (February 2000).11Sources for this section are the Socioeconomic Survey, NationalInstitute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning (1996); Unicef SituationReport on Trafficking (1996); Licadho Human Rights Report(1999); and Children in Need of Special Protection (Unicef, 2000).12“A World Fit For Us”, under-18 delegates to the Children’s Forum,UN General Assembly at the Special Session on Children(May 2002).Bibliography“A Source Book for Poverty Reduction Strategies.” WorldBank. April 2001.“A World Fit for Children.” Global Movement for Children2002.24 The Girl-Child and Government Service Provision