Officials attend the closing ceremony for the ‘Decentralisation and Public Administration reform’ programme on June 16. NCDD
Angelika Stauder, first secretary and deputy head of cooperation at the German embassy in Phnom Penh, spoke favourably of the Cambodian government’s efforts at reforming its bureaucracy, at the closing ceremony of the “Decentralisation and Administrative Reform Programme” (DAR) on June 16.
DAR is implemented by the Cambodian government and supported by Germany.
“It is my honour [to have witnessed] important achievements in decentralisation and administrative reform in Cambodia,” she said.
“Germany has been supporting Cambodia’s efforts in this regard for many years and we look forward to discussing ongoing and future cooperation during the consultations of both governments later this year. The support for decentralisation... reforms will continue to be an important part of our cooperation,” she said.
According to a joint press release, DAR is implemented in collaboration with Germany’s international development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in tandem with various Cambodian ministries and institutions.
Through this programme, GIZ has been working with the Cambodian government at both the national and sub-national levels, including 14 district administrations in Battambang province, to help improve delivery of services to citizens in a coordinated, transparent and accountable manner, according to the press release.
According to the press release, the main achievements in implementing DAR were presented at the ceremony by the governor of Kamrieng district, the deputy governor of Battambang town in charge of social services, the director of the One Window Service Office (OWSO) in Bavel district and the chairman of the Banan district council.
DAR is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project ran from May 2019 to April 2022 with a financial volume of up to €5.04 million ($5.24 million), according to the press release.
Chan Sothea – deputy head of the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development (NCDD) secretariat – congratulated all those involved for the achievements in the implementation of DAR over the past three years.
“I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the national and sub-national working group and relevant partners of DAR that undertook the effort of implementing the programme to achieve fruitful results as expected even though they faced some challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic during the implementation,” he said.
According to Sothea, the DAR programme’s preparation and implementation has significantly contributed to the promotion of the implementation of key principles of good governance, which is a core foundation for sustainable social and national economy.
