01. Annual Reports & Independent Evaluations
1,131 items available
Permanent URI for this community
Sub-collections of this Collection
2 results
Items in this collection
Publication Cambodia: World Bank Country-Level Engagement on Governance and Anticorruption(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-12) Girishankar, Navin; DeGroot, David; Desai, Raj; Stout, Susan; Wescott, ClayCambodia is one of the world's most open economies, sustaining high levels of growth in an environment of relatively weak governance. Emerging from a legacy of genocide and civil conflict, the country has sought to address human and social capital deficits across sectors, weaknesses in public finance, and corruption. Despite improvements in access to basic services, governance constraints persist and may threaten gains from economic integration. Over the 2004-10 period, the Bank's engagement on Governance and Anticorruption (GAC) issues in Cambodia was not defined by a single, overarching priority or entry point (such as core public sector management, natural resource management, or service delivery). Rather, the Bank was opportunistic, opting to support the government's GAC efforts across multiple sectors and institutions. The relevance of this opportunistic approach is judged to be moderately relevant. The Bank's objectives on public financial management (PFM) were highly relevant given Cambodia's nontransparent and weak public expenditure management and limited capacity. The Bank's response to sectoral governance weaknesses such as red tape, inefficiencies, and other forms of rent-seeking in customs is rated modest given the need for the government to implement its World Trade Organization commitments. The Bank's project level engagement is rated as moderately relevant. As a basis for reinstating suspended projects, portfolio-wide measures included the use of an Independent Procurement Agency (IPA) for the International Development Association (IDA) procurements, and the implementation of Good Governance Frameworks (GGF) for all IDA projects.Publication Cambodia: An IEG Country Assistance Evaluation, 1999-2006(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010) Independent Evaluation GroupCambodia emerged in the early 1990s from 30 years of conflict, the brutal Khmer Rouge era, and a decade of Vietnamese occupation, with one of the world’s lowest per-capita incomes, and with social indicators far behind those of neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Physical infrastructure had been largely destroyed. United Nations intervention led to a peace agreement in 1991, a new constitution, elections, and formation of a coalition government, although a reduced level of conflict and political instability continued until the late 1990s. The government began a process of economic liberalization in the late 1980s which has been sustained. The donor world responded rapidly to Cambodia’s huge resource need with a high level of concessional aid which has been sustained. Since the mid-1990s the economy has been growing steadily; by 2006, per-capita incomes were double the 1998 level and the incidence of poverty had been significantly reduced. Social indicators have improved, generally to above the average for low-income countries, but are still well below those for most Southeast Asian countries. The Bank has focused on governance issues with increasing intensity in each succeeding country assistance strategy, and has worked with other donors in a number of areas. Progress has been made on certain governance-related issues such as public financial management, including expenditure reorientation, the poverty focus in health and education services, and support for decentralized, community-based development programs.