Phnom Penh -- The streets of Phnom Penh are eerily empty shortly after nightfall. "No one goes out at night, unless they have to," says a 40-year-old hospital administrator, who requests that his name not be used. "It's like a voluntary curfew." Unemployed men-young and armed-who know little else but war, are blamed for rising banditry in the months following last year's UN-organized elections and the subsequent withdrawal of more than 20,000 UN military and civilian staff. Nearly every day, people on cycles and motorcycles are gunned down and their vehicles stolen.
But on the evening of November 8, throngs of people defy the insecurity and gather at the Tonle Sap riverfront by the Royal Palace. The tension in the air is mixed with the sweet smell of incense, which people burn as offerings at two small shrines. Nearby, children of the new middle class parade in shiny, pressed clothes and pause to have their pictures taken. Other youngsters, not so lucky, mill about naked and dirty, waiting for handouts. As the sun sets on this city of few street lights, drivers pedal slowly by on wobbly rickshaws, scanning the crowd for a fare. Soon, only the flickering lamps of tiny stalls illuminate the tropical darkness, as people hurry home. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Cambodia's independence, a day of flag-waving and fireworks.
Forty years earlier, on November 9, 1953, the Kingdom of Cambodia, ruled by Norodom Sihanouk, was freed from nearly a century of French rule. In the decades that followed, Cambodia passed through a series of political metamorphoses and violent social convulsions. The last 20 of these years have been characterized by civil strife and almost unimaginable acts of brutality. The Khmer Republic, which was ruled from 1970 to 1975 by General Lon Nol, suffered intense US bombings along the country's western corridor during the Viet Nam War. Then, for three years, eight months and 20 days following the fall of Phnom Penh to communist troops, Democratic Kampuchea was turned into a "killing field" by the radical Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot. In 1979, the Vietnamese ended Pol Pot's rule and installed a Socialist regime, which followed the Soviet model of economics and politics. Throughout the 10 years that the regime lasted, Cambodia was largely off limits to development aid. The country suffered a debilitating civil war as the government in Phnom Penh battled various guerrilla factions.
The peace agreement in Paris in October 1991 set the stage for a process of political reconciliation that is still working itself out. Aided by a US $2-billion UN peacekeeping mission-described by the UN Secretary-General as the "largest and most ambitious operation" ever undertaken by the UN -- free elections were successfully carried out in May 1993, a democratic constitution was promulgated and a coalition government was formed under the aegis of two prime ministers. Yet opposition by the Khmer Rouge has resulted in continued fighting, mostly along the Thai border.
"The seeds of democracy have been sown in Cambodia," says a 25-year-old intellectual who requests anonymity, "but have yet to blossom." He was one among thousands of people attending the festivities marking not only independence, but the recent events that have led to the country's democratic rebirth. Under a gigantic portrait of King Sihanouk, the country's head of state, all four Cambodian factions gathered in front of the Royal Palace in an outward display of solidarity. But while he remains a symbol of national unity, King Sihanouk was absent from the ceremonies, receiving treatment for cancer in Beijing.
But of concern at the moment is the social dislocation that decades of turmoil have created, along with the considerable development challenges that are now being felt. Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita income of about $170 a year. According to UNDP's Human Development Index, Cambodia ranks 148 out of 173 countries when life expectancy, educational attainment and per capita purchasing power are compared.
The fear had been expressed that, following the political settlement and UN withdrawal, Cambodia could face a wall of "donor fatigue." Fortunately, this has not been the case. Close to $1.8 billion has been pledged at donor conferences in Paris and Tokyo. Directly or indirectly, foreign aid, it is hoped, will help to create an environment in which law and order can take root and development can begin.
"International assistance is flooding in," says Edouard Wattez, resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Cambodia. "But there are serious gaps in the aid flow. Not enough is going to rural areas and the health sector is clearly not sufficiently covered. If aid doesn't reach the Cambodian people," he warns, "there will be no political stability."
UNDP, which reopened its office in Phnom Penh in October 1990 after a 15-year absence, allocated $91.7 million in program resources for the five-year period ending in 1996. One of the organization's most critical roles is building up a coordination unit at the highest levels of the Cambodian government to manage the large amounts of incoming aid. Rehabilitation of essential infrastructure-with one goal, among others, to increase food production-is another priority. This goes hand-in-hand with efforts to "reintegrate" more than 350,000 refugees who have been resettled from camps in Thailand and an estimated 190,000 people who have been displaced from their homes inside the country.
As part of an urgent need to bring civil stability to Cambodia, UNDP and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are supporting small-scale entrepreneurs through credit and training. The programs are targeting former soldiers in addition to women, who make up almost two-thirds of Cambodia's population and head one-third of all households. Another initiative involves the rehabilitation of roads and irrigation systems by local laborers, which will create an estimated 600,000 workdays.
In addition to job creation, there is a desperate need to help communities begin functioning again. Through a $15 million operation called the Cambodia Resettlement and Reintegration Program (CARERE), sponsored jointly by UNDP and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, villages like Bat Trang in Pursat Province, 190 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh, are receiving assistance. There, a school and health centers are being rebuilt, latrines and a water tank installed and income-generating projects started. Through the CARERE program, more than 170 schools have been constructed, 2,000 wells dug and 50 kilometers of irrigation canals restored in three northwestern provinces which have the highest percentage of returnees. With additional funding, the program will be expanded to Siem Reap Province, and handed over to government officials and local communities in 1996.
In some respects, rural life is returning to a semblance of normality. But land mines and the unrelenting spread of disease, including tuberculosis and stubborn strains of malaria, continue to make parts of Cambodia a "killing field." The presence of land mines, concentrated most heavily in northeastern provinces, has already given Cambodia the gruesome distinction of having the world's highest proportion of amputees; one out of every 258 people has been maimed.
"De-mining is an essential priority for Cambodia's rehabilitation," says Rajeev Pillay, former UNDP deputy resident representative in Cambodia. "Rural development in many areas will be impossible without it."
Cambodian health officials say there are still six to 10 million unexploded land mines, with 100 to 150 reported casualties each month. With the help of national and international NGOs, and under the coordination of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), mine clearing has taken place in some of the most populated rural areas. Norwegian People's Aid, for example, has literally cleared the way for UNDP-funded rural development efforts by de-mining more than 285,000 square meters of land. With the withdrawal of UNTAC last November, UNDP was placed in charge of the overall de-mining effort and is working to make the Cambodian Mine Action Centre self-sustaining. To finance the effort, UNDP has set up a special trust fund and has received contributions or pledges of support from donors amounting to $20 million.
From a public health perspective, communicable diseases pose the greatest threat. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tuberculosis steals the lives of 13,000 Cambodians annually. Malaria kills 5,000 to 10,000, and polio cripples another 1,000 people each year. This is not surprising considering that only two to three per cent of the country's population has been immunized and only about 50 per cent has access to basic health services.
Yet only 5.6 per cent of the national budget is being allocated to health care in 1994. In spite of a peace agreement, the Cambodian government will still spend over 18 per cent of this year's budget for defense, due to the continued civil strife.
"Cambodia has a very active private health-care sector, including an extensive network of pharmacies. But anyone can start one; there is no control," explains Pene Key, a doctor with WHO, who is currently managing a project funded by UNDP and the UK in strengthening the management of Cambodia's health system. "Moreover," adds Dr. Key, "when people get sick, they have to spend huge amounts of money to get medical care and often fall heavily into debt."
The failure of the public health care system is but one indication of a more general breakdown in the government's ability to deliver even a minimum of social services. "There isn't a lot of money," says Dr. Key. "But the intention is there to do the job. We have to give them a chance and help get the services out to the rural areas."
Indeed, building up the country's beleaguered cadre of human resources is essential if long-term progress is to be achieved. In this area, UNDP's TOKTEN program, which brings Cambodian expatriates back to their homeland for short-term consultancies, is making a contribution. To date, more than 64 Cambodian professionals living abroad have volunteered for missions in their native country. Seven of them have decided to stay on and have assumed posts as ministers or vice-ministers in the new government.
The TOKTEN program is part of a broader effort, supported by UNDP, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to rebuild key institutions through which Cambodia's people can plan their future.
This huge task of nation-building involves, among other things, establishing macroeconomic stability, creating a new legal framework and an independent judiciary and trimming and reshaping the oversized but under-budgeted civil service. While central planning has been dismantled, economic institutions and a legal framework necessary for the functioning of a market economy have yet to be put in place.
In some areas, progress has been surprisingly fast: Cambodia's rate of inflation, which peaked at over 300 per cent in early 1993, has been rapidly brought under control and the local currency stabilized. But in other areas, such as administrative reform, progress will be slower. "Rebuilding state institutions that can carry out sustainable human development is a 10- to 20-year task," says Mr. Pillay.
Success will, to some degree, depend on the continued commitment of the international community. But more decisive to the outcome is the trust that can be garnered by the country's leadership and the determination of the Khmer people to build a new Cambodia-one in which people can safely leave their homes in the evening and live without fear of poverty and warfare, mines and disease.
By: Tomas Larsson, from: Choices (The Human Development Magazine), June 1994. From the United Nations Development Program.
