Regions and Countries

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p. 11 of 22 BACK | NEXT I. Country Performance Assessment II. Poverty Reduction and Country Operational Strategy III. Sector Strategies A. Agriculture B. Infrastructure C. Social Infrastructure and Environment D. Governance E. Gender Dimensions of ADB Operations F. Private Sector Development IV. Regional Cooperation V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination VI. Cofinancing and Catalyzing External Resources VII. ADB’s Operational Program VIII. Economic and Sector Work IX. Local Cost Financing

Country Assistance Plans - Cambodia : III. Sector Strategies

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C. Social Infrastructure

1. Education

75. In the past decade, there was significant progress in improving educational service delivery in Cambodia. Achievements include enrollment growth at all levels of education, provision of instructional materials nationwide, construction and rehabilitation of several thousand classrooms, teacher development programs, reorganization of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MOEYS), and initial capacity building at the central, provincial and district levels. Education management information systems have been strengthened significantly. External assistance, mainly through traditional project support, has averaged around $35 million per annum over the past five years.²¹

76. Despite significant gains, a recent MOEYS evaluation of the 1995-2000 Education Investment Plan indicates that the policy outcomes and impact of significant levels of support have been somewhat disappointing. The main conclusion is that the transition from emergency relief to reconstruction and development has been uneven, with insufficient emphasis being given to design of policy-based assistance programs and sector performance monitoring.

77. ADB will support investments that increase human capital and improve the quality of lives and the productivity of the poor, mainly through support to basic education. ADB’s poverty reduction strategy for education will help put in place pro-poor education policies, strategies, and resource allocation mechanisms to contribute to the achievement of governments’ poverty reduction objectives and targets. ADB’s priority will be to promote and facilitate a comprehensive approach to education development, led and owned by the Government, and with a long-term perspective. As requested by the Government, ADB will facilitate this process, especially through efforts at donor coordination. Within an overall education sector development plan, ADB will continue to support improved efficiency, quality, and equitable access to basic education, especially for the rural poor and girls.

78. ADB is assisting MOEYS in developing the master plan for the sector development program that envisions universal education through grade 9 by 2010.²² In coordination with other aid agencies, ADB will support policy implementation in selected areas of equitable access, quality improvement, institutional reform, management strengthening, monitoring system development, and education financing reforms, especially for basic education. ADB’s contributions to the program will include both a 2001 sector development loan (with both project financing and budget support) prepared under a 2000 PPTA, and capacity-building TA in 2001. A PPTA in 2002 anticipates a follow-up intervention in 2004. ADB will also continue facilitating government-donor partnerships in the sector.

2. Health

79. Cambodia has some of the worst health conditions in the region. The two major problems in the health sector are heavy disease burden and a weak health care delivery system. Improvements in health services are generally perceived as an effective means of addressing poverty. Healthy people are generally more productive and capable of earning more income. There is a large donor presence in the health sector in Cambodia and a large amount of grant funds are addressing the numerous health problems in the country. The Ministry of Health is moving towards a sector-wide approach to development of the health sector with the assistance of the World Health Organization. However, much of the donor assistance targets vertical interventions such as immunization programs and the funds for core support of the sector-wide institutional and infrastructure needs for basic service delivery appear to be insufficient.

80. ADB is supporting new approaches to health care delivery in Cambodia. Loan No. 1447- CAM: Basic Health Services Project, for $20 million, approved 20 June 1996, is pilot testing contracting of health services to non-governmental agencies in various ways. Operations research is currently underway that will provide data with which to evaluate the effectiveness of the alternative approaches to health system development and service delivery in Cambodia. This research, as well as evaluation of the ongoing project, will be used to design the follow-up loan project, Basic Health Services II, planned in 2002 with a PPTA scheduled in 2001. In addition, capacity-building TA targeting HIV/AIDS will be provided in 2000. Because maternal health care is a key element of basic health care, this project should disproportionately benefit poor women.

81. Antiquated water supply systems, poor sanitation, and inadequate pollution control contribute to general conditions of poor health. ADB is active in efforts to improve water supply and sanitation through Loan No. 1468-CAM: Phnom Penh Water Supply and Drainage Project, for $20 million, approved 26 September 1996 and Loan No. 1725-CAM: Provincial Towns Improvement Project, for $20 million, approved on 17 December 1999. A third intervention is planned as a standby project in 2003 with PPTA in 2001. Capacity building TA is planned in 2002. Because the 1999 project emphasizes water supply provision in provincial towns, the next project could stress the improvement of provincial town sanitation systems. However, ADB will carefully assess the need for the additional project in light of the major facilitative role that the World Bank is playing in this sector.

3. Environment

82. Not only are poverty and environmental degradation often closely linked but Cambodia’s extensive renewable and natural resources, particularly its forests and fisheries, are potentially major contributors to economic development and poverty reduction. In the National Environmental Action Plan, the Government identified six critical areas— forest management, Tonle Sap ecosystem management; biodiversity conservation; coastal fisheries management; energy development; and urban environment issues. In addition to assistance for improved natural resource management outlined in section III.A.2, ADB will provide TA to strengthen the institutional capacity for environmental management. Specifically, ADB will provide technical assistance in 2002 to the Ministry of Environment for human resource development and to develop guidelines for hazardous waste management.

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