| General Information |
Project/Program |
Project |
| Project Name |
Demobilization and Reintegration Project |
| Duration |
Board of Approval: 08/23/2001 Closing (original): 12/31/2004 (revised/actual): 12/31/2004 |
| Donor |
World Bank |
| Implementiong Organization |
Government of Kingdom of Cambodia, Council for Demobilization of Armed Forces |
| Sector and/or Subsector Classification |
Others |
| Region |
Not specified in the World Bank Implementation Completion Report |
| Financing |
Total project costs at appraisal amounted up to USD 41.99 while the actual cost estimated is USD 18.5. |
| Analytical Information |
Stakeholders |
Government of Kingdom of Cambodia, Council for Demobilization of Armed Forces, Government of Japan, Government of Sweden, Government of Netherlands, World Food Program, World Bank, International Development Association, Ministry of Woman and Veterans Affairs (MOWVA), Ministry of Interior (MOI), Ministry of Land Management Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUC), Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation (MSALVY), provincial authorities, World Bank's Post Conflict Fund (PCF), civil society, affected soldiers and people. There is suspicion of whether there was a sufficient consensus within the RGC, donors, civil society, World Bank, and other stakeholders. |
| Cross-cutting Issue |
Environment |
According to the Implementation Completion Report, Cambodia had gone through recent struggles of power, absence of reliable and clear information, created an atmosphere of low trust and deep suspicion between stakeholders. In addition, the Paris Peace Agreement had led to unintended political deals for the coalition governments; opposition parties and the civil society was concerned that consolidating military power to one political party would impede progress of democracy. Furthermore, corruption among commanders (to get high salary, commanders had ghost soldiers in their base) had adversely influenced the project. ICR also notes the absence of home grown checks and balances influences the nature of the relationship between government and donors. The project was heavily affected due to reasons that the World Bank could not be involved in military reform which was need for demobilization. |
| Gender |
No information regarding gender was to be found in the ICR. |
| Impact Analysis |
The project aligns with World Bank's Country Assistance Strategy (1999-2004), Royal Government of Cambodia's Platform for 1998-2003, IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), IDA's Structural Adjustment Credit (SAC), policies from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF)'s "Defending the Kingdom of Cambodia: Security and Development, 2000." Although these strategies aligned with the project, they were not sufficient. |
| Effectiveness |
Ownership/Partnership |
Evaluation |
The Bank took the lead in coordinating with other donors and had created a highly complicated partnership. The Royal Government of Cambodia supported that World Bank should lead the initiative, and thus led to a full compliance of fiduciary and safeguard policies. Despite World Bank's efforts, other donors were not ready to participate in the demobilization which was identified as a high priority reform. |
| Rating |
3/5 |
| Policy Coherence/Harmonization |
Evaluation |
Donors collaborated to prevent overlapped finance and effort in components. For example, component C was funded by the IDA and Dutch while the training was funded by Japan; the overall relationship between the World Bank and other donors were good. The Bank took the lead in coordinating with other donors through project design and preparation. Relationship among the World Bank and Royal Bank of Cambodia were good until the investigation of the procurement issues had been initiated (the World Bank had full confidence in managing the project and to some extent other donors were encouraged by the World Bank's decision to investigate). |
| Rating |
4/5 |
| Evaluation Framework |
Evaluation |
A consulting firm was hired by the Government in accordance with the Credit Agreement and the World Bank Guidelines for Financial Management and Procurement Management. Project Implementation Plan was reported to the World Bank. Procurement issues were problematic which led to the suspension of the IDA Credit. The winner of the bidding project was found to be problematic as World Bank's investigations found the information and presented to the World Bank was misleading and inaccurate leading to influence the decision. |
| Rating |
3/5 |
| Alignment/Composition of Finance |
Evaluation |
This project was halted due to procurement issues stated above. The General Secretariat of the CDAF implies the issues were due to their reliance on the documents and information that was given by the Procurement consultant and the winning bidder. However, the borrower holds all legal responsibilities and cannot delegate responsibility. Prior to the investigations of the World Bank, the Government was given a change to investigate the issues, however, the government did not initiate any action which later increased more tension among the stakeholders. |
| Rating |
2/5 |
| Other Remarks |
Due to inevitable political, social, and financial problems, the Royal Government of Cambodia decided to proceed with the project without World Bank as a partner. |
