Development themes in Cambodia: What Matters Most

Lina Hassan’s Reflection
 Development themes in Cambodia: What Matters Most

Field Site at Samrong Partnership Forest

I have lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for about 3 months now. Half the term of my IDDIP internship. Even though so much has changed, it feels like time has flown by. There are a couple new things; I bow my head and shoulders slightly whenever I greet anyone, I now don’t even flinch when crossing the street – act calm and fake it till you make it seems to work-, my coffee intake has at least doubled (it’s too good), and the only question I ask when presented with new food is ‘how do I eat it?’ (I learned to ask that last one because I made the mistake of biting into a banana leaf at a work function. Not pleasant.)

However, by far, my favourite thing is getting to learn from the brilliant individuals that I work with at UNDP Cambodia. Every day, I am overwhelmed with the amount of new information I am taking in and by how talented my colleagues are. I feel very lucky to be here, doing the work I have always wanted to do.

I work in the Results Based Management (RBM) unit. RBM is a management strategy wherein actors looking to achieve development results must ensure that their actions contribute to these results as measured by a set of outcomes, outputs, and goals. In an RBM system, results are central to planning, implementation, reporting, and decision-making. By focusing on results rather than actions, we hope to better understand our impact, measure progress, and improve collaboration with our partners. My work has therefore mostly involved facilitating project evaluations and monitoring. This has included conducting field visits, compiling reports, and coordinating with consultants to meet with government, UN agency and civil society partners.

What has been incredibly exciting, is that being in RBM means I get to learn about a lot of the projects that UNDP works on. Last week, for example, I got to go on a field visit to our FCPF project (Forest Carbon Partnership Facility). FCPF works on getting Cambodia ready for REDD+ strategy implementation (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation). The project engages with community members who live in forest areas to build capacity to protect and manage forests. We met with community members to discuss how the project was going and get their feedback. The week before that, I was supporting an international consultant doing a mid-term evaluation for our PSLWGE project (Project to Support Leading the Way for Gender Equality). That was an opportunity to learn about how complex a process capacity building is and how hard it is to measure and coordinate. Next week, I am going on a field visit to our SRL (Sustainable Rural Livelihoods) project which supports and promotes the development of sustainable and resilient agriculture-livelihood practices.

Field photo, Cambodia

I am getting an almost all-encompassing picture of what our office does, and what the general issues and themes in development are. For one, in Canada, we are aware of climate change (mostly) and have some varying degrees of willingness to change ourselves and our habits to protect and preserve the world we live in. Here in Cambodia, it is not so much of an ‘awareness’ as it is a feeling of imminence. Many, from government actors to private sector, to individuals and youth groups, are taking initiative to push for a cultural shift towards more sustainable practices. Almost all of our projects incorporate climate resiliency and adaptability strategies. It is one thing to know that you need to save the earth and do better for yourself and others, and a completely different thing to feel it. I have learned and grown so much in the past three months, but one thing that has truly changed is that I don’t just know that we need to do better to preserve our world and its people, I feel it as though it were a compulsion.

Community members in Tades Village, FCPF project team, government partners and my RBM team.