New district websites for budget transparency
Under the project Using Open Data to Support Budget Transparency at District Level, Open Development Cambodia (ODC) and its partner STAR Kampuchea (SK) have been collaborating with district administrations throughout the past months. The project, funded by the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER), seeks to enhance good governance and public service delivery by improving the transparency of Commune/Sangkat budgets and making budget allocation more responsive to citizens’ needs.
The project implementation began with two kick-off meetings in the initially target districts of Malai and Ou Chrov (Banteay Meanchey Province) on July 21st 2020, at which the ODC and SK teams presented the initiative to a total of 45 district officials.
The first component of the project consists of raising awareness and improving the dissemination of public budgets. A major breakthrough of the project was the launching of an official website and Facebook page for each district in November 2020 as it equipped administrations with a self-managed tool to share information with the citizens in their jurisdiction and encourage them to engage in public debates. District officials were invited to attend the launching event to learn about the website and its features. Importantly, the event served as a platform for discussion and for gathering feedback from officials, whose inputs were integrated into the design and functionality of the websites.
The Ou Chrov official district website reached 630 pageviews between November and December 2020. https://www.ouchrovbmc.com
The Malai official district website reached 501 pageviews between November and December 2020. https://www.malaidistrict.com
District budget infographic of Ou Chrov district
In the name of government website, Ou Chrov district administration is in the process of requesting “.gov.kh” extension from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Upon approval of the ministry, the official Ou Chrov district website will be www.ouchrovbmc.gov.kh.
Acknowledging that lengthiness and complexity of budgets, ODC designed infographics to provide simplified annual budget information in an engaging format. The infographic has been circulated online by district administrations to enhance accessibility and public understanding. As shown in the following example for Ou Chrov district, the infographic visualizes the main sources of revenue and expenditures, focusing on the budget lines that are of particular interest to citizens.
The second major component of the project focuses on improving the technical capacities of sub-national administrations on budget planning, monitoring and open budgets. Two training events were hosted on the commune and district investment plan and three-year rolling plan on 24 and 30 November 2020 in Ou Chrov and Malai district, respectively. The trainings gathered a total of 87 participants, 30 of which female, including officials from provincial, district and commune offices. Besides, the Ou Chrov district governor conducted a meeting with 67 participants to effectively implement and monitor the Joint Accountability Action Plan and the Commune Investment Plan (CIP).
In parallel to the project, ODC has as well expanded the work on open budgets by publishing a new profile page on Sub-national infrastructure project implementation in Cambodia (2014-2019), which is publicly available on its open data platform. The new interactive map layers display the location and expenditure of infrastructure projects at sub-national level for the period 2014-2019. The raw data for the total number of projects and expenditure by province can be downloaded through the 12 datasets available. To ensure its accessibility, the data is presented in engaging and intuitive formats and is available in both Khmer and English languages.
ODC interactive map of actual expenditure and the numbers of actual project of sub-national infrastructure
The page also provides data on open contracting for all projects implemented in Ou Chrov and Malai, including the details of every project (title, type, budget, construction dates), the contract and awarded tenderer, and the requirements and status of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Besides, all projects are linked to their corresponding record on the Project Implementation Database of the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development.
Advances towards more accountable practices and civic engagement are underpinned by the disclosure of budgets and a robust circulation of information on transversal issues. The construction of new development and infrastructure projects entail direct implications for the well-being and livelihoods of local communities. Hence, improving access to information regarding such projects nurtures informed public debates and generates more opportunities for citizens to keep their governments accountable, exercise their political rights and raise their concerns to the administrations.
