Ahead of aid meet, NGOs urge reform
More than 100 NGOs and human rights groups yesterday urged foreign donors to flag issues regarding land policies, democratic processes and human rights during today’s Government-Development Partner Coordinating Committee (GDCC) meeting. … Intended as a preparatory meeting for Cambodia’s main government and donor summit, the GDCC is generally used by the government to provide an indication of where its five-year plan is headed. That, in turn, is meant to inform donor policy in the lead-up to the Cambodian Development Cooperation Forum (CDCF), in which donors typically reveal where aid funding will be channeled and identify reforms they expect the government to tackle. … Although the Ministry of Finance and the Council for the Development of Cambodia earlier denied knowledge of the meeting, an official within the former department who declined to be named confirmed the GDCC meeting would begin today behind closed doors. …
