Date
Thursday May 8, 2014 12 - 1:30pm Lunch will be provided
Location
Oxfam America, 1100 15th Street NW, Suite 600, Washington DC 20005
RSVP: By Noon, Tuesday, May 6th to Noémie Hailu, [email protected]. If you would like to attend virtually, please also contact Noémie Hailu for more information.
Event summary
Following disputed elections in Cambodia last year that some hoped would lead to more openness and change, there were violent crackdowns on protesters by government security forces. At the same time, oil and mineral development continues at a steady pace with little transparency around project approval, company licensing, revenue flows to the government and the opaque deals struck with Asian or Western companies. There is a lack of security of land tenure and land grabs are widespread for rubber, timber and minerals. Cambodian civil society continues to call for the basic tenets of an open, transparent, accountable and responsive government, calling on the Royal Government of Cambodia to adopt international standards for open budgets and an open and accountable oil and minerals sector. But these groups face significant hurdles in implementing their advocacy agendas. While civil society groups, with the support of the U.S. and other donors, were able to temporarily fend off a regressive law that would curtail freedoms for NGOs, the law threatens to re-emerge and a planned 'cybercrime' law threatens not only those in Cambodia working for democratic principles, but those outside Cambodia supporting those efforts.
Oxfam America invites you to an event that will discuss the current political situation in Cambodia and provide an overview of key challenges faced by civil society groups as they advocate for improved natural resource governance and better, more appropriate spending of scarce public resources, including aid flows and oil and mining revenues. The speakers will provide an overview of progress and challenges in the areas of citizen engagement, public financial management and oil and mineral governance, and provide recommendations on the role that international NGOs, private sector, U.S. government and other donors, and international financial institutions, can play to support efforts to improve governance and promote peaceful democratic development in Cambodia.
Speakers
- Natacha Kim, Director, Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency
- ChanKrisna Sawada, Senior Program Officer, Active Citizenship, Oxfam America, East Asia Regional Office
- Khim Lay, Regional Program Coordinator on Extractive Industries, Oxfam America, East Asia Regional Office
Moderator
Isabel Munilla, Senior Policy Advisor, Extractive Industries, Oxfam America