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Modified
May 07, 2001
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Phnom Penh - Cambodia
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Strengthening
Phnom Penh’s Urban Poor Communities
Extract from our impacts
files: Impacts of ACHR
Activities 1993 – 1999 |
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The New Initiatives component of TAP enabled ACHR to explore and promote
potentials for community based urban processes in Asian cities which had
weak or no community based processes. Phnom Penh became
the first focus of the component.
The Process Involved
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Catalyzing community groups through
community based surveys and enumeration processes |
|
Building savings and credit groups (a
strategy to collect people as well as money), |
| Sharing experiences through
community exchanges locally and within the region |
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Federating the savings and local
organisations |
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Linking savings to affordable housing |
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Engaging other urban actors-
including government - into partnership processes |
We have learnt that substantive change
and improvements in living conditions on a large scale requires an
on-going commitment, far longer than our initial thinking.
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1993 |
Impacts to 2000 |
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Extracts from
Introduction to Phnom Penh’s Urban Poor Sept 1993
"... a marked lack of
community-based activity and the non-existence of community based
organisations as found in most other Asian cities."
" an expressed need amongst predominately international NGOs
working with the urban poor to learn of successful Asian experiences and
in particular strategies which may promote grassroots based processes.
"
" CBO’s are still to be formed or recognized by the people as
influential vehicles to use for getting their voices heard. The
destruction caused by the Pol Pot times has also cut through the psyche of
the people, especially their sense of community and trust with one
another"
" it was noticeable that many people interviewed had an expectation
of direct aid being distributed. "
".. while Asian experiences are more relevant to Phnom Penh than
western models there are recent historical reasons why the Cambodian
situation is unique: interventions would require a sensitive understanding
of this, including the influence of the Pol Pot regime in their misguided
approach to cooperative and collective people’s actions."
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Some Concrete Impacts Since 1993
| Since 1991 when local grassroots
community organisations were non-existent Phnom Penh has seen
the emergence of the Solidarity for the Urban Poor Federation -
SUPF- as the key local community network at the city and
district level and one which is recognized by most in government and
international organisations (eg UNCHS) urban poor projects as the key
link organisation among urban poor communities for consultation,
learning and mobilization.
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| Information about urban poor
conditions in Phnom Penh has been collected and systematized. Two
comprehensive city wide surveys have been conducted with overall
information on the urban poor in Phnom Penh. The information has been
widely distributed to all related sectors.
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| A wide range of community-saving and
credit activities have been organized The Federation is operating in
more than half of the 400 identified urban poor communities in Phnom
Penh.
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| The emergence of Urban Poor
Development Fund, a collaboration and partnership between ACHR,
UNCHS, Municipality of Phnom Penh and SUPF, as a partnership mechanism
to develop community housing activities together. This has enabled
Housing and Income Generating loans to be distributed to hundreds of
low income families as well as gaining the confidence of government in
community controlled and directed activities.
|
| Partnership processes in the form of
a community networks at District (Khan) level with the District
Authorities and other development actors has been established in all 8
districts in Phnom Penh. This new collaborative local development
mechanism has significant potential for future decentralized and
participatory development in Phnom Penh and Cambodia. Community
Development Management Committees - CDMC's have been established
in each district.
|
| A good number of local young
professionals are now actively involved in the urban poor development
and urban activities in Phnom Penh. In 1996, with main support of ACHR
coordinator, an Urban Resource Center has been set up. Its main
function is to assist communities gather information on the city as
well as to assist communities with technical input to their
improvement programmes.
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| There has emerged good collaboration
and coordination with key development agencies ; UNCHS, UNDP, World
Bank, Municipality of Phnom Penh and all Khan (District Authority)
Chiefs, University of Phnom Penh and many of the urban NGO’s in
Phnom Penh.
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More News on specific
relocation processes, grassroots organising and strategies and
institutional partnerships will be posted soon.
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Other Pages on CAMBODIA
Urban Poor Development Fund Diary
of a Relocation HUN
SEN Meets SUPF
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