SUMMARY REPORT OF THE TERMINAL EVALUTION
Outline of the ProjectCountry: Kingdom of Cambodia

Project Title: Capacity Development of Provincial Rural
Development in Northeastern Provinces (PRDNEP)

Issue/Sector: Governance

Cooperation Scheme: Technical Cooperation

Division in Charge:JICA Cambodia Office

Japan’s contribution: 327million Yen

Cooperatio(R/D): October 2007- March

Partner Country’s Implementing Organization:n Period

2011

Department of Local Administration, General Department
of Local Administration, Ministry of Interior (MoI)
Executive Committees of Provincial Rural Development
Committee(PRDC/ExComs)in

Mondulkiri

andRatanakiri
Related Cooperation Project: None

Supporting Organization in Japan:
IC Net Limited.
Nippon Koei Limited.

Background of the ProjectMondulkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces are located in the Northeastern part of Cambodia.

Thoughthese Provinces possess adequate natural resources, less priority has been given towards development
activities, possibly due to their remote locations as well as a high ratio of tribal population who favour a
traditional way of living.

In the National MDG Report of Cambodia (2003), the 2 Provinces ranked at thevery last end of 24 Provinces in terms of their development level. The 2 Provinces suffered a significant
shortage of human resources and local government lacked institutional capacity to promote ruraldevelopment.
Against this backdrop, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) had requested to conduct
development studies in order to formulate a comprehensive development plan in the Northeastern
Provinces and technical cooperation projects to support the Provincial Rural Development Committees(PRDC).

In response to the request, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) fielded 2 project

formulation study missions in 2004 and 2005.

Based on the recommendations of the missions, the RGC

requested a technical cooperation project for the purpose of human resources development in the
Northeastern Provinces. Subseuently, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and JICA agreed on a 3 1/2 year
Project“Capacity Development of Provincial Rural Development in Northeastern Provinces (PRDNEP)”(‘the Project’) in 2007. The Project commenced its operation in October 2007 and has been focusing on
capacity development of local authorities with a view to implement sustainable rural development activities
through on-the-job training (OJT)

especially for personnel involved in implementing both small-scale

infrastructure construction projects as well as managing non-infrastructure projects.

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Project Overview4
1

Overall Goal (5-10 years after the Project)
Provincial development is actively and strategically undertaken by the local governments.

2

Project Purpose
The capacity of the targeted local governments for promoting sustainable rural development isstrengthened.
3

Outputs(1) Capacity of local government officials in developmental research and analysis is strengthened.
(2) Capacity of local government officials in rural development planning is strengthened.
(3) Capacity of local government officials in implementing and managing rural development projects
is strengthened.
(4) Capacity of local government officials in monitoring and evaluation is strengthened.

4

Inputs(As of October, 2010)

Japanese side:
Experts

8

Equipment

Project Implementation Cost

17 million Yen
22 million Yen

Cambodian Side:Counterpart 22

Land and Facilities: Project Office, Electricity and Water

Evaluation Team
Members of the<Cambodian Side>

Evaluation Team

1.

Team Leader: H.E.Mr. Leng Vy, Director General, General Department ofLocal Administration (GDLA), Ministry of Interior (MoI) (Project Director)

2.

Member: Mr. Yin Malyna, Director, Department of Local Administration(DOLA), GDLA, MoI (Project Manager)

3.

Member: H.E. Mr. Thang Savun, PRDC/ExCom Rattanakiri Province(Counterpart Personnel)

4.

Member: Mr. Hiek Sophan, PRDC/ExCom Mondulkiri Province (Counterpart
Personnel)

Members of the<Japanese side>

Evaluation Team

1.

Team Leader:Mr. Yukiharu Kobayashi, Senior Representative, JICA Cambodia
Office42.

Local Governance: Mr. Hirofumi Kawakita, JICA Senior Advisor

3.

Small-scale Infrastructure: Mr. Osamu Yamada, JICA Senior Advisor

Based on the Project Design Matrix (PDM) 3 as of July 2009､which was used as the basis for the present evaluation exercise.

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4.

Evaluation Planning:Ms. Satoko Nadamoto, Project Formulation Advisor, JICA
Cambodia Office5.

Evaluation Analysis:Ms. Hiroko Tanaka, Global Link Management, Co. Ltd.

6.

Planning Assistant: Mr. Phok Phira, Program Officer, JICA Cambodia Office12-28 October 2010

Period ofType of evaluation: Terminal Evaluation

Evaluation
Results of Evaluation
1.

Project Implementation Status

Project Purpose:
The level of achievement of the Project Purpose is good.
Indicator (1) and (2) have been fully achieved.
Indicator (1). Based on the needs survey, 22 non-infrastructure projects and 16 infrastructure projects
have been implemented and monitored by the officials of the targeted districts in Ratanakiri. As for
Indicator 1.1, the planning process to align district development activities with local needs andrequirements

has been formulated and implemented. These activities have been identified upon athorough needs survey and situation analysis and included previously less prioritized once such as
ambulance service, waste management, school construction, and library service.
As for Indicator 1.2, the beneficiary officials conduct M&E with a higher frequency than before
because they are now more aware and understand the importance of M&E as well as their
responsibilities and obligations in the process.
Indicator (2) Based on the needs survey, 26 non-infrastructure projects and 9 infrastructure projects
have been implemented and monitored by the officials of the targeted sector departments and districts
in Mondorkiri. As for Indicator 2.1, the sector departments’ development plans have been reviewed
and implemented based on the identified needs at the development plan workshop at the end of 2009.
The basic knowledge and skill sets of district office and the sector department officials have been
improved and focused mainly on training for proposal writing, contract development, accounting, andPC proficiency.

As for 2.2, the officers of communes, districts and provinces, who are involved in

sector development activities, are utilizing now monitoring sheets when conducting M&E of sector
department pilot projects .
Indicator (3) has been achieved according to the expectations of the Project stakeholders. Specifically,
the final draft of the District Development Planning Guidelines of NCDD Secretariat reflects therecommendations from the Project, including such items as simplification of the planning process,introduction of analytical methods, creating linkage with Commune Development Plans, cooperation
with NGOs and mainstreaming gender considerations.

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Achievement of Outputs;
PDM3 is comprised of four (4) outputs“Capacity of local government officials” increased indevelopmental research and analysis, rural development planning, implementing and managing ruraldevelopment projects, and monitoring & evaluation.

Though the beneficial

local government

officials possessed limited expertise and skills necessary for implementing developing plans prior to
the start of the project, , their capacity correlated with the four output requirements has beendeveloped and improved as follows:
Output1 Capacity in developmental research and analysis
Provincial situation survey reports were produced based on data analysis and survey results (Indicator1.1). The targeted groups and counterparts demonstrated significant increase of their score between
pre-test and post-test of the module training courses on SWOT analysis, district profiles, andprovincial situation survey (Indicator 1.2).
At the development planning workshops in Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri, development plans were
produced based on the existing quantitative data of provincial profiles and district profiles(indicator1.3).
Output2 Capacity in rural development planning
District development plans were successfully developed by local government officials in three districtsin Ratanakiri after they received required training throughout the project (indicator 2.1). Sector
development plans were developed by the officials of the Department of Agriculture, Department ofTourism, and Department of Environment in Mondulkiri in the same successful manner (indicator2.2). All implementation activities have been conducted by local government officials in Ranatakiri
and Mondulkiri (indicator 2.3). Lastly, a report on improvement of the district development planning
process was produced and submitted to MoI (indicator 2.4).
Output3 Capacity in implementing and managing rural development projects
Provincial and district officials have obtained the capacity to manage professionally contract
management, financial management, operational management, and technical management through thepilot projects in Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri (indicator 3.1).

The knowledge of provincial and district

officials has been improved through module training courses and OJT (indicator 3.2). A feedback
report on improvement of the implementation process of development projects was developed andsubmitted to MoI in 2009 (indicator 3.3).
Output 4 Capacity in monitoring & evaluation (M&E)
Monitoring and evaluation capacity has significantly increased and local government officials in three
districts in Ratanakiri and three sector departments in Mondolkiri as they could exercise thedevelopment of M&E plans for pilot projects (indicator 4.1). Based on the M&E plans, monitoringand evaluation exercises on pilot projects have been conducted by local government officials in threexv

districts in Ratanakiri and three sector departments in Mondolkiri (indicator 4.2). The knowledgetransfer through module trainings, workshops and OJT has

improved officials’ knowledge formonitoring and evaluation to a high extent.(indicator 4.3). An M&E manual was drafted by the projectand counterparts (indicator 4.3).
2.

Summary of Evaluation Results

2.1 RelevanceThe relevance of the Project is high.
There are no major changes to the D&D Policy of the RGC since the time of the Mid-Term Review.
Based on the Organic Laws on Capital, Province, Municipality, District and Commune/Sangkat
administrations (‘the Organic Law’), enacted in 2008, it is expected that the Provincial and Districtlevel local governments would play significant roles in planning and conducting subnational
development activities in the near future.

In the past, donor funding mainly focused on support for

activities on the Commune level, however, the focus of future fiscal decentralization is expected totake place at the Provincial and District level.

In terms of the capacity development plans of theGovernment, The First Three-Year Implementation Plan (IP 3 (2011-2013)), which is based on The
National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development (NP-SNDD) (2010-2019), also focuseson human resources development at the Provincial and District levels.

From this perspective, it isconsidered particularly relevant that the Project placed emphasis on capacity development of theProvincial and District government personnel in management of development activities.
The Government of Japan recognizes in its latest Cambodian Aid policies (2002) Good Governance as
one of the important factors for the realization of sustainable economic development and stablesociety. JICA also considers Good Governance as one of the priority sectors of its assistance, focusing
on strengtheing administrative capacity, leagal reform and public financial reform in Cambodia.
2.2 Effectiveness
Effectiveness of the Project is high. The Project Purpose has been achieved through four ouputs,
which have also been almost achived.
Effectiveness of the Project in enhancing capacity of the target groups has been improved withrefocus onthe target groups in Mondulkiri Province, following the recommendations of the Mid-Term
Review.

In Ratanakiri Province, the effectiveness continued to be high in line with the observationof the Mid-Term Review.
The status of achievement of the Project Purpose is good.
achieved.

Indicators 3.1 and 3.2 have been fully

In the Project target areas, namely, in the 2 Districts in Ratanakiri Province and in the 3xvi

priority Sectors, namely agriculture, environment and tourism, in Mondulkiri Province, development
projects that are selected based on needs assessment have been planned, implemented and monitoredby the respective local government personnel with great commitment and professionalism.
Whilst following the logical structure as outlined in PDM3, in order to achieve the Project Purpose the
Outputs appears to be sufficient enough to accomplish the indicators 3.1 and 3.2.It, however, is not
sufficient enough to achieve indicator 3.3 (concerning institutionalization at the national level) mainly
because 4 Outputs are solely focusing on capacity development of local government personnel.

Inorder to expect further institutionalization of Project knowledge at the national level, a long-term,
strategic intervention by the Project and by JICA would have been required from the design stage of
the Project onwards.
2.3 Efficiency
Overall efficiency of the Project is considered reasonably high.
Outputs have been largely achieved, and the methods of capacity development adopted by the Project,
namely, creating organic linkages between training sessions and OJT have proven effective.

Most ofthe beneficiaries (both the direct target groups of the Project as well as the indirect target groups)
testified the effectiveness of the training methods, which focused on practical use of the knowledge
and skills, as opposed to theoretical orientations that most of the other training programmes have.
Many beneficiaries also testified the importance of having opportunities to practice acquired
knowledge and skills through OJT.
Activities have been largely implemented as planned and most of the training exercises have been
conducted

corresponding to the implementation progress of the pilot projects in a timely manner

Overall, inputs from the Japanese side to the activities have been made as scheduled .
Reflecting on the cost input versus output ratio it is notable that the Project has delivered satisfactorycost-effective technical cooperation and has made substantial contribution to the demographic area
and the priority Sectors in the 2 Provinces.

The pilot projects, although primarily implemented for

OJT purposes, were appreciated by a large number of stakeholders in the Project areas for their wide
range of developmental benefits (e.g. irrigation, rural roads, wells, community health education, etc.).
The total numberof pilot projects that the Project has delivered (A total of 25 infrastructure and 51

non-infrastructure projects) is impressive, particularly against the level of Inputs.
However, there are some financial aspects of the Project cost that should be mentioned.

First, while

the main Project activities focused on training of the target groups and management of OJT throughimplementation of pilot projects in the 2 Provinces,with the allocation of man-months for experts.

Project Inputs did not accurately corresponded

Second, until the Mid-Term Review, the activities inxvii

Mondulkiri have been spread out throughout the Province and thus, the capacity development
activities until the Mid-Term Review in Mondulkiri had to be largely disregarded under the present
evaluation exercise.
2.4 Impact
To assess thelikelihood of achieving the Overall Project Goal is rather difficult , since it is set on along term perspective (5-10 years) beyond the lifespanof the Project.

Since the Project activity areas and Sectors in the 2 Provinces are limited (i.e. 3 Districts in Ratanakiri
and 2 Sectors in Mondolkiri), it is difficult to expect that the impact of the Project would spread to theProvincial level without further interventions under the existing environment.

Moreover, theindicator 3.3 of the Project Purpose points to institutionalization at the national policy level, rather
than aiming at disseminating the knowledge and lesson learnt
level.

from the Project to the Provincial

Thus, it is questionable if it would be possible as described under PDM3 by simply achieving

the Project Purpose indicators subsequently the Overall Goal can be achieved as well.

Therefore, it

is suggested that the Overall Goal be reformulated and set at a shorter timeframe (approximately 3
years) after completion of the Project, based on a realistic assessment of the present circumstances.
With respect to the positive ripple effect of the Project, the developmental benefit of the pilot project
has been widely appreciated by the stakeholders in the target areas. Even though the pilot projects
have been implemented primarily in order to provide OJT opportunities for the target groups, many ofthe projects (both infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects) have benefitted up to 108,660 peoplein Ratanakiri and 51,864 people in Mondolkiri.

Another positive ripple effect is that awarenessamong police officer and NGO staff was increased after the workshop on gender mainstreaming anddomestic violence law in Ratanakiri. In addition, some of the training materials developed by the
Project have been adopted by MoI for general purposes and have been used for other training activities
for local government officials.
2.5 Sustainability
The sustainability of the Project is assessed as moderate.
The sustainability of policy is relatively high. The government has implemented the 10-year National
Program for Sub-National Democratic Development (NP-SNDD) since 2010 after enacting ‘theOrganic Law’ in 2008.
The First Three-Year Implementation Plan (IP 3) of NP-SNDD focuses on human resources
development at the District levels and plans to strengthen the role of the provincial offices to supervise
district offices.
It was fortunate that the Project focused on capacity development of District-level personnel andxviii

Provincial Department personnel as target groups.

There is a clear tendency that newly developed

technical capacity among the target groups regarding their ability to plan, implement and monitor
development activities will be sustained far beyond the lifespan of the project.
Institutional sustainability varies among organizations and is more difficult to achieve. It will be very
challenging for provincial offices whilst the probability for provincial sector departments and district
offices are to achieve long lasting sustainability is relatively high. Especially, the role of districts will
become more important and vast in scope due to their now role strengthened by the Organic Law. On
the other hand, provincial offices need to find a way to strengthen their capacity after ExCom will bedissolved.
It is expected that there will be budget allocated to the District-level government in the near future by
the Government based on the Organic Law.

Thus, the target groups will be able to utilize theacquired knowledge and skills from the Project, although it is unclear at this stage when this budget
allocation will actually take place.
3.

Factors promoting achievements of Outputs, Sustainability and Impact(1) Factors related to Planning

The adopted methodology for capacity development was effective (focus on practical knowledge and a
combination of OJT and timely introduction of knowledge through training).

(2)Factors concerning the Implementation ProcessThe project’s activity is consistent with the strategy of the central government. For example, it has
been implemented in NCDD’s framework of District Initiative Programme (DIP). Thus, the project
obtained the greatest cooperation from the stakeholders in districts.



The communication and relationship between the Project Offices in the 2 Provinces and the target
groups have been excellent.

The levels of commitment and morale of the Project Teams in the 2Provinces as well as the target groups were high.
4.

Factors inhibiting achievements of Outputs, Sustainability and Impact(1) Factors concerning to PlanningThe long-term plan and activities to measure the development of the target groups’ capacity were notincluded in the Plan of Operation.

When the PDM was revised at the Mid-term review, a new indicator of the Project Purpose was added.
However, additional outputs and activities were not installed to achieve this indicator. Thus, it wasdifficult for the Project to conduct the activities for achiving this indicator. However, this indicator
was achieved through the activities of the long-term expert located in MoI.

(2) Factors concerning the Implementation Process

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

The relationship between the long-term Japanese expert and the consulting team: it was difficult for
both of them to collaborate for the project because they have different command structures.

While pilot projects were implemented, all parties tended to be focused on the implementation of
those projects.

As a result, impact of CD through implementation of those pilot projects tends tobecome secondary.
5.

Conclusions

Overall, the Project has made good progress towards achieving the Project Purpose.
relevance, effectiveness and efficiency are all assessed as high.

The Project’s

In particular, the capacity development

activities in the Project target areas have achieved significant results among the target groups.

The

selection of the target groups has been appropriate, in view of the future direction of decentralization policyin Cambodia.

The Project has also benefitted from refocusing on target groups in Mondulkiri Province,

following a recommendation of the Mid-Term Review. Pilot projects made positive impact on the people in
the targeted area in two provinces. On the other hand, there remains a challenge as to how to achieve
institutional sustainability.
6.

Recommendations(1) Actions that are suggested to be taken prior to completion of the Projecta)

Reformulate the Overall Goal, which is likely to be attained within 3-5 years after completion of the
Project, based on realistic assessment of the existing environment in Cambodia. The Objectively
Verifiable Indicators and Assumptions should be reviewed by the end of the Project.

b)

In terms of work required for institutionalization of the project experience, concerted work of the
Project Implementation Team would be required to upgrade the existing draft outputs such as‘Collection of feedback from pilot project implementation’ and to produce a document that clearly
illustrate the experience of the Project to the external parties.

In particular, the method of capacity

development adopted by the Project, which has largely proven effective for the target groups of the
Project, should be explained and presented clearly.
c)

Along with further efforts to institutionalize Project knowledge at the national level, it would berecommended that the Project focuses its attention on dissemination of the Project knowledge andlesson learnt at the Provincial level in the 2 Provinces during the remaining period until thecompletion of the Project.

d)When the contract period with ExCom expires in December 2010, all construction work under pilot
projects, etc. need to be completed within a few-month period. More importantly, the Evaluation
Team encountered several cases during the study period that require support and advice formanagement, repair and maintenance of the equipment/infrastructure, etc provided/constructed underpilot projects. It is suggested that the Project Implementation Team review such needs and offers
advisory services to assist them tackle the issues with a view to enhance possibilities for better
management/maintenance of the work that has taken place so far.

In this regard, workshops

gathering stakeholders at each District might produce fruitful results. Necessary actions should also bexx

taken to repair the damage of the constructions done during the implementation period.
(2) Actions that are suggested to be taken after completion of the Projecta)

The Provincial Governments of the 2 Provinces are requested to support dissemination activities of the
Project knowledge and experience accumulated within each Province.

b)

MoI is requested to extend its support for further institutionalization of Project knowledge at thenational level, whenever such opportunities arise. In addition, MoI is requested to look into the work
environment of local government personnel in general.

This would include reassessment of thesalary levels of local government officers as well as coverage of necessary costs to perform duties.
For example, the Evaluation Team has received a number of grievances from officials about being notreimbursed for their duties to perform monitoring activities.

These matters affect staff moral to asignificant extent and influences the level of their productivity.

In addition, MoI is requested to take

into account the staff training and qualifications when reassignments of personnel take place for the
new structure of the Provincial Government.
c)

It is requested that the stakeholders of the Project would look into possibilities to support

follow-up

activities to ensure sustainability of the developmental effects of the pilot project activities wherevernecessary, by Provincial or Central government of Cambodia or by other donors including NGOs.
7.

Lessons learned(1) Use of OJT through implementation of pilot project activities as a tool for capacity development has
proven useful for Provincial and District-level personnel in the 2 Provinces.

By combining inputs

like knowledge obtained through training activities with OJT, the Evaluation Team has observed asubstantial enhancement of knowledge and confidence among the target groups interviewed during thepresent Study.

This method for CD, while not necessarily new at the global level does not appear tobe practiced widely in the context of Cambodia.
(2) It is important for a CD Project to ensure utilization oftarget groups and other stakeholders so they

are participating in a CD Project and that the target groups’ CD is the central concern of the project.
When pilot projects are implemented, all parties tend to be focused on the implementation of thoseprojects.

As a result, impact of CD through implementation of those pilot projects tends to become

secondary.

In order to avoid this tendency, it is important for CD projects to have clear policy formeasuring effectiveness of activities on CD and to ensure awareness of the project stakeholders during
the design stage.
(3) When CD projects aim at institutionalization of certain methodologies and project experience, it isimportant for the projects to have already strategies at the design stage and to plan activities related to
institutionalization as part of the project implementation.

Competitive environment among donors is

an important external factor that exists in many countries, which cannot be taken lightly.
institutionalization can only succeed with a long-term, strategic vision and strategy.

xxi

Effective