Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity Program

Name: Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity Program
Duration: March 2007 - March 2010
Donor: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

The Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity Program is a component of the USAID Strengthening Governance and Accountability Program and builds on the achievements of Pact's previous Anti-Corruption Coordinated Action Program.

Corruption has been widely recognized as the one of the largest problems currently hindering Cambodia’s development. According to a 2004 USAID Corruption Assessment Report, it is estimated that “annual diversions from government coffers range between $300 and $500 million.” In 2006 a report by the Economic Institute of Cambodia, "Assessment of Corruption in Cambodia’s Private Sector", indicated that due to corruption, the Royal Government of Cambodia only collects a relatively small percent of tax revenue owed which results in a loss of revenue of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. In 2007, Cambodia was ranked on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index as 162 out of 179 countries, or thirteenth from the bottom of the list.

The recent discovery of significant commercial deposits of oil off the coast of Cambodia and bauxite deposits in the northeast are new factors which have the potential to exacerbate corruption in Cambodia. By 2010, Cambodia’s extractive industries – oil, gas, and various types of mining – were expected to more than triple the annual revenue received by the Royal Government of Cambodia. There is significant concern in Cambodia that this new wealth, unless managed effectively and transparently, could actually be a curse, as typified by countries like Nigeria and Chad. Despite concerted efforts of international experts, civil society and donor community, the government’s verbal and written commitments to fight corruption far outpace practical measures to reduce corruption. In the absence of practical measures to implement an anti-corruption strategy, the government’s commitment to anti-corruption remains primarily political rhetoric rather than a demonstration of real political will.

Pact’s goal through the Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption for Equity (MAE) program was to increase political will to develop and implement effective solutions to the problem of corruption in Cambodia. Pact used an approach focused on The Million Signature campaign, which mobilized average Cambodians in a mass effort to put pressure on the Government to adopt reform, timed to end shortly before the 2008 national elections; and the wide dissemination of a program brand called the Clean Hand and associated anti-corruption messages, which became ubiquitous and widely known throughout Cambodia. MAE also focused on several more targeted activities which included:

• The development of a private sector partnership, called the Clean Business Initiative, aimed at drawing the private sector into anti-corruption efforts;

• The development of a CSO coalition, called ‘Cambodian for Resource and Revenue Transparency’ designed to monitor the extractive industries and lobby for reform; and
  

• The development of a Freedom of Information Working Group, an FOI policy paper and efforts to reinforce journalistic coverage of corruption.

In part due to Pact’s work on the MAE, in April 2010 the Cambodia government published an anti-corruption law and established an anti-corruption enforcement unit – two of the key aims of this program. Additionally, a household survey undertaken by Pact at the close of its work on the MAE project indicated that Cambodians were more concerned about corruption than before, were more aware of corruption issues, were paying less in bribes and had greater trust in public authorities.