“Good Service, Good Society” is a radio program developed by CCIM’s project “Community Voices On-air: Improving Local Governance through Public Dialogue On-air”. Conducted throughout the course of the year, it sought to directly facilitate an improvement in commune governance in the political communes of Cambodia by increasing both the accessibility and availability of public information to these communities, as well as establishing an effective, open and democratic dialogue between the people and their commune councils.
“Good Service, Good Society”, aired weekly, and focused on a different commune each month. As detailed in the complete report 2011, the program has demonstrated substantial success in its first year: directly facilitating an increase in advocacy for the populations in the communes selected, identifying key problems and improving the ability of the government to better fulfill its mandate and service its people. Over the course of 2011, CCIM was able to conduct the project across 9 communes with great success across the board.
In each commune, many issues were raised during the forum. Some of these problems are common to and shared by many communes, such as the civil registrations issue, a primary focus. Almost everywhere people face corruption, bribes and overcharging during the civil registration process. Health services, land propriety, domestic violence, commune meetings and accountability boxes are other primary issues that concern the communes.
The follow-up of the communes meant that a great success was observed throughout the year. In 2011 the 9 forums hosted 1,187 participants in total, of which nearly half or 501 of them were women. The enthusiastic participation seen in every commune is a positive sign for the project. With more time, promotion and awareness it is hoped that participation will continue to rise. A significant improvement was noticed concerning the civil registration that was marked as one of main concerns before the commencement of the project and one prevalent throughout the communes. After the visit of the “Good Service, Good Society” team, the communes have attempted to highlight and resolve their issues. Significant successes are particular to each commune and these successes are enumerated in the complete 2011 report.
Clearly, the project evidenced much success in being able to advocate and adapt effectively for the people of each commune. This positive impact contributed to the achievement of immediate changes in commune governance. It successfully presented an independent voice and participatory process through which the Cambodian people may challenge the government in order to improve their living conditions.
The recommendations, presented below, for the government, the donors and the stakeholder will help improve the communication and the relationship between the commune officials and the people, and should have a positive impact on good governance and public service delivery at the commune level. Specific recommendations for each respective commune are highlighted in the complete 2011 report.
Through the Good Governance Project “Community Voices On-Air: Improving Local Governance through Public Dialogue On-Air” the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) seeks to provide the means through which Cambodian society may function more effectively and fairly. The “Good Service, Good Society” project is continuing throughout 2012, and as word and information spreads, attendance and participation is expected to have a favorable impact on the program’s effectiveness and efficiency. It is through endeavors such as the “Good Governance” project that the requisite mission-centric changes in culture, governance and society will come about in order for CCIM to realize a Cambodia in which “everyone is well informed, everybody is developed”.
Click HERE to download the report.
