20 March 2013
By Chea Sophal[1]
The
Paris Peace Accords required international communities to assist Cambodia in
reconstructing and restoring the country through the establishment of the International
Committee on Reconstruction Cambodia (ICORC), whose mandate is to monitor and
coordinate funds provided by international communities.
.
Cambodia’s
donors pledged US$896.04 million in aid for developing the governance and administration
sector from 1992 to 2011. From
2002-2011, donors disbursed and committed another US$959.35 million for this
sector and they projected commitment for 2012-2014 of another US$212.50 million
(CRDB/CDC 2011, p.47). The Human Rights Watch Report revealed that
foreign assistance accounts for over 50 percent of Cambodia’s budget, yet
donors have said little about Cambodia’s worsening human rights environment as
part of the crucial element for democratic development in Cambodia (HRW 2012,
p.5).