June 10, 2002

The Significance of this Conference

At the outset, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the organizers of this conference for inviting me to this very interesting and meaningful national debate. I would like to congratulate the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP) on the wisdom of taking the initiative to hold a national conference on a subject which is extremely important under the current circumstances. I would also like to thank the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for co-organizing today's conference.

I completely agree with the co-organizers on the rationale of this conference which is, in particular, that there has never been any real open public debate on the Cambodian demobilization and reintegration program. This conference is not only vitally important but is also very timely because it has been about 6 months since last year's full-scale demobilization was completed. Last year, I attended a number of discharge ceremonies and I still vividly remember the somewhat uneasy but nevertheless rather happy faces of so many of the soldiers who left the ceremony sites after changing clothes from military to civilian and with the package of articles for their daily use in their arms. Since then, I have often wondered how these demobilized soldiers are doing in their new life. I am curious about how those ex-soldiers are struggling to reintegrate themselves into civilian life. I hope that this National Conference will shed sufficient light on the status of the reintegration process and provide useful insights into the future work of this vital initiative.

In light of the significance of this conference, I would like to express a sense of disappointment to see the absence of certain responsible government officials. With due respect to the considerable efforts made by the organizers to prepare the conference, I would have hoped that the debate was participated in actively by the government and the international stakeholders, and hope that the results of the debate would be studied carefully by them.

The Position of Japan on Demobilization

The Government of Japan considers the demobilization and reintegration project as one of the few extremely important reforms which the Royal Government of Cambodia has undertaken, particularly because this project will bring about multiple positive effects in the context of national reconstruction. For instance, a reduction in military expenditure, a rationalization of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and the possibility of shifting part of the military budget into social sectors, such as education, health and rural development. This reform also entails a number of challenges, such as the necessity of providing job opportunities to former soldiers and coordinating the activities of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Women's and Veterans' Affairs and a number of other relevant ministries. The presence of demobilized soldiers in villages will also have certain implications for the activities of the newly established Commune Councils. It is, therefore, very opportune to assess the status of the reintegration process and think about the organization of future work.

In view of the importance of demobilization, the Government of Japan contributed 6 million US dollars, which represented almost one quarter of the total expenditure of the demobilization and reintegration project for the last year. My Government has decided to continue to assist this process with another contribution of 4 million US dollars for the year 2002. We highly commend the efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia to pursue this indispensable reform and appreciate the results obtained so far. I would like to thank H.E. Mr. Svay Sitha for his hard work. We also appreciate the key role of the World Bank in coordinating the donors' assistance programs. We believe that the Royal Government of Cambodia and the donor community must continue to work hard in order to achieve the expected results.

Having said this, I would now like to offer my comments on the current situation surrounding this project:

Demobilization vs. Reintegration

Needless to say, this project has two important elements; namely the demobilization process and the reintegration process. After the completion of the full-scale demobilization of 15,000 soldiers last year, there is a need to prepare the demobilization process of a further 15,000 soldiers for this year. However, there still remains a strong and urgent need to strengthen the reintegration process of the former soldiers demobilized last year. A brief look at the current situation suggests that, while some progress has been achieved, many of those demobilized soldiers have not yet been fully reintegrated into society. Therefore, although there is a need to prepare for this year's demobilization process, there is also an urgent need to accelerate the reintegration of the soldiers already discharged. The Council for the Demobilization of Armed Forces (CDAF) and its General Secretariat as well as the donor community should pay greater attention to this aspect.

The JICA Survey and its Future Plan

Because of the vital importance of demobilization, the Government of Japan conducted a JICA field survey very recently on the present status of the demobilization and reintegration programs in two sample provinces, i.e. Takeo and Kampong Speu. The survey team conducted extensive interviews with demobilized soldiers and held discussions with local and national authorities. This one and a half-month survey brought forth a couple of salient findings:

Firstly, although the reintegration packages, which each demobilized soldier received at the time of leaving the armed forces, were very useful for his or her immediate return into their home villages; household materials and a small sum of money by its nature do not last very long. JICA's recent survey found that the widest and the strongest wish of the demobilized soldiers was to receive skills training in order to sustain their life including that of their families. They strongly expressed a hope to receive training in such fields as mechanics and machine repair, animal husbandry, sewing, agriculture, fishery, etc. An early organization of such skills training programs according to the needs of former soldiers is very much hoped for.

Secondly, it was also found that there is a significant number of vulnerable and marginalized families in these communities. This is understandable in view of the fact that a large number of the demobilized soldiers belong to Category II. Much attention and resources are needed in order to assist those vulnerable ex-soldiers and their families.

JICA intends to conduct a follow-up survey this summer with a view to working out relevant recommendations to assist this project in cooperation with the CDAF. The future participation of donors would be very important.

After having heard a preliminary report from the JICA field survey team, I would like to share a few more reflections with you.

Acceleration of Work Needed

As I said earlier, more than six months have passed since the first batch of soldiers were demobilized last year. Some of them continue to have difficulties in reintegrating themselves into society, particularly because of a delay in the implementation including the delivery of the reintegration packages.

The early disbursement of the World Bank's credit is anticipated very much. I understand it will be done in the very near future. As I said earlier, the Japanese Government has recently formally decided to approve an additional 4 million US dollar contribution to the project in order to accelerate the process.

Other donors and various civil society organizations are expected to continue or strengthen their activities.

The Need for Greater Coordination among National/International Organizations and Civil Society

It is my understanding that the Executive Secretariat of the Provincial Veterans Committee has a primary responsibility for carrying out the reintegration process in each province under the guidance of the General Secretariat of CDAF.

The Provincial Executive Secretariat is supposed to identify the incoming discharged soldiers and conduct a survey of their needs. And then, in cooperation with the General Secretariat, national organizations, international donors, and NGOs, the Executive Secretariat must provide services such as medical care, preparations for skills training, finding jobs for the former soldiers, etc. This is an important but enormous task. Many other national, international organizations and civil society groups conduct related activities. In this respect, it is noted that the Ministry of Women's and Veterans' Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Youth Rehabilitation have their respective projects of training in different provinces. The Asian Development Bank, the World Food Program, the German GTZ, and other NGOs also provide assistance to discharged soldiers. The activities of these ministries and the work of CDAF and other organizations, national and international, or public and private, should be more closely coordinated in order to obtain efficient results with fewer resources. Moreover, serious consideration should also be given to the future activities of the newly established Commune Councils because the reintegration process should go hand in hand with the commune development projects.

Coordination between and among such national organizations and international or donor organizations as well as non-governmental organizations should be assured. Some mechanism to assure an overall and integrated coordination of the activities of these organizations is expected to be established. Perhaps, the present capacity of the Executive Secretariat of the Provincial Veterans Committee should be strengthened in view of its vital and extensive role in the process of reintegration. I learnt from the pilot project that CARERE and GTZ supported the activities of the Executive Secretariat but in the full-scale demobilization project, there has not been sufficient support for the Executive Secretariat. An integrated coordination mechanism would be able to improve such a situation.

Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen,

These are some of my preliminary reflections on the important subject we are discussing this afternoon. I am convinced that the result of the discussion in this conference will provide valuable insights into this very important project which would produce far-reaching consequences for the future of Cambodia. It is expected that the Royal Government of Cambodia and the international community reinforce their partnership in this endeavour and I can assure you that Japan is willing to participate actively in these efforts.

Thank you very much.