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Cambodia
>> Regional Overview >> Cambodia Overview ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: Cambodia
TITLE AND NUMBER: Expanded Access to Sustainable Financial Services, 442-007
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2001 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $1,000,000 ESF
PROPOSED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: None.
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1999 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2005Summary: This special objective was developed to respond to the scarcity of formal savings and credit programs available to the poor, especially in rural areas, where 85% of Cambodia's population lives. While the number of NGO-led microfinance programs directed to serving the needs of the poor has increased significantly since the United Nations-monitored elections of eight years ago, more than three-quarters of the country's rural population still do not have regular access to basic credit and savings facilities. The primary goal of this special objective is to increase the number of poor rural families that will, for the first time, have access to sustainable financial services. In order to achieve this goal, intermediate results directed to expanding outreach activities of sustainable microfinance institutions in a secure operating environment are required. The ultimate beneficiaries of achieving this goal will be the families of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 poor women.
Key Results: The intermediate results that form the cornerstones for achieving this special objective include: 1) increased access of the rural poor to credit and savings facilities; 2) increased self-sufficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs); and 3) an enhanced enabling environment for providing financial services to the poor.
Performance and Prospects: The program has continued to assist microfinance credit providers to consolidate operations, and to strengthen organizational structures and administrative and financial systems. The technical assistance and training has been provided by USAID's implementing partners was specially designed to enable these organizations to become, in a relatively short timeframe, financially solvent, licensed microfinance institutions. The assistance provided to the Association of Cambodian Local Economic Development Agencies (ACLEDA) by USAID, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), helped ACLEDA transform into a licensed financial entity widely recognized for its outstanding performance.
The technical assistance and training provided to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has enabled it to assume what is expected to be an increasingly important role, as several of CRS' local NGO partner organizations have agreed to merge into a single financial institution.
A particularly satisfying development of the past year was the settlement of a prolonged internal ownership dispute between World Relief and Cambodia Community Building, its local NGO partner. The dispute had threatened to compromise the program. The lessons learned will improve program performance throughout the sector. Some of the more important insights provided by this experience include the manner in which microfinance programs should be localized and their advisory boards and boards of directors constituted; the importance of effective channels of communication between international and local partner NGOs; and the effective use of negotiated mediation to resolve internal disputes.
During the past year, credit providers, funded by USAID, have provided 100,000 poor families with access to credit facilities. Perhaps more importantly, they have become better positioned to expand outreach activities at a rapid pace. Micro loans disbursed through program activities have allowed client families to use previously underutilized entrepreneurial skills to increase family incomes. This has enabled them to improve the quality of their lives. Outstanding loan balances, which are composed primarily of group-collateralized loans of less than $100, exceed $7 million. Most of the loans were provided to poor women, many of whom are the sole source of support for their families. The continued strengthening of the operational capacity of microfinance organizations funded by USAID and the enhanced enabling environment in which these organizations operate, is expected to be particularly conducive to the expansion of outreach activities over the next few years. The enabling environment continued to improve during FY 2000, particularly with respect to prevailing conditions of peace and security and the successful implementation of a number of recent reforms of the banking and financial systems. These reforms have established a more prudential regulatory environment for the operation and supervision of financial organizations.
Possible Adjustments to Plans: None.
Other Donor Programs: The UNDP, the European Union, France, and Germany have been significant providers of funds to NGO microfinance organizations. During the past year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) initiated an important program of assistance to support the development of the microfinance sector in Cambodia. The ADB program is providing more than $20 million of loan funds to licensed microfinance institutions through the facilities of the Rural Development Bank. An associated component of the program provides specialized technical assistance and training to strengthen the organizational capacity and prudential operations of both the Rural Development Bank and the National Bank of Cambodia.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Current partners receiving USAID assistance include the Association of Cambodian Local Economic Development Agencies, CRS, and World Relief. Other selected microfinance organizations also may receive funding before the completion of this program to support their transformation into licensed MFIs.
FY 2002 Performance Table
Cambodia: 442-007
Performance Measures:
Indicator FY97 (Actual) FY98 (Actual) FY99 (Actual) FY00 (Actual) FY00 (Plan) FY01 (Plan) FY02 (Plan) Indicator 1: 20% minimum average annual growth rate in client outreach NA 87,787 90,601 100000 110,000 130,000 156,000 Indicator 2: Percent of operational self-sufficiency achieved by credit providers NA 70 75 NA 85 90 90 Indicator Information:
Indicator Level (S) or (IR) Unit of Measure Source Indicator Description Indicator 1: IR Total number of active microenterprise clients served by USAID-funded microcredit providers. Credit organizations funded by USAID This indicator provides a direct measure of the extent of microenterprise outreach programs to the rural poor. Indicator 2: IR Percentage of operational self-sufficiency achieved by USAID-funded credit providers Credit organizations funded by USAID This indicator provides a direct measure of the capacity of USAID-funded organizations to sustain credit operations without donor support, and to achieve financial self-sufficiency in the long run. U.S. Financing
(In thousands of dollars)
Obligations Expenditures Unliquidated Through September 30, 1999 1,690 DA 1,016 DA 674 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 1,973 ESF 922 ESF 1,051 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Fiscal Year 2000 0 DA 490 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 750 ESF 507 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA Through September 30, 2000 1,690 DA 1,506 DA 184 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 2,723 ESF 1,429 ESF 1,294 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Prior Year Unobligated Funds 0 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Planned Fiscal Year 2001 NOA 0 DA 0 CSD 1,000 ESF 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Total Planned Fiscal Year 2001 0 DA 0 CSD 1,000 ESF 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Future Obligations Est. Total Cost Proposed Fiscal Year 2002 NOA 0 DA 0 DA 1,690 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 3,723 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
