REFORMING SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN …

1 REFORMING SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN PHNOM PENHLisa DenneyMay 2016 WORKING POLITICALLY IN PRACTICE SERIES CASE STUDY NO. 8 Cover Image: Dangkao landfill (Lisa Denney 2014).The knowledge developed prior to, but used in the creation of this publication, was obtained through the financial support of the Australian Government to The Asia Foundation under the DFAT-TAF Partnership views expressed in the publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Commonwealth of Australia or The Asia Foundation.

2 The Commonwealth of Australia accepts no responsibility for any loss, damage or injury resulting from reliance on any of the information or views contained in this SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN PHNOM PENHMAY 2016 LISA DENNEY WORKING POLITICALLY IN PRACTICE SERIES CASE STUDY NO. 8 Copyright 2016 The Asia Foundation and the Overseas Development Asia Foundation 465 California Street, 9th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104, USAO verseas Development Institute 203 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NJ, UK For several decades, The Asia Foundation has been implementing development programs through a highly responsive, politically informed, iterative searching model of assistance.

3 Variations of this approach have been an important element in the Foundation s work going back to its founding in 1954. While each program varies, this model is broadly characterized by a heavy emphasis on contextual knowledge and relationships, combined with multiple small, nuanced, and carefully targeted interventions working closely with local partners. This stands in sharp contrast to the conventional, pre-designed project approach that has long been the standard in the development industry. However, where the problem is highly complex or politically intractable, a more flexible, experimental, politically informed approach is more likely to yield a successful outcome.

4 In this kind of program, the emphasis is on building relationships; gaining an understanding of the landscape of power, interests, and potential for alliances among key actors; and remaining open to revision of strategy and tactics as new information and unexpected opportunities Partnership between the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and The Asia Foundation offered a unique opportunity to trial, analyze, and learn from program initiatives that have taken a politically-informed searching approach to reform.

5 By providing resources to implement, analyze, and reflect on such programs, the DFAT-TAF Partnership has helped to sharpen the discourse that is now taking place on these topics within the development community. To help improve the quality and objectivity of this work, the Foundation turned to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), one of the world s most preeminent development think tanks. The ODI has been providing analysis of different approaches to development assistance for more than 50 years. More recently, ODI has been linking its analytical work on politically informed and iterative approaches to its provision of strategic advice and training to different organizations on how these approaches can be implemented in practice.

6 ODI s work focuses on the dynamics underpinning sectoral reforms in a variety of African and Asian countries, focusing on service delivery, justice and security, agriculture, water, transport and more. In collaboration with the Asia Foundation, ODI conducted action research on three programs over a period of 18 months, providing insights into how these programs developed over time and documenting their learning in real-time. REFORMING SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT in Phnom Penh is the second of these case studies. Current literature has helped explain why a politically-informed approach can be useful to development programming, and has provided broad principles for working in this way.

7 But little has been written about the nuts and bolts of how this approach plays out in practice. This case study tells a detailed and nuanced story explaining how the Foundation operationalized a politically informed approach to the reform of Phnom Penh s SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT sector. The results of this work are still emerging, but initial signs suggest movement toward greater competition that should result in improved performance and better outcomes in this sector. Though the full impact story is not yet complete, interesting insights can already be gained regarding the choices made by the program team, and the corresponding evolution of the program strategy.

8 William Cole, Senior Director, Program Strategy, Innovation and Learning (PSIL), The Asia FoundationForewordMarta Foresti,DirectorGovernance and SecurityOverseas Development InstituteI would like to thank David Booth, Silas Everett, Mark Koenig, Debra Ladner, Lavinia Tyrrel, and The Asia Foundation reform team in Cambodia for their comments on this report, as well as on earlier case study notes that informed it. I am also grateful for comments received at a mid-term workshop in London, and at an opening workshop in Bangkok that assisted in framing the case studies.

9 I would like to thank Daniel Harris (author of the Bangladesh and Mongolia case studies) as well for his comments and for ongoing discussions throughout the action research that enabled the case studies to speak to each other and were a useful prompt for exploring new ideas and questions. I would especially like to thank all those I interviewed as part of the action research in Cambodia over the last 18 months, and particularly the Foundation reform team in Cambodia for hosting me and being so open to the experience of a researcher following their real-time programming.

10 Finally, this research would not have been possible without generous funding from the DFAT TAF Partnership. Of course, all errors and omissions within the case study are my own. Acknowledgements ContentsEXECUTIVE SUMMARY 91. INTRODUCTION 13 Origins and purpose of the action-research 13 Approach and methods of the case study 13 2 .THE CONTEXT AND FOCUS OF THE REFORM 15 Conditions imposed on the reform initiative 15 Issue selection 16 The Problem 16 The wider reform context 19 3.