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Description |
The Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management (PPP) is a capacity development program that supports knowledge products and services in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). It is a pioneering program to build capacities of civil servants and to promote regional cooperation in the GMS. PPP has received total funding of $10.95 million since its inception in 2003 for the first four phases. It is designed as a continuing project, with each phase building on the experiences and lessons of previous phases.
The PPP has had notable achievements. Learning programs provide GMS policy makers and managers with conceptual tools and frameworks on regional integration and leadership, core development sectors, development management and cross-cutting themes. These programs enhance their skills in developing and implementing functional and strategic development interventions. To date, 2,032 GMS civil servants have attended 103 PPP learning programs organized with 28 capacity development partners (within and outside the GMS). The PPP supports fellowships to prestigious universities and institutes. Graduates of these learning programs or the 47 fellows, now constitute the core of development leaders who are making a difference in the GMS. Seven issues of the Journal of Greater Mekong Subregion Development Studies, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed publication promotes better understanding of GMS development issues have been published. The PPP Research Program has funded 4 multi-country research projects (female labor quality; contract farming; financial services in border areas; and cross-border economic zones) participated by 14 GMS institutions and produced 4 working papers, 4 policy briefs and a journal special issue. The PPP organized 7 GMS Development Dialogues (GDDs) attended by 500 participants from government, civil society, academe, private sector and media to provide a platform for in-depth discussion of subregional issues to enhance policy and decision making capacities. The PPP also supports learning resource centers in Cambodia and Lao PDR with about 10,000 users and organized 18 Leaders Networking for Knowledge (LINK) alumni events with 850 participants. A program management and performance monitoring and evaluation system set up to be more results oriented. A newsletter (Mekong Leaders) published and website established.
The TA builds on past experiences and lessons learned from previous phases. Several evaluation were conducted on the PPP including an evaluation study conducted by OED in 2008, the PPP Impact Assessment Study also in 2008 and TA completion reports for the first three phases. The major lessons learned include the need for: (i) selecting learning programs with more sharpened focus and customization that contribute to developing individual civil servants capacities to support GMS cooperation; (ii) better targeting of participants involved in GMS working groups, programs and projects; (iii) follow-up and deepening programs, i.e. one-off programs unlikely to lead to sustainable workplace behavior; (iv) progressively develop technical and financial sustainability; (v) more active roles of GMS institutions (both research and training), despite their weak capacities, for PPP to phase out and eventually assume a more facilitative and enabling role; (vi) developing a pool of GMS trainers and experts; (vii) GMS learning materials (e.g. case studies, manuals and tool kits); (viii) better synergies and linkages of policy research with learning programs; and (ix) better indicators (baseline and targets) for more results-oriented capacity development. These lessons were taken into account, thus the R-CDTA design include new key features: (i) customized regional cooperation learning programs; (ii) better targeting of participants; (iii) sustainability strategies such as Training of Trainers (TOT), learning materials development and new partnership modalities; (iv) South-south cooperation focusing on low income countries; and (v) tracer studies and comprehensive evaluation.
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