Meetings Gone Awry

As a continuation from my last post, the drama intensifies...

The most hilarious and horrible thing happened at a meeting last week. (Other than being asked to raise money to build a government building. Sheesh.) I got to see all the miscommunication in action. Meaning, there was a meeting with only three participants and they talked over each other, refused to listen, but then finally agreed upon the appropriate action. Three divisions of government authority in the District were represented: a Councillor from the District Council (the Director did not attend. again.); the Head of Administration in the District, and; the Second Deputy District Governor. Chairing the meeting was the NCDD Facilitator. My VA Virack and I were there to observe.

Another day, another meeting...

The entire agenda of the meeting was to discuss putting one new point on the agenda for the Monthly District Council Meeting. It took about two hours. What was the point
that they wanted to add to the agenda? That the District Council has communication problems with the Commune Council. That's it. Not proposing a solution or anything. Just that they want to say that they have communication problems. Although their point may be self-evident, they need to discuss it, and the meeting is for the purpose of the Council discussing things, so why can't they just add it to the agenda without the two hours of refusing to cooperate?

Well, first off, it just wasn't true that there are communication issues! Both the Head of Administration and the Second Deputy said that the Commune Council and the District Council always have their monthly meetings. The Commune Councils always do a good job. Why do we want to know who has committed right or wrong?

Yikes. What a great way to start a meeting. It went on from there and took every possible divergence from the issue of communication. Were they obligated to fill the 2.5 hours? Interestingly, the representative from the District Council said very little, but got more involved as the 'meeting' progressed. The NCDD Facilitator was seen as the boss, and he distanced himself from the agenda request of the District Council and their assertion that they have communication problems with the Commune. Also not a good sign.

The Second Deputy Governor said that they don't need to point fingers at who is right or wrong...actually, you do. There has to be some accountability and leadership within these institutions but no one is willing to take the lead. In my opinion, the government is concerned with a) conducting meetings; b) producing proper documentation or technical documents (Which aren't very technical at all. They are just really rigid about formatting government documents to ensure that they are legal and approved from the authorities above them); c) developing infrastructure, and; d) maintaining security. Legitimizing the governance structure, increasing the capacity of people to engage with the government and accessing services is not a concern.

The meeting and workshop culture here is...different. As my VA tells me, in the Khmer language it is difficult to differentiate between a meeting and a workshop. I have attended both and I can see where the confusion occurs. The government is very good at holding workshops and meetings. They are good at producing agendas that may not discuss solutions, at writing meeting minutes that don't quite say anything, ... I am making harsh generalizations, of course. But in my District they hold a lot of meetings and it allows them to check off some boxes about engagement and communication. But neither of those things have been happening at the meetings I have attended.

I have only attended one government workshop, but it felt very much like the meetings I have attended; only a handful of (powerful) people speak and they repeat the same points again and again. The workshop lasted all day and it became a lecture by a Provincial level official about how the Commune staff need to work harder and do things properly and most importantly how they have to spend the money allotted to them by UNICEF. It was...not good.

My CUSO/VSO colleague pointed out that attendees get a certificate after the completion of a workshop. Cambodians also list the workshops that they have attended at the very beginning of their CV. Obviously they place a lot of importance on attending workshops! But the government workshop I attended was not participatory, had about 50 attendees and had no room for discussion. It was a lecture at best. But I digress...

I am not interested in continuing the emphasis on going to meetings. I want to begin to change, little by little, drop by drop, the entire work culture and make the District government a legitimate institution that is responsive to aware of the needs of its inhabitants. And implementing solutions would also be nice. I may benefit from lowering my expectations just a little bit.

Adding some positive 'light' on the situation: my balcony at sunset

On Friday morning I'll attend a CCW meeting. Cambodians love their acronyms, and this one stands for Women's and Children's Consultation Committee (or something like that). Since women do not hold positions of power in the District (with one theoretical exception: the Second Deputy Governor) their concerns have not been represented at the District and Commune meetings I've attended so far. I hope to engage these women encourage them to actively participate and not wait to be called on by the government to speak up. Some women are already doing this in their village, but I think everyone would benefit if they stood up and raised their concerns outside of their comfort zone. I love working with the women here and hope that I can inspire some radicals to emerge!