This document provides some guidance on practical steps that can be taken to implement the disclosure element of the Good Governance Framework (GGF). The document is written for managers and staff of operations funded by the World Bank and the ADB.

The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is committed to full implementation of the GGF as a tool to improve governance. It is consistent with the main objectives of the updated Rectangular Strategy: Growth, Employment, Equity, and Efficiency. The GGF supports these objectives by making development projects more accountable, transparent and participatory. The updated National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2009-13 provides an overview of the responsibilities of each department and agency and how to achieve these goals.

Disclosure is a key component of the GGF. Overall the framework contains both the more traditional areas of control like procurement rules, financial management and codes of conduct and ethics as well as social dimensions of accountability: disclosing information to the public, promoting a role for civil society, establishing complaints handling mechanisms, etc. There can be little accountability without disclosure, but disclosure does not only create the opportunity for improved control, it has proven to have a preventative effect too.

What seems critical is that the GGF should not remain an attachment to the quarterly reports but is supposed to be used as a management tool – a tracking mechanism for project managers to ensure that accountability can be achieved.