Better Work Asia Pacific region - Cambodia (2)

After having been established in 2001 as a traditional donor funded ILO project, Better Factory Cambodia (BFC) has undergone significant transformation to a market driven, financially sustainable operation with support from the national tripartite constituents as well as international buyers. Since 2006, Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) has been working on a step-by-step transition process to become an independent Cambodian organization operating as part of the Global Better Work programme, a joint initiative of the ILO and IFC. This process implies significant changes in the institutional set up of the BFC, its financing, modus operandi, and the responsibilities of the programme partners. The transitioning requires technical alignment towards using Global Better Work tools and becoming part of the Global quality assurances system of the Better Work programme. The basis for the sustainability strategy lies in the commitment of the industry partners to finance and find ways and means to sustain the programme, formalized in a MOU signed in September 2005. This agreement was extended in December 2008 for a three year period until the end of 2010. BFC will take the final step in this transition in January 2011, and will become an independent Cambodian organization In order to ensure smooth and secure transitioning and build the ground of a solid national Foundation, funds under the Australian Partnership Agreement will be used provide support in 2011 during the start up phase of the new entity. The Government of Cambodia has requested for the initial time-line to be extended so that the programme can under ILO continue to provide support to the still fragile industrial relations improvement process in the country, as well as to allow for the industry to emerge from the economic crisis in a better shape. For the past four years IFC has provided advisory services to BFC to achieve the necessary changes required to undergo transition, while continuing to serve the industry. A feasibility study has been carried out in such key areas as institutional model and governance structure; financial modelling, including cost-recovery based business planning; support to develop additional training products to expand BFC offering, and capacity building on evaluating training impact. At the same time, BFC has started reviewing its internal processes and develop internal technical capacity to adopt and use the Global Better Work tools. The funding will be used to support management and operations cost of the programme for 2011 and especially human resources costs of experienced staff in order to 1). guarantee a smooth transfer of expertise and knowledge to the future organization, and 2). contribute to development of transition strategies and their effective implementation.

Project symbol

CMB/10/50/MUL

Admin unit

ED/DIALOGUE

Start date

01/08/2010

End date

30/06/2012

Total allocation

116326

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

116326

Development Partners

Multi-donor support for Better Work

Country/Countries

Cambodia

Outcomes

Decent Work in Economic Sectors