Capacity building

Since the Ministry of the Environment of Cambodia was established in 1993, the ministry has not employed enough staff with environmental expertise. Therefore, capacity building for environment management is a priority in the Environmental Strategic Plan 2004-2008. The current members of staff have different levels of education and knowledge, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Environment shown in the below table.

The Royal Government and the Ministry of Environment have been seeking scholarships from international organisations, NGOs and other donor countries to support their officers to go abroad to study about environmental and natural resources management and protection (including water environment). After finishing the Master and Ph.D programmes, the officers will have an appropriate level of specific knowledge and expertise to fulfill their assignments.

The specific capacity building for water environment, involving: (i) local training course; (ii) overseas training course; and (iii) local environmental education. Concerning water environment, those capacity building activities focus on: (i) the basic knowledge of causes and harmful effects to human and environment; (ii) water quality and water pollution monitoring/control at point and non-point sources; (iii) wastewater management and treatment engineering; (iv) water and wastewater sampling and analysis; (v) integrated water quality management, legislation and enforcement, and so on.

Local Training Course

Two types of training courses were implemented. One is in the central office and the other is at the provincial/ municipal levels. The training courses for staff in the central office are provided by international and/or local experts in the field of water environment. The participants in the training course included the staff of the Ministry of Environment, institutions, NGOs, private sector and educational institutions. The short-term training courses for the Environmental Provincial/Municipal Departments were provided by the relevant departments of the Ministry of Environment, in particular, the Department of Environmental Pollution Control. The objective of the course was to prepare trainers. The local staff who attended the courses were supposed to distribute their knowledge to and raise the awareness of the local community regarding water environmental management and protection.

Overseas Training Course

The officers of the Ministry of Environment attend the short-term training courses in overseas that were organised by countries or international communities. The contents of the courses were generally useful. However, some technologies/methodologies could not be applied in Cambodia because there is a lack of human resources and national budget in Cambodia. Additionally, some staff at the Ministry of Environment have the opportunity to attend long-term training courses to achieve a Master and/or a PhD. Degree

Local Environmental Education

The Environmental Department in the Royal Phnom Penh University plays an important role to provide the knowledge for the students on water environment management and protection. The institution was established a few years ago under the technical support/cooperation from international organisations. The institution provides bachelor degrees in the environmental field. Some of the students who graduated from the Royal Phnom Penh University choose to work at the Ministry of Environment.

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