Cambodia political commitment building

Freeland

Freeland has a Memorandum of Understanding with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) that commits the two organizations to collaborate to strengthen and harmonize legislation across the 10 ASEAN Member States on combating wildlife crime. Using the Freeland-produced ASEAN Handbook on Combating Wildlife Crime, a Freeland-led Legal Support Task Force (that also includes National University of Singapore and ASEAN-WEN) provides technical training and support to parliamentarians and their staff who are responsible for writing laws and policies. Freeland also provides technical support to the AIPA Secretariat to mobilize interest among politicians and media across ASEAN to suppress wildlife trafficking.

INTERPOL

INTERPOL’s Environmental Security Sub-Directorate seeks to promote the prioritization of work by national police services on environmental crime issues. See also the above INTERPOL reference in the section concerning support of law enforcement (national level).

TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC closely collaborates with Cambodia-based Wildlife Alliance to foster political commitment and enhance wildlife trade-related legislation in the country, including closing loopholes that undermine adequate law enforcement responses – see section above on law enforcement support at a national level.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

UN Environment and UNDP, in partnership with other UN agencies such as UNODC and the CITES Secretariat, along with the Global Wildlife Program, will convene an Africa-Asia Symposium on Strengthening Legal Frameworks to Combat Wildlife Crime in Bangkok in July 2017. The Symposium is expected to bring together up to 10 countries from Africa and 10 from Asia to discuss criteria for effective legal frameworks and priority issues to strengthen application of national laws to wildlife crime. See also reference in UNEP section.

United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment)

UN Environment, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and others, will convene an Africa-Asia Symposium on Strengthening Legal Frameworks to Combat Wildlife Crime in Bangkok on 4-5 July 2017 (the Symposium). The key objective of the Symposium is to advance efforts in Africa and Asia Pacific to strengthen and harmonize legal frameworks to combat wildlife crime. Participants will discuss their countries’ experience with developing and enacting laws that address wildlife crime, and debate proposed criteria and recommended minimum requirements for strengthening legislation that governs the multiple aspects of wildlife crime. Opportunities to strengthen political will to combat wildlife crime through the strategic engagement of parliamentarians from Africa and Asia Pacific will also be explored as a secondary objective.The Symposium will support the participation of 20 representatives from Africa and Asia Pacific, and more if additional resources can be mobilized. Target participants will be senior government officials who are responsible for developing or strengthening laws and regulations relevant to combating wildlife crime. Cambodia is proposed for inclusion in the Symposium.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

UNODC, through its Global Programme for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime, works with national legal systems and law enforcement agencies of Member States (which in ASEAN includes Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam) to strengthen legislative frameworks, shape policy, enhance knowledge and capacities, and increase regional cooperation to combat wildlife and forest crime. In October 2015, the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime agreed to include “wildlife and timber trafficking” as a priority crime under the purview of the Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC). In June 2016, UNODC worked in cooperation with Thailand and the Royal Thai Police to convene a regional conference to bring the SOMTC focal points on wildlife and timber trafficking together to agree on a work programme. The Work Programme to Combat Wildlife and Timber Trafficking will be integrated with the existing SOMTC 2016-18 Work Programme to implement the ASEAN Plan of Action to Combat Transnational Crime. In parallel, UNODC is also encouraging the establishment of a SOMTC working group on wildlife and timber trafficking to coordinate implementation of the Work Programme.

UNODC conducted a rapid assessment in Cambodia in 2015 to evaluate the strengths and challenges of the national criminal justice response to wildlife and forest crime. In May 2017, UNODC will co-organize a national roundtable meeting in collaboration with WCS and the US Embassy to raise the profile of wildlife trafficking and identify barriers and propose solutions to enhance the criminal justice system response to wildlife crime in Cambodia. UNODC will present the results of the rapid assessment at the meeting.

USAID Wildlife Asia

USAID Wildlife Asia will seek to build commitment by engaging high levels of the judiciary in the region. See above section on law enforcement support (national level) for additional information with specific reference to Cambodia.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

WCS has assisted the Ministry of Environment since 2015 to draft new primary legislation pertaining to wildlife trafficking, under the Natural Resource and Environmental Code (an overarching legal framework for all environmental laws in the country). WCS coordinated a group of technical experts to provide input to the development of this draft legislation (on wildlife and protected areas management), and will continue to play a coordination role in the development of supporting legislation related to wildlife trafficking and wildlife crime over the next few years.

WCS undertook surveys to examine the trade and trafficking of wildlife in Cambodia in order to better understand the current situation (trafficking routes, modus operandi etc), develop more effective strategies and provide recommendations to Government of Cambodia.

WCS is planning a national round table on wildlife trafficking in May 2017 with UNODC and the US Department of Homeland Security. This will be attended by Cambodian law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.