On a recent Sunday, as the sun rose over the spires of Angkor Wat, five thousand saffron-clad monks shuffled into the park grounds. They — along with thousands more students, villagers, farmers and laypeople — had been bussed in from across the country as part of a hastily arranged "prayer for peace and happiness." Over the loudspeakers came a brief history of Cambodia, — the Angkorian empire, the great kings, the horrors of the Pol Pot regime, and then: Peace.

For more than three decades, Cambodia’s strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen has coupled such tactic threats with more overt ones to retain his grip on power. A Khmer Rouge cadre who defected and returned to the Vietnamese to overthrow the barbarous regime in 1979, the premier has long fashioned himself and his ruling Cambodian People’s Party as the country’s savior. But as the years slide by, a younger generation with no recollection of war is demanding more from their government than threats of violence and reminders of worse times.

Amid such brazen rights violations, a familiar pattern has emerged. Rights groups have urged Cambodia’s donors “to act,” a flurry of strongly worded statements has appeared, and senior diplomats have stressed the need for Cambodia to return to democratic norms. But at the end of the day, the latest situation highlights how relatively small a sway donors can have.

There’s also a cost to individuals when aid is suspended. But the problem is of course, if you have a government who knows that in the end aid is not going to suspended, then conditionalities are never going to be effective.” -Haley Swedlund

Read the full article by Abigail Seiff  about foreign aid from Devex International Development