Numbers are impressive but relationships count.  The Views from the Frontline (VFL) survey in Cambodia was carried out in 12 out of 24 provinces and in 2 districts from each province.  Between 6 and 10 communes in each province were surveyed.  Women, youth and children made up a large part of the focus group discussions.  The face-to-face surveys were coordinated by the local partners of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) like Oxfam, Action Aid, CARE, Muslim Aid, CONCERN, Danish Church Aid, Danish Red Cross, French Red Cross along with Cambodian Red Cross, in the country.

Sano, from Save the Earth Cambodia said that VFL 2011 in Cambodia was “designed as a process not as an event.”  INGOs have asked their local partners to take the lead in facilitating local dialogue in the communities.  The beauty of the VFL process is that it creates the opportunity for vulnerable people in the community to consult with local authorities where NGO staff have been facilitating the process and this creates a chance for partnership between the local authorities and communities.  Four thousand responses to the face-to-face survey have come through already but in Sano’s own words, “what is great is the value of the qualitative outcome.”

Early analyses has begun of VFL data from Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Niger, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe.