When WISE visited Phnom Village in 2015, residents shared that they wanted toilets. A needs assessment demonstrated that low-income families could not afford to build a latrine on their own. Therefore, WISE and the residents jointly designed a scheme to subsidise the costs of latrine construction.
In partnership with
In 2016, only 29 of the 101 households in Phnom Village had a latrine. Residents that met WISE and partner Neakpoan Organization for Development (NOD) at a community meeting in December 2015 requested that we construct latrines. Therefore, WISE and NOD set out to work together with the village to achieve this goal.
Recce visit to Phnom Village, including a community meeting with residents
Carried out household survey as well as focus group discussions with women and community leaders. The needs assessment demonstrated that residents felt sanitation was important, but food was a more immediate need. Households earned low and irregular wages. Therefore, they did not have the means to save or take up a microfinance loan.
Presented findings from the needs assessment and facilitated a workshop with residents based on the participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) approach. Participants decided to subsidise up to 80% of the cost of constructing latrines for poor households, and suggested criteria for selecting eligible households. WISE agreed with participants to pilot the scheme with five households.
Piloted the subsidy scheme in July 2018 with five households. Recipients were given the option to pay their contribution on their own schedule, and all recipients did so within a few months. Construction was followed by six months of visits to monitor the use and maintenance of the latrines.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team pivoted towards minimising coronovirus infections through hygiene promotion and distribution of masks and soap.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have significantly changed circumstances in Phnom Village. WISE will be consulting residents on whether sanitation remains a priority, or if residents have other more pressing needs or goals. From there, we will determine appropriate next steps.
Our staff numbers in Cambodia have also since been eliminated. Therefore, our focus will be on rebuilding our team before moving forward.