Sanitation in Phnom Village

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

Background

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.

Starting with increasing access to sanitation, WISE will work together with Phnom Village to achieve their development goals

Activities and achievements

2015 (Start of project)

Recce visit to Phnom Village, including a community meeting with residents

2016 (Needs assessment)

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.

2017 (Community planning workshop)

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.

2018 to 2019 (Pilot of subsidy scheme)

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.

2020 - Present (COVID-19)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team pivoted towards minimising coronovirus infections through hygiene promotion and distribution of masks and soap. 

Next steps

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.

How you can help

  • Fund to our visits to Phnom Village to carry out consultations.
  • If you are in Cambodia, volunteer your time to visit Phnom Village and consult residents and community leaders on next steps. Training will be provided.