In Cambodia, the Global Sanitation Fund programme is part of a dynamic mix of stakeholders pioneering innovative and successful work around sanitation marketing and other approaches. So it was with great excitement that the GSF programme became an active part of this mix with the signing of six sub-grantees on 1 January 2012, with a seventh expected in February. Plan International Cambodia, the Executing Agency, disbursed the first US$ 158,500 of a planned US$ 1,200,000 to these sub-grantees, who will focus on sanitation and hygiene promotion and Community-led Total Sanitation.
One of the challenges in Cambodia is that its rural population is traditionbound. Open defecation is commonly accepted, with the exception of latrine usage in public areas only, and only among adults. However, recent efforts to introduce new sanitation promotion and improved hygiene practices into communities have resulted in emerging indications of behaviour change. The strong NGO base that works in Cambodia will build upon these efforts, and five NGOs were amongst the first sub-grantees. These NGOs are at the forefront of a programme that will impact 200,000 households (approximately one million people) over five years in 2,000 villages, 250 rural communes and 53 districts where half the households currently lack any type of sanitation coverage.
To get to the stage of signing its sub-grantees, the in-country stakeholders formed an effective Programme Coordinating Mechanism (PCM) that included government officials, development partners and international NGOs. The result of this
successful collaboration was the joint Cambodia Rural Sanitation and Hygiene improvement Programme (CR-SHIP), which promotes sanitation and hygiene in the rural areas of the country.
Through CR-SHIP, the GSF is supporting the government by mobilizing resources to undertake advocacy work, ClTS
programming, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material, as well as development of critical tools, capacity development, and much more. The programme has been carefully designed to focus on the latest “software” approaches.
Today, improved rural coverage in Cambodia stands at 18 percent. In concert with the GSF programme support, the country aims to reach its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of increased sanitation services for 30 percent of the rural population by 2015.
