3.8 million people don't have clean water.
3.8 million people don't have clean water.
That's 1 in 4 people.
Over half of the population lack a decent toilet.
Over half of the population lack a decent toilet.
8 million people live without this basic essential.
Almost 9 in 10 people living in cities have a decent toilet.
Almost 9 in 10 people living in cities have a decent toilet.
But only 2 in 5 people living in rural areas do.
Clean water, greener gardens
In Prek Bei, around 900 people make a living from small-scale farming of their kitchen gardens and livestock. Lack of water services and toilets has added greatly to local poverty.
Until recently, the only way to get regular water here was to order it by the bottle from a travelling truck. Quality was questionable, and prices high enough to worsen financial problems.
It was also less than punctual. “Sometimes the truck doesn't come for two days,” says Krowh Phong, 75.
The expense and inconvenience of living this way put a limit on what people could achieve.
This has changed dramatically, since our local partners DDSP – who focus on helping people with disabilities in Cambodia – helped us install a community well.
Phong is delighted by the new ease of access: “Now I have water, I can grow vegetables to cook and sell at market, like pumpkin and lemongrass and others.” She has even built a toilet for her house.
Innovation in floating villages
For the 100,000 people who live on Tonlé Sap, the lake is their lifeblood. We helped to trial the Handypod, which filters toilet waste through a floating hyacinth garden before it goes back to the lake - keeping the water clean for other uses like cleaning and fishing.
Spotlight on urban sanitation - Where does the shit go?
While over 80 percent of the urban population have access to a decent toilet, the question of ‘where does all the shit go?’ crops up frequently.
We estimate that between 90 to 95 percent of faecal waste across the country goes back in to the environment completely untreated. Over the course of the year, we plan to turn the spotlight on this emerging public health threat. We’ll work together with stakeholders across cities to plan for, and support the technical capacity to improve sanitation services. In addition, we’ll work at the national level to draw attention to the importance of ensuring that faecal waste is safely disposed of so that the health benefits of this can be realised. To find out how you can get involved in this exciting work, contact our Cambodian team.
