Cambodia: Third Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Development Program

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Rural sanitation - Rural water policy, institutional and capacity development - Rural water supply services

Rationale for further sector financing. A third sector project is needed to support the government in its continuous efforts to achieve (i) universal RWSS coverage nationwide and (ii) its recently introduced target of an open defecation free Cambodia, where every households has a toilet. Given that 36.7% of the rural population does not have access to safe water supply and 35.8% does not have access to a household toilet (and currently practicing open defecation), the task of achieving the government targets remains huge, even given the significant gains over the past decade. The current annual levels of growth for water supply (1.8%) and sanitation (4.3% post-2010) are insufficient to reach the 2025 target coverage, and both must be accelerated to at least 5% per annum until 2025 to realize the vision of universal coverage. Continued sector financing is needed to at least 2025, and possibly 2030, for the government to achieve its targets. The additional sector loan modality is suitable because of (i) strong links with the current project, including capacities developed; (ii) a high degree of project readiness, and a well-performing executing agency; and (iii) scaling up project benefits using innovative designs in climate change, disaster risk management, and sanitation, developed under the ongoing TR-TA and grant.

Strategic alignment. The project will contribute to the government's efforts to achieve universal coverage for improved water supply and sanitation coverage by 2025. The project (i) remains consistent with ADB's country partnership strategy, which focuses on strengthening urban rural links in the Tonle Sap Basin; and (ii) is included in ADB's country operations business plan for Cambodia, 2019-2023. Lessons include (i) the need for greater focus on addressing gender inequality and supporting women's and community leadership to overcome cultural norms; (ii) the need to develop equitable solutions to address increases in the cost of community small piped water supply facilities, which hamper poorer households meeting beneficiary contributions; and (iii) the need to introduce climate change adaptation and mitigation together with disaster risk management to address the impact of climate change on RWSS, which is becoming significant with more severe floods and droughts and the depletion of groundwater sources in the dry season.

RWSS management decentralized

Rural water supply service in the Tonle Sap Provinces expanded

Rural sanitation in Tonle Sap Provinces expanded

Human resources strengthened and management capacity developed in Tonle Sap Provinces