Cambodia: Rural Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Improvement Sector Development Program

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

The program will be aligned with the following impact: ensure availability and sustainability management of water and sanitation for all (Cambodia Sustainable Development Goal 6). The outcome will be improved access to safely managed and affordable drinking water, sanitation services and hygiene facilities for rural areas in nine project provinces. A sector development program, consisting of an investment loan (project component) and a policy-based loan (program component) is the most appropriate modality, given the critical policy actions required to further strengthen the ongoing sector reforms, and to compliment the government's commitment to expanding RWSS access and services to ensure that rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene development targets are met. The proposed reforms will include actions to cope with potential future development and growth, while leveraging difficult and critical water sector reforms, improve interministerial and/or interinstitutional coordination in the WASH sector.

The project component will expand RWSS access in at least 18 districts in 9 provinces, benefiting about 580,000 people. The project is expected to use a sector lending approach. RGC proposed that the following provinces are to be covered under the project component: (i) Banteay Meanchey, (ii) Battambang, (iii) Kampong Speu, (iv) Kampot, (v) Kratie, (vi) Otdar Meanchey, (vii) Pailin, (viii) Preah Vihear and (ix) Stung Treng. The program will be formulated to cover policy reforms to address among others: (i) inequalities to rural WASH services, (ii) inadequate operation and maintenance and the absence of tariff setting guidance, (iii) limited capacities of subnational administration to plan and deliver WASH services, and (iv) unclear mandate and limited interministerial/interinstitutional coordination and collaboration.

Cambodia has made significant progress in broadening access to improved water supply, sanitation and hygiene services. Nationally, access to improved water supply increased from 77% in 2015 to 85% in 2020, access to improved sanitation increased from 60% to 77%, while access to basic hygiene services increase from 67% to 74%, in the same period. In rural areas, access to improved water supply increased from 72% to 81%, while access to improved sanitation increased from 52% to 69% and access to basic hygiene services also increase from 62% in 2015 to 71% in 2020. In 2020, Cambodia's population was estimated at 16.7 million and is expected to reach 18.8 million in 2030. The proportion of the population living in rural areas decreases from 79.3% in 2011 to 75.8% in 2020, and is expected to continue to decrease, in line with the country's economic growth and urbanization. However, by 2030, the majority of Cambodia's population is projected to still live in rural areas.

Despite the significant achievements, there are vast discrepancies between rural and urban areas, with Cambodia's rural areas continue to lag urban areas and the national average. In 2020, access to safely managed water supply facilities stood at 28% nationally, and 57% in urban areas, while in rural areas, the access was only 18%. Access to piped water in rural areas was 17%, with 80% in urban areas and 32% nationally. Most of rural residents use septic tanks and latrines (64%) and about 6% are served with sewer connection (compared with 48% in urban areas and 17% nationally).

Impact the Program is Aligned with:

Availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all ensured

Access to safely managed, resilient, and affordable drinking water, sanitation services, and hygiene facilities in rural areas of project provinces improved.

Resilient, inclusive and safely managed rural water supply services improved and expanded

Resilient, inclusive and safely managed rural sanitation services and hygiene practices improved and expanded.

Institutional capacity and regulatory framework strengthened for sustainability and climate resilience.