In 2022, the NGO “Teuk Saat 1001” created 1,007 jobs for 844,000 rural water beneficiaries, including 315,000 children in schools, and has set up 300 water treatment kiosks.
Its executive director Amandine Chaussinand said in a press release marking World Water Day that drinking water production process – combined with the delivery of water jugs at home – allows Teuk Saat 1001 to be eligible for carbon financing.
Today, Teuk Saat 1001 relies on a network of 295 facilities implemented in over 18 provinces, managed by independent entrepreneurs who provide daily safe water to almost 900,000 villagers at their doorstep, including 350,000 children who receive water for free at schools.
“Indeed, since the beneficiaries receive water at home, they don’t have to boil it with charcoal or wood to make it safe for consumption. Affordable water prices are less than three per cent of monthly income," she noted.
Chaussinand said her NGO has created four sustainable jobs for each kiosk, with more than 30 per cent of the work currently done by women. The clean water project has contributed to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions of about 17,000 tonnes per year, while the clean water work for the environment has also reduced deforestation.
She said the organisation has improved the health and the livelihoods of rural communities by creating solutions to provide safe and affordable clean water at a price of $0.02 per litre.
The Teuk Saat 1001 clean water initiative started in 2005 when the first water treatment kiosks were implemented in Banteay Meanchey province. The water kiosk model, in operation since 2005, not only strengthens access to safe water in rural Cambodia, but is also proven to reduce CO2 emissions by around 17,000 tonnes each year.
Chaussinand said Teuk Saat 1001 is proud to be one of the very few organisations emitting carbon credits globally from a Cambodian project. The support of more than $7,000 will allow more than 3,500 primary school students in rural areas to continue their educational journey.
“In addition to this support, All Dreams Cambodia [Co, Ltd] is providing a direct financial contribution to our Water in School programme, which enable schoolchildren around each water kiosk to benefit from safe water for free,” she said.
Jacques Guichandut, managing director of All Dreams Cambodia, said at a March 22 press conference that the purchase of carbon credits has benefited the Kingdom, and this option made All Dreams Cambodia the first Cambodian travel agency to have such an approach to contributing to climate change mitigation.
He added that the purchase of the Gold Standard Carbon Credit from the 1001 Fontaines Water Supply Project aimed to provide safe water throughout Cambodia to improve the health and livelihoods of rural communities.
