The Ministry of Rural Development has awarded Svay Rieng for being the first province to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in Cambodia, meaning every household has access to a toilet.

At the April 27 award ceremony in the province, rural development minister Ouk Rabun, citing a report from the Cambodian Socio-Economic Survey 2019-2020, said that this year, 80 per cent of the Kingdom’s population has access to clean water and to toilets, while 89 per cent of households had the means to wash their hands.

“We laid out a national strategic plan, a national action plan and a provincial action plan to achieve our sustainable national development goals by 2025. Every citizen in every rural community will have access to a clean water supply and live in an environment of sustainable sanitation,” he said.

Provincial governor Men Vibol said at the event that Svay Rieng’s achievement was largely due to the ministry’s national strategic and action plans. The National Strategic Development Plan to reduce poverty had also contributed, he noted.

“Our results not only reflect the growing awareness of the people regarding health and hygiene issues, but also reflect the economic development of the local people, who are able to contribute and are often self-reliant in building toilets in their homes,” he said.

Toch Poliva – deputy governor and also head of the technical team for rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene at the provincial level – said Svay Rieng was one of the six target provinces chosen by UNICEF to implement the Accelerated Sanitation and Water for All Phase 2 programme, which began in late 2018.

“All over Svay Rieng, people understand the importance of maintaining good hygiene habits by building toilets, drinking clean water and washing their hands with soap,” he said.

He added that the public had cooperated with district, town and commune authorities – as well as village chiefs – to carry out the work and that was how sanitation rates had increased from 90 to 100 per cent.

He said five per cent of the people – 6,719 homes – still used shared toilets. The province had achieved its ODF status thanks to the recognition of national and provincial committees.