That was the theme behind the first Collective Action Workshop held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last month. Dozens of actors from Cambodia’s rural water, sanitation, and hygiene [WASH] sector came together to chart a more collaborative effort towards meeting the sector’s shared vision of universal sanitation by 2025 and the goals outlined in the 2014 – 2018 National Action Plan [NAP].
As Mr Chreay Pom, Director of Cambodia’s Department of Rural Health Care, highlighted in his keynote address, this wasn’t the first, nor the only, instance of a collaborative approach to deal with the most critical issues facing the sector. Cambodia’s RWSSH Strategy and RWSSH National Action Plan [NAP] – the very documents that guide the sector – were developed with input from multiple stakeholders. There are committees and working groups at national and sub-national levels that serve as platforms to inform and connect organizations. And working groups meet regularly to discuss pressing issues such as fecal sludge management or behaviour change communication (BCC).