On invitation from the Ministry of Rural Development ,Government of Cambodia Dr. Kamal Kar, Chairman, CLTS Foundation, Kolkata, India visited Phnom Penh  and joined in the celebration of National Sanitation Day of Cambodia in the last week of November 2019. Immediately after the National Sanitation Day (NSD) celebration, Dr. Kar facilitated a two days Training of Trainers workshop on  Institutional Triggering designed especially for the provincial administration of all the 25 provinces of Cambodia. The workshop was specially designed to trigger the highest leadership and the decision makers of the provincial administration. To be more specific the workshop was designed to trigger the Deputy Governors of all the provinces so as to fast track the process of achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) Cambodia. It is the Ministry of Rural Development which is responsible for implementing  WASH programmes in Cambodia and the Provincial Directors of Rural Development (PDRD) are the key personnel to oversee and lead the process of implementation in all the districts and Commune Councils in the provinces.

Rural Cambodia’s access to basic sanitation was 42.6% in 2015 according to JMP: WHO/UNICEF. The practice of OD was very high in rural areas with high incidences of diarrhoea, malnutrition and stunting. The rate of stunting in Cambodia is one of the highest in the region next to TimurLestewhich has the third-highest stunting rate in the world. 54% of children under the age of five are stunted and 25% are wasted(who.org). The practise of OD in rural Cambodia is still very high although ODF Communes and Districts have started emerging in the country. Kep is the first province to have a couple of ODF districts while the number of Open Defecation Free (ODF)  communes in the country are many.