Fostering collective action to improve rural sanitation in rural Cambodia

Does your trust in your local leaders influence the likelihood that you live in an open defecation free community? In Cambodia the answer is 'yes'.

WaterAid, in partnership with the Cambodia Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement Programme (CRSHIP), identified considerable influencing social factors that mediate program implementation and success, measured by sanitation uptake. This realisation led us to carry out more in-depth studies of these social factors through the lenses of collective efficacy and social capital.

Findings from this study suggest utilising existing social structures and controls within rural Cambodian communities when developing participatory sanitation and hygiene programs.