Progress through Partnership

In 2020, WaterAid was proud to partner with VF Corporation, a global apparel and footwear company, and The VF Foundation, the corporation’s global philanthropic arm, to improve conditions for factory workers and for the communities near factories in Cambodia.

The Garment, Textile, and Footwear industry represents the largest portion of Cambodia’s manufacturing sector. Workers are predominantly women under 35 years of age, and many live in temporary accommodations. Many factories are opening in rural areas around the country with garment factory workers commuting significant distances to work from their villages.

WaterAid conducted research between 20182022 which found there was an extensive range of potential benefits to improving WASH services in supply chains.

Together WaterAid, VF Corporation and The VF Foundation aimed to make these potential benefits a reality by providing WASH training to key personnel throughout factories and communities, developing behavior change communications and intervention activities for factories and communities, strengthening WASH knowledge and skills among women and other marginalised groups as well as local and provincial governments, advocating for open defecation free-status, promoting piped water connections through accountability mechanisms, providing subsidy support to the poor to increase access to water supply services, and rehabilitating and constructing water kiosks, among other activities.

Since the partnership began in 2020, over 200,000 community members and factory workers have benefitted from WASH interventions.

Other successes include:

• 15,000 people benefitted through piped water connections that allow them access to safe water at home. This includes 2,450 marginalised community members

• 52,000 individuals have improved sanitation

• Improvement in 150 sub-national local authorities’ capacity to provide and manage WASH services in their local area

• Three provinces have achieved open defecation-free status

• WaterAid has developed and rolled out a WASH behavior change promotion package for garment factory workers

These achievements demonstrate the powerful impact a partnership like this one can have. WaterAid is looking forward to continuing the successful partnership with VF Corporation and The VF Foundation to further the impact of vital WASH services to even more Cambodian workers, families, and communities in the future.