Lao PDR has achieved considerable increases in sanitation coverage in rural areas. The country has also made progress in terms of developing policies, institutions and methodologies to more effectively deliver rural WASH services. In terms of equity, progress has been less clear: it appears that more affluent and non-poor rural populations and rural villages with access to roads have made most of the gains.
As for sustainability, coverage has increased progressively over the past two decades, although serious questions are raised as to whether resource allocation to the sector is sufficient to maintain and reinforce this trend. Equally, in spite of progress in promoting demand responsiveness and behavioural change, there are doubts about the sustainability of sanitation provision with regard to the operation, maintenance and hygienic use of latrines over time. Overall, however, the prospects for further progress are good, despite the slow pace. As one interviewee put it, it ‘is all to be played for now and there is a sense that things are going in the right direction'.
The main drivers of progress include:
- internal policy and institutional change and capacity building;
- a mode of service delivery driven by household private investment, mostly unsubsidised;
- sanitation hardware, technology and infrastructure provision with a focus on rapid coverage increase;
- external development finance for capacity building and Nam Saat operations;
- government financing of staff salaries and administration as well as Nam Saat commitment and hard work; and
- the government’s (passive) acceptance of reform and the (slow) process of increasing government ownership of rural sanitation issues.