TV personality and comedian Chab Chean has been chosen as the government's spokesperson in a push to promote sanitation throughout the countryside.

The government is hoping that with a little toilet humour the pro-sanitation message will reach the countryside, where millions live without access to running water or toilets [1] and the nearest rice field often passes for the bathroom.

Chea Samnang, director of the Department of Rural Health at the Ministry of Rural Development said that Chab Chean has more impact than local authorities: “He is an excellent model in encouraging Cambodians to cooperate with local authorities so that they know how to live in a clean environment and how to use toilets”.

[1] Only about 16 percent of the Cambodians have access to toilets and in some parts of the country that figure can drop below five percent, according to the World Bank-sponsored Water and Sanitation Program.

Source: Khoun Leakhana, Phnom Penh Post, 23 Dec 2008

Tags: east asia & pacific, hygiene promotion, sanitation