WASH skills Development Organization (WASH-SDO) implements the BMZ-financed project "Decentralised Water and Sanitation Solutions for Small Towns in Cambodia and Laos", together with its partner office Environmental Sanitation Cambodia (ESC). Output 4 of the project requires that the approaches developed are used for national dialogue and for exchange of experience in the Mekong region, including through regional workshops with participants from Cambodia, Laos and, where relevant, other countries of the region.

WASH-SDO, together with its partner network, is planning a regional Summit on City-Wide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) for the Mekong region, provisionally scheduled for 2027. The Summit is intended to bring together practitioners, government counterparts, and development partners from Cambodia, Laos, and other countries in the region to exchange experience on decentralised sanitation, wastewater and faecal sludge management, and inclusive urban service delivery.

The Summit builds on a growing body of practical work across the region — including CWIS planning in Cambodia, CWIS adaptation and national guideline development in Laos, and a regional DEWATS training package — which is expected to be ready for wider dissemination by 2027. A regional platform is considered a more effective way to share this material and connect it to ongoing regional dialogue than a series of separate national events.

An indicative budget of approximately EUR 12,000 has been earmarked for delivery of the Summit in 2027, intended to cover an online or hybrid format. A fully in-person regional event would require additional co-funding beyond this envelope, and identifying such co-funding is part of what this assignment is meant to establish.