BORDA in Laos

BORDA has been active in Laos since 2008. In 2013 BORDA Laos began an ongoing cooperation with the Department of Housing and Urban Planning (DHUP), Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT). Through this cooperation, several towns and provinces have developed demonstration projects that include decentralised wastewater treatment solutions (DEWATS).

The DHUP - BORDA Laos joint action plan aims to improve environmental health and municipal sanitation service provision in communities, schools, hospitals and housing developments across Laos. The common goal is an established demand-oriented portfolio of decentralised Basic Needs Services (BNS) following BORDA’s Integrated Sanitation Approach for municipal wastewater management.

• A particular focus is on building capacity in urban wastewater management, DEWATS integration, and faecal sludge management (FSM), with trainings on planning, construction, and the legal framework.
• BORDA Laos advocates for quality standards in construction supervision, operation and maintenance (O&M) management, impact evaluations and progress monitoring.
• All DEWATS projects in Laos are using BORDA’s quality management system (QMS) as standard operating procedure to monitor the entire implementation process.
• BORDA Laos is also working as a technical assistant for cooperation partners on project planning, technical design, construction supervision, capacity building, on-the-job training, and monitoring and evaluation.

DEWATS infrastructure in Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Bokeo, Champasak and Khammoan province is supported by funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Johanniter, UN-Habitat, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Lao government, and private sector organisations.