Building resilience through inclusive WASH in Indonesia

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is an important first step in building community health, wellbeing and resilience. For these students at a school for children with disabilities in Manggarai, Indonesia, lessons in good hand hygiene will have a positive impact on their health and wellbeing, with benefits flowing through to their families and community. Community resilience in the face of climate change starts with inclusive WASH. (Yayasan Plan International Indonesia)

These children are participating in a handwashing with soap demonstration with support from a sanitarian from the local community health centre, or ‘puskesmas,’ and teachers at their school for children with disabilities in Manggarai, Indonesia. This activity was part of a wider health promotion initiative supported by Plan International Australia and Yayasan Plan International Indonesia through their Water for Women project, WASH and Beyond: Transforming Lives in Eastern Indonesia.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic elevated awareness of the importance of handwashing with soap for disease prevention, just five years ago - like an estimated 2.3 billion people worldwide - this was not possible for many living in the project districts of Manggarai and Sumbawa.

When the project commenced in 2018, the Indonesian government’s community-led total sanitation policy, known as Sanitasi Total Berbasis Masyarakat (STBM), had created a strong enabling environment for improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) nationally, but had largely not been operationalised at a provincial and local level.

Most people living in Manggarai practiced open defecation and only about half the population had access to an improved water source. While in Sumbawa, least progress had been made on STBM implementation of the 10 districts in Nusa Tenggara Barat province. Without an established WASH working group in Manggarai and an inactive one in Sumbawa, district health offices struggled to advance STBM.

But over the past five years, supported by the Australian Government, Water for Women partners have been working with communities, education offices, schools, government and local organisations - including PKK (women’s organisations) and organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) - to improve this situation and transform lives ‘beyond WASH.’

Underpinned by gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) principles and a Participatory Action Research approach that places marginalised groups at the centre of their own change, STBM working groups were formed in Manggarai and reactivated in Sumbawa district to accelerate achievement of the five STBM pillars for all.

Today, more than 574,200 people living in rural and urban communities across Manggarai and Sumbawa have improved access to inclusive WASH as a direct result of the project, including some 286,889 rural women and girls and 7,953 people with disabilities.

In Manggarai, 100% of sub-districts have been verified open defecation free and have access to handwashing with soap. In Sumbawa, all five pillars of STBM have been verified by the provincial health agency for all villages, including:

1.    open defecation free (ODF) communities

2.    hand washing with soap at critical moments

3.    household water treatment and safe storage of water and food

4.    solid waste management

5.    liquid waste management.

“.... before STBM and MHM, I could not go to school, and after getting an understanding of MHM I was no longer lazy to go to school while menstruating because complete facilities are available.."

- A high school student from Sumbawa

Women and people with disabilities are now involved in the discussion about development plans at the district level, not only for WASH but also other sectors, and OPDs have the confidence to lead disability inclusion campaigns at the district level and to organise international disability day celebrations with support from other civil society organisations.

An inclusive community is an essential building block of climate resilience. Socially inclusive and cohesive communities are naturally more resilient, including to shocks from a changing climate, and they are more likely to have effective and sustainable water and WASH services and systems. Climate change will escalate risks and exacerbate impacts, particularly on vulnerable populations – inclusive water and WASH are critical connectors for community resilience and the ability to adapt and respond to increasing climate hazards.

The WASH and Beyond: Transforming Lives in Eastern Indonesia project was one of 20 Water for Women WASH projects to be delivered by civil society organisation partners in 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific from 2018-2022. Over the course of this first phase of the Fund, Water for Women supported more than 3.4 million people with improved access to inclusive WASH.

Some project highlights include:

• supporting the development of Indonesia’s national handwashing with soap guidelines and inclusive handwashing behaviour change communications materials
• building the evidence-base for mainstreaming menstrual hygiene management (MHM) education in the national curriculum and supporting Indonesia’s Ministry of Health in the development of a guideline for integrated STBM-MHM in schools
• delivery of COVID-19 prevention initiatives and support for marginalised groups during the height of the pandemic.

Building on the outcomes of this project, Water for Women is partnering with Plan International Australia and Yayasan Plan International Indonesia from 2023-2024 to support governments and community members in dealing with climate change-related issues and challenges by establishing climate resilient and GEDSI WASH systems and services in the project locations.