Climate change within community WASH triggering & monitoring for people with a disability
A sanitarian from Puskesmas facilitates WASH training for people with disabilities in Manggarai, enabling participants to identify WASH needs in the community and climate hazards that can affect WASH practices (Yayasan Plan International Indonesia)
This Water, WASH & Climate story was authored by Stevie Ardianto Nappoe, Plan International Indonesia
In Indonesia, climate change is a key cause of sanitation problems in communities, according to Water for Women partner, Plan International. In response, Plan is incorporating climate resilience in all WASH programs as part of the WASH and Beyond – Transforming Lives in Eastern Indonesia project with renewed focus on disability inclusion while facilitating ways for communities to adapt WASH services for changing weather patterns and to prepare for disasters in community-led triggering and monitoring processes.
Engaging with communities on climate change
The photographs presented in this article capture this project in practice engaging with communities, particularly members of the community with a disability. A key focus is on WASH and climate change hazards, challenges, and potential solutions.
Including people with a disability in WASH triggering
The triggering process involves starting with mapping the WASH problem(s) in the village through to developing a social contract between the household and member/s with disability. The mapping process allows people to identify and become more aware of climate change impacts on WASH, including discussing and understanding where water is scarce in the community and where there may be risk of a climate disaster, such as prolonged drought or flooding.
People with a disability practice the triggering process in the sub-district level after completing the training (Yayasan Plan International Indonesia)
Community mapping and analysis
People with disabilities – representing a diversity of different disabilities - map and analyse the WASH problems together, exchanging ideas on how to tackle WASH and climate hazards that affect their life in the community and how can they contribute to the solution.
A sanitarian from Puskesmas leads the mapping process in a village in Sumbawa (Yayasan Plan International Indonesia)
A sanitarian from Puskesmas leads the mapping and analysis of WASH problems together with people with disabilities (Yayasan Plan International Indonesia)
Inclusive communities are better prepared for the impacts of climate change
Plan’s experience suggests that decision-makers and WASH practitioners should consider climate change indicators as standardised variables for monitoring sanitation programs to get better data on the sanitation problems related to climate change. The data and information from the monitoring will help the community to plan for mitigation with inclusive sanitation in mind.
Integrating climate change in triggering and monitoring sanitation programs will help people - especially people with a disability - to understand and make better decisions based on their needs.
This story was first shared as part of the This is Water, WASH & Climate: Stories from Practice, on 22 June 2022 during the Water, WASH & Climate Virtual Symposium. It has since been edited with permission.
An inclusive community is an essential building block of a climate resilient community. In an uncertain and rapidly changing world, there is no greater priority than ensuring that water and WASH systems are future-proofed for climate resilience, social cohesion, accountability and wellbeing. Embedding the voice of women and marginalised people in water and WASH systems is one of the most effective pathways to strengthen equity and inclusion, so that the ‘invisible’ becomes visible, and valued. Valuing diversity, and diverse perspectives, strengthens prospects for a more climate resilient and socially cohesive future.
For more information about the session and Water & WASH Futures events visit https://washfutures.com/. Key Water and WASH Futures partners are the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the International WaterCentre, Water for Women, the Asian Development Bank and the Australian Water Partnership.
To learn more and continue the discussion on how to achieve SDG 6 in a changing climate, join us in Brisbane at the Water and WASH Futures Conference 13-17 February 2023.
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