Inclusive WASH and climate adaptation in Wewak, Papua New Guinea

This young man is enjoying clean drinking water from a newly installed tap stand in his village on Kairiru Island, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater, supporting drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems. And climate change is placing increasing demands and pressures on the world’s clean, freshwater resources.

In rural PNG groundwater still considered to be the safest and most reliable source of water, and is the only reliable source on outer islands and in mainland coastal communities¹.

What we do on the surface matters underground - changing agricultural practices and the increasing use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and palm oil mill effluent (for irrigation) pose a threat to groundwater and surface water quality² in PNG. Just as sanitation that is not safely managed poses a contamination risk to these groundwater sources, which can have dangerous ramifications for community water sources, health and wellbeing.

With support from Australia, Water for Women is partnering with WaterAid to deliver Inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for the people of Wewak in the East Sepik by improving government-led service delivery and supporting women’s participation, leadership, and voice in decision-making for WASH in Wewak.

Achieving sustainable WASH outcomes in PNG requires a long-term and coordinated approach, a big part of this project has been the development of Wewak's first ever District WASH plan 2013 - 2023, informed by a detailed baseline of access to WASH services and costing data for WASH infrastructure. This initiative was led by WaterAid Australia in partnership with WaterAid PNG and the Wewak District Development Authority and other local PNG partners.

Building on the success of this partnership, WaterAid and Hydrology and Risk Consulting (HARC) are undertaking a Water for Women Innovation and Impact project to develop and apply an Inclusive WASH and Climate Adaptation Framework focusing on the local and district levels to strengthen the District WASH Plan. 

Through the Innovation and Impact project, WaterAid and HARC are expanding their engagement to develop and apply an Inclusive WASH and Climate Adaptation Framework. This project is contributing to the evidence-base on climate adaptation and resilient WASH programming by developing a practical framework that defines categories of inclusive WASH responses that build climate resilience. Further evidence is being gathered by applying the framework in the Wewak district, to test its appropriateness.

The project is identifying where and how WASH programming responses could be progressively strengthened. It is also indicating the potential additional cost of taking a comprehensive, whole-of-Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 approach.

The framework is building on existing resources, including WaterAid’s gender-transformative systems strengthening WASH work. Consultation and reviews with WASH, water resource management and climate experts are mapping resource inputs.

The framework is focusing on the local and district levels, with a view to capture lessons learned to strengthen the District WASH Plan.

Photo by WaterAid/ Dion Kombeng

1. Carrard, N.; Foster, T.; Willetts, J. Groundwater as a Source of Drinking Water in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: A Multi-Country Review of Current Reliance and Resource Concerns. Water 2019, 11, 1605. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11081605 [footnote 74]

2. As above [footnote 73]