Socially inclusive water committees are taking care of community water needs in Solomon Islands

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Solomon islands community facilitators are wearing gloves and holding water samples for testing

Community facilitators test water quality during CWSIP facilitation in Solomon Islands (Plan International & Live and Learn Environmental Education)

 

A socially inclusive approach to community-based water management is driving improvements in water access and water security for communities in Solomon Islands and helping to protect vital groundwater sources.

 

Solomon Islands is an archipelago of over 900 islands and atolls in the South Pacific Ocean. Approximately 80 percent of the population live in rural areas close to the coast, where increasing salinization of groundwater from sea water intrusion threatens the drinking water supply of around 28 percent of rural households who rely on this water source.1

 

In Guadalcanal, chemicals and fertilizers are also affecting groundwater and surface water sources, and poor sanitation has led to suspected cases of groundwater contamination. Although fewer people live in urban areas like Honiara, around 60 percent of these households get their drinking water from groundwater sources.2 

 

Supported by Australia, Water for Women partners Plan International Australia and the International WaterCentre have been working with communities in rural Solomon Islands in collaboration with Live and Learn Environmental Education and Solomon Islands National University (SINU). Through this partnership, the Community-based Water Security Improvement Planning (CWSIP) process has seen increased participation of women, youth and marginalised people in local water management, and this diversity is paying off for their communities.

 

When it comes to making the invisible visible in communities, it is only through gender and social inclusion that we can ensure WASH services and systems are accessible and effective for everyone, more climate-resilient and sustainable. This is central to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

 

“Through our research, we observed that many water problems happen in communities due to reactive rather than proactive management, and that water access to each household varied a lot across the villages,” explained Collin Benjamin, SINU researcher. “Most communities have a committee that manage(s) the water system but these committees did not include much diversity of people from different ages, different genders or different locations across the village.”

 

Through the CWSIP process, which is based on global and regional best practice in risk-based WASH and socially-inclusive approaches, familiar zones were established and zone representatives engaged to conduct household surveys.

 

“…This provides a platform at the household level to voice their concerns. Throughout this process, many stories surface of individual experiences of accessing the same water points,” said Kylie Tovosia, Live and Learn Environmental Education Solomon Islands.

 

This has given rise to community-led tap and leakage repairs, water rationing to maintain access for all throughout the day and fundraising for community water system improvements and additional pipelines. Including the voices of women and marginalised groups, the water committees are able to ensure that no one is left behind in the planning process and water and WASH solutions are more accessible and sustainable for all.

 

Meet Jacinta, Verahue village's water champion!

Jacinta is the embodiment of the success of this approach

 

Water for Women partners have also collaborated with Australia’s CSIRO, through the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership, to improve knowledge, understanding and application of climate science in WASH implementation.

 

The next step involves collaboration with Earth Water People on the Water for Women Innovation and Impact project, Community-to-catchment planning for inclusive, climate-resilient WASH systems in Solomon Islands, to develop approaches that link community-scale WASH action planning with catchment-scale thinking and deliberation through water stewardship.

 

 

 

1  [https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/8/1605/pdf pp 10, 6]

2 [https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/8/1605/pdf pp 10, 6]

This World Water Day, we are highlighting the importance of groundwater and WASH.

Safely managed and inclusive water and sanitation services and systems are integral to protecting groundwater from contamination, and also ensuring that access to these precious water sources is equitable and sustainable.

 

What we do on the surface matters underground - in many places, human activities over-use and contaminate groundwater. Safely managed water and sanitation services play an important role in protecting groundwater. Simultaneously, climate change is placing increasing demands and pressures on our freshwater resources.

 

And when it comes to making the invisible visible in communities, it is only through gender and social inclusion that we can ensure WASH services and systems are accessible and effective for everyone, more climate-resilient and sustainable. This is central to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. 

 

In Asian and Pacific communities, Water for Women partners are delivering inclusive, accessible, sustainable and resilient WASH services and projects, and strengthening the support systems required to ensure the benefits are lasting, socially equitable and help to build resilient communities.

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