Water for Women - Papua New Guinea

Strongim WASH Kominiti Projek

Water for Women partners with WaterAid to deliver Strongim WASH Kominiti Projek – Strengthening WASH for Community Project to directly benefit an estimated 15,178* people living in Wewak district, East Sepik Province, with climate-resilient and inclusive WASH services and systems.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, ranked 9^th most at risk to climate change and natural hazards by the 2021 World Risk Index. PNG is ranked 156 out of 182 countries for vulnerability and readiness to successfully adapt to climate change.^[1]

Already high daily temperatures are projected to rise, average rainfall to increase in most areas and extreme rain events to be more frequent; in combination with sea level rise, these will exacerbate flooding.

According to a World Bank Hotspot study,^[2] PNG also ranks first for landslide hazard due to its steep mountain ranges, high seismicity and high annual rainfall.

Around 80% of the country’s more than 9 million population live in rural and remote communities and 15% in the Islands region.^[3] Almost one-third of the population live within 10km of the coastline, with 8% (over 700,000 people) living within 1km.^[4] Some 80-85% directly derive their livelihood from the water and land, through fishing, agriculture and associated sectors.^[5]

Weather-related problems account for 90% of those caused by climate change, with significant connections to the water cycle and overall availability of water. Since 2000, in PNG there have been 30 climate, hydrological and meteorological disasters with more than 3 million people affected and 400 deaths attributed to these.^[6]

Extreme weather events and climate-related natural disasters disproportionately impact women, people living with disabilities^[7] and from minority and marginalised groups. Despite women being socially prescribed WASH-related roles at home and in communities (water collection duties, food preparation and family care, including caring for those with disabilities), evidence shows that women are often excluded from WASH decision-making and not regarded as leaders, reducing agency and resilience to adequately respond to climate-related events.

A bird's eye view of Wewak, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea

Climate-related risks to water, sanitation and hygiene

The majority of PNG’s people live in rural areas, some of which are extremely remote and difficult to access. Significant disparities in WASH access exist between urban and rural areas.^[8] Climate change intensifies inequalities.

In Wewak District, the diverse coastal and inland landscapes experience unique climate and water security threats, including increased rainfall intensity resulting in flash flooding, coastal flooding and storm surge, increased groundwater salinity, drought, increased erosion, landslides and sea level rise.

Future rainfall projections for Wewak indicate a 30% increase in rainfall intensity, equating to 100-200mm on a wet day^[11] and flooding is expected to intensify. The coast of Boram Bay is exposed to coastal flooding and the impacted flood zone comprises economically important areas of Wewak town, including a portion of Boram Airport and the Laura Martin Market, where many women of East Sepik Province derive their incomes.

In rural areas of the district, inland and coastal flooding from the Sepik River and its tributaries is a significant risk where communities are less prepared, more remote and vulnerable to flash flooding causing displacement, transport and supply chain breakdowns. These threats are amplified by socioeconomic barriers including low incomes, limited rural connectivity, weak infrastructure, land disputes, poor governance and conflict over water resources.

"More information, training and awareness on Climate Resilient WASH and Community Based Water Resource Management in Wewak District will assist us monitor, plan and deliver our projects, save our water sources, and other community developments... to collect climate-related data to avoid guess-work, rather evidence-based planning, investment and development." 

Martin Maingu, Wewak District Development Authority Administrator and Chairman of Wewak District WASH Coordination Body 

Aim

Strongim WASH Kominiti Projek is being delivered in Wewak District to improve inclusive WASH service delivery, with added focus on building climate resilience by addressing the threats climate change represents to strong WASH systems, services and livelihoods.

This project is drawing on and accelerating momentum from WaterAid’s Water for Women project, Implementing Inclusive WASH for the People of Wewak, completed in 2022, working with core partners in Wewak District and at national level, including the Wewak District Development Authority (DDA), East Sepik Provincial Health Authority (ESPHA), and rights holder groups, East Sepik Council of Women (ESCoW) and East Sepik Disabled Person’s Agency (ESDPA).

From 2023-2024 this project aims to deliver lasting impact through:

• Fostering local level government and ESPHA ownership of climate-resilient inclusive WASH service delivery in Wewak, supported by the DWCB and DDA
• Improvements to climate-resilient inclusive WASH service delivery in Wewak district
• Supporting DDA, local level government and ESPHA action to reduce inequalities experienced by women and people with disabilities
• Providing critical evidence to the national discourse, supporting the Department of National Planning and Monitoring WASH Program Management Unit to document strong approaches for climate-resilient WASH for replication across the country
• Sharing the learnings and approaches from Wewak district with WASH sector actors to strengthen climate-resilient inclusive WASH in other parts of PNG.

Community engagement on the Wewak District WASH Plan at Walandoum, Papua New Guinea. View more photo updates from Papua New Guinea.

WASH-related climate challenges for this project

• Climate change represents an existential challenge to both the resilience and sustainability of WASH services in Wewak District.
• Flooding events are projected to increase, which threaten access to, and the quality of water for consumption and community WASH needs, and render sanitation systems vulnerable to damage and dysfunction, posing additional threats to community health and well-being.
• Entrenched gender norms continue to limit women’s participation and leadership in WASH, despite socially prescribed roles in WASH at home and in communities; throughout Wewak District, only 10% of people nominated by community members as leaders and decision makers are women.
• The scale of climate-related impacts in Wewak district and their impact on communities and vulnerable groups, including women, people with disabilities and people from sexual and gender minority groups is projected to increase, but communities have limited resilience to adapt and respond to the worst of the impacts.

"The WASH planning was very helpful for local government staff. It has helped us to know how to budget and plan.”

Joe Bernard, Wewak Rural Local Level Government Manager

A young man enjoys clean drinking water from a newly installed tap stand in his village on Kairiru Island, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea (WaterAid / Dion Kombeng)

Outcomes

Strongim WASH Kominiti Projek aims to reach the following beneficiaries by the end of 2024:

Direct beneficiaries: 15,178*

• women and girls: 6,986
• men and boys: 8,192
• people with a disability: 1,518

Indirect beneficiaries: 61,004*

Feature photo: Grade 7 students and their teacher at a primary school in Wewak wash their hands as part of Global Handwashing Day celebrations, at WASH facilities constructed by WaterAid (WaterAid PNG / Paula Kari)

*Project targets are based on partner Civil Society Organisations (CSO) baseline studies. Project targets are updated periodically in response to changes in context as appropriate. To see our latest progress towards targets, see our progress.