Strongim WASH Kominiti Projek

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.

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, 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. Almost one-third of the population live within 10km of the coastline, with 8% (over 700,000 people) living within 1km. Some 80-85% directly derive their livelihood from the water and land, through fishing, agriculture and associated sectors.

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.

Extreme weather events and climate-related natural disasters disproportionately impact women, people living with disabilities 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.