More than 60,000 people including nearly 20,000 children in the Mt Hagen Central District, Western Highlands Province, are set to benefit from improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services in the coming four years.

The improved WaSH services, to be delivered as part of a project jointly supported by the European Union (EU) and UNICEF in collaboration with the Government of Papua New Guinea, are expected to have significant positive impact on the productivity, health and well-being of beneficiaries.

Phase one of the project was launched in a ceremony at the Queen’s Park Oval in Mt. Hagen on Auust 28 by the Head of the European Union Delegation to Papua New Guinea, Ambassador Ioannis Giogkarakis-Argyropoulos, Governor for Western Highlands Province, Hon Paias Wingti and UNICEF Representative Mr. David McLoughlin. Also in attendance was the Member for Hagen Open and Minister for Public Enterprises, Hon. William Duma, Provincial Administrator for Western Highlands Province, Mr. Joseph Neng and Manager for the WASH Project Management Unit, Mr. Takale Tuna.

“Poor sanitation and hygiene cause preventable illnesses and deaths in children and have many other serious repercussions linked to nutrition, health, education, poverty and economic growth. The human right of access to water and adequate sanitation is at the core of the UNICEF mandate for children and UNICEF is fully committed to working in collaboration with EU and the Government to support this project,” said Mr. Mcloughlin, UNICEF Country Representative.

The Mt. Hagen Central District Development Authority will work with Infra Tech, a non-government organisation to develop the five-year plan and implement the project.  In addition to improving WASH services in schools and health centres, project will also reach 200 beneficiary communities in the District through hygiene promotion initiatives aimed at encouraging improved hygiene practices in families and communities.

The European Union is strongly committed to WaSH improvement worldwide.

The European Union has been supporting access to clean water and sanitation in PNG through successive Rural Water Supply and Sanitation projects since the 90's. These projects resulted in access to safe water for over 200,000 people especially in remote areas.

In 2017, the European Union provided over €130 million (PGK 500 million) for WaSH oriented projects worldwide. Lack of access to clean water and to basic sanitation increases the vulnerability of populations to several diseases and is a major obstacle to social and economic development. This project will contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals through improved access to WaSH services, reduced infant morbidity and mortality, poverty alleviation, reduced chronic malnutrition and stunting. It will also improve maternal and child health and education outcomes which are major contributors to a country’s economic growth.

The new project is also expected to significantly impact the quality of life of women, men and children by enabling a healthier and safer living environment," Head of the European Union Delegation, Ambassador Ioannis Giogkarakis-Argyropoulos said.

The project entails the development of a five-year WaSH budget and implementation plan for district wide services for access to safe water, handwashing facilities and improved sanitation and hygiene practices to benefit up to 20,000 students from fifty schools, women and children accessing nine health facilities as well as over 60,000 people across 200 communities who live around selected schools and health facilities.

Three other districts – Nawae in Morobe, Goroka in Eastern Highlands and Central Bougainville District in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville – have also been selected to benefit from this programme. Central Bougainville District launched phase one of its project in June 2018.

Overall, 160,000 people, including 40,000 children from 200 schools, 36 health centres and 800 neighbouring communities across the four Districts will have benefitted from improved WaSH services by the time this project reaches completion in 2022.