The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme is a joint Government of Papua New Guinea and European Union project set up to provide:

“Improved health of rural communities through provision of increased access to safe water supply and sanitation facilities.”

The Water Supply and Sanitation approach is focusing on a participative community development, ensuring that there is true collaboration throughout implementation leading to a sustainable solution.

Unlike in the past this focus on improving the health is by making the community aware of the health issues and through this developing sanitation initiatives within the community to a level which has an impact on health.  Following on from this, the community is then given increased access to water using a technical solution that is appropriate to the community and where it is.  Through this we aim to achieve our goal of: “Sustainably enhanced access to safe water, improved sanitation use and hygiene behaviour for participating rural communities”

The implementation of these schemes is done by Non State Actors (NGOs and Church Organisations) that can demonstrate that they have the managerial skill, ability to work with and empower the rural communities and have the technical know how to ensure that the schemes are appropriately designed to allow the sustainable maintenance by the community.

Under the 1st Phase of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme 30 NSA were contracted who implemented 123 schemes improving the health of 76,600 beneficiaries. During the second Phase 28 NSAs are implementing projects across all of Papua New Guinea and will be providing benefits for over 200, 000 people and includes some of the most remote parts of Papua New Guinea,

The need to promote linkages between the communities, the NSAs and local government will also be enhanced to increase the support structure and hopefully offer opportunities for further development of these rural communities.