While Papua New Guinea (PNG) has made progress in improving access to clean water and sanitation facilities, there is still much work to be done. Approximately 81% of the population does not have access to basic sanitation, over 50% use unimproved or surface water, and 41% of households have no handwashing facility. Access is inequitable with improved sanitation coverage at 58% in urban areas and 18% in rural areas, where most of the population resides. PNG ranks currently at the bottom of all Pacific countries for all WASH related health statistics, with over 6,000 diarrhoeal deaths per year. UNICEF has been working in the WASH sector in PNG since 1986 and has assisted with policy development, establishing technical design standards in schools and providing institutional capacity-building and service delivery, with the most recent initiative the WASH in Schools.
The Euro 21.3 million EU-UNICEF water and sanitation project in PNG, started in late 2017, was expected to benefit 160,000 people, including 40,000 children from 200 schools, 36 health centers and 800 communities by helping them achieve open defecation-free status and improving hygiene practices. The project is being implemented in 4 PNG districts: Hagen Central in Western Highlands Province, Goroka in Eastern Highlands, Nawaeb in Morobe and Bougainville Central in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. The project is scheduled to complete by June 2022.
By providing sound and credible evidence on what works, what does not work, how and why, this evaluation aims to trigger UNICEF PNG Country Office and National Partners’ learning, enhance accountability with respect to UNICEF’s work with national and subnational institutions, provincial authorities, development partners, NGOs, civil society organizations, and other duty bearers on improving WASH for children (rights holders) and their families and to inform decision-making on national policies and budgets for WASH and for programme design for scale-up.
Year Published | |
Type | |
Joint | No |
Partner/s | N/A |
Consultant name | Mark Ellery |
Agency Focal Point | Kathleen Letshabo |
Focal Point Email | kletshabo@unicef.org |
Managed by Independent Evaluation Office | No |
Geographic Scope | Country |
Country/ies |