One of WaterAid's newest country programs, we started working in Papua New Guinea in 2005.  Our aim is to improve the lives of the poor by improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Along with our other country program in the Pacific Region, Timor-Leste, the program is managed by WaterAid Australia.

Papua New Guinea is a large country with a population of under six million, of whom 80% live in rural, inaccessible areas with few or no public services.

With the monsoon season lasting for around four months each year, seasonal water shortages are commonplace. The country also regularly falls victim to severe droughts. 

Access to clean drinking water is an issue for over half of the population and there are large disparities between water and sanitation provision throughout the country. As most rural households depend on unsafe water from rivers, springs, ponds, lakes or dams, preventable yet deadly water-borne illnesses including bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, Hepatitis A and Typhoid are rapidly spread.

Achievements to date

• In 2007 we helped more than 5,000 people gain access to clean, safe water
  
• Our work in schools has provided 14,750 students with access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene education

WaterAid chose to start with a school program because children are often the most vulnerable to diseases.  They are also quick to take on new ideas and take them home to their families.

With funding from WaterAid, ATprojects has installed 'ATloos' in 14 schools in the Eastern Highlands.  Extremely low cost, ATloos provide safe feces disposal in rural areas, away from any mains sanitation provision.

The ATloos are easy to build and maintain, easy to clean, odor free and nice to look at. Far from making sanitation a taboo subject, the idea is that users develop a sense of pride and ownership of the facility.

WaterAid hopes that the long term cultural change brought about by the education of schoolchildren will carry on through the generations.  Only then can the long term benefits really take hold and the poverty cycle be broken.

In 2006 WaterAid also began supporting the water element of Oxfam Australia's peace building initiatives, benefiting poor communities in the Highlands.

The project has provided safe water for people who previously relied on a river which was dangerously polluted by mining. School attendance has improved as children no longer have to collect their family's water.

WaterAid has also commenced its own village water and sanitation program directly with local NGO HELP Resources in East Sepik province. WaterAid has placed an experienced water and sanitation engineer with HELP Resources in order to facilitate the implementation of this program.

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