Strengthening rural community water safety planning in Pacific Island countries: evidence and lessons from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji

Souter, Regina and Ruuska, Doug and Pene, Sarah and Benjamin, Collin and Funubo, Sheila and Beal, Cara D. and Sanderson, Rosanna and Batikawai, Suliasi and Ravai, Ana and Antoinette-Wickham, Tema and Rankin, Tom and Peter, Lindah and Molitambe, Heather and Theophile, Gaston and Shrestha, Sachita and Kotra, Krishna K. and Bugoro, Hugo and Panda, Nixon and Deo, Vimal and Love, Mark (2024) Strengthening rural community water safety planning in Pacific Island countries: evidence and lessons from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji. Journal of Water & Health, NA . NA. ISSN 1477-8920

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Abstract

Pacific Island Countries (PICs) collectively have the lowest rates of access to safely managed or basic drinking water and sanitation globally. They are also the least urbanised, have dynamic socioeconomic and increasing climate-linked challenges. Community-based water managers need to respond to variability in water availability and quality caused by a range of hazards. Water Safety Planning (WSP), a widely adopted approach to assessing water supply, offers a risk-based approach to mitigating both existing and future hazards. WSP is adaptable, and making modifications to prescribed WSP to adapt it to the local context is common practice. Within the Pacific Community Water Management Plus research project, we used formative research and co-development processes to understand existing local modifications, whether further modifications are required, and, to develop additional modifications to WSP in Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. The types of additional local modifications we recommend reflect the unique context of PICs, including adjusting for community management of water supplies and required collective action, community governance systems, levels of social cohesion in communities, and preferred adult-learning pedagogies. Incorporating modifications that address these factors into future WSP will improve the likelihood of sustained and safe community water services in Pacific and similar contexts.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	capacity development, collective action, community facilitation, drinking water management, Pacific Island Countries, Water safety planning (WSP)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) L Education > L Education (General) Q Science > QD Chemistry
Divisions:	School of Agriculture, Geography, Environment, Ocean and Natural Sciences (SAGEONS)
Depositing User:	Krishna Kotra
Date Deposited:	15 Mar 2024 02:52
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2024 02:52
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/14423

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