101065 v1 Water and Sanitation in Urban Settlement Communities of the Pacific Report Summary November 2015 Urbanization is occurring rapidly in Melanesia at pressure, illegal connections, or unimproved sources 3-4% per annum. Due to unaffordable land and housing such as open wells. Settlement sanitation is mostly in formal urban areas, new migrants settle on marginal provided through shared or private dry pit latrines that land without formal legal titles (“informal settlements”). are unsanitary and uncovered, or no latrines at all. The These settlements are growing and new settlements are use of shared or private unimproved latrines and open emerging within and on the outskirts of towns and cities defecation is over 40% in the urban areas of PNG, 35% in across Melanesia, at a rate that outpaces efforts to serve Vanuatu, 19% in Solomon Islands, and 8% in Fiji, implying them. Settlements in the Melanesian capitals of Suva, Port proportionally higher rates in the informal settlements Vila, Honiara, and Port Moresby comprise 20%-45% of the where sewerage is unavailable. city population and at current urbanization rates will be between 30% and 65% by 2023. The impact of poor water and sanitation services falls disproportionately on women who bear responsibility Information about informal settlements is scarce. This for water and sanitation tasks such as cleaning, cooking, report provides a rapid review of water and sanitation washing, caring for children and the sick. The burden on services in the informal settlements in and around the women includes time and physical labor required to collect capital cities of Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Papua water (often 20-30 kilograms/load) from water sources. New Guinea. The risks and fear of sexual and physical violence from collecting water or defecating away from home late at Informal settlements lack formal services such as night or early morning is real. Men are the main decision water, sanitation, electricity, waste management, makers and influencers in the household, in settlement drainage, and roads, although the situation in Fiji is better community leadership, and in local government. than elsewhere. Settlements are expanding rapidly, as families grow and extended family members from home Utilities are constrained by technical, financial and islands and villages move in, compounding the health legal barriers to serve informal settlements. Utilities and social problems. Water supply is typified by crowded underprovide these services, partly because they do not standpipes with an irregular unpredictable supply, low have an obligation to serve informal settlements and in Unsettled: Water and Sanitation in Urban Settlement Communities of the Pacific some cities do not have the authority to do so. In the four South America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. countries, no utility or government body had an obligation Evidence-based advocacy to government to secure policy or budget to provide sanitation services to informal and financial commitment for services to settlements is a settlements. Where a mandate exists, utilities tend not critical first step. to prioritize these services because they are technically, legally, and commercially challenging. Utility investments Solutions and recommendations are challenging as are influenced by internal, Government, and donor they need to respond to the particular circumstances of preferences that tend to favor investments in piped water each settlement, and be implemented with relatively limited infrastructure systems to formal areas. financial and technical resources. Recommendations include: Where water and sanitation services are provided, settlement households often cannot access them due • Central Governments to establish national to land tenure and financial obstacles such as household mandates for service delivery, clarify financial constraints and land tenure requirements. For organizational authority and their obligations to instance, rural migrants are unaccustomed to paying implement services, and set service level targets for water and sanitation services. Many households are for existing and new settlements therefore forced to use ad hoc alternatives—particularly for sanitation—that are poor quality, unsafe and can be • Stakeholders to incorporate settlements into more costly than utility provided services. The public existing or emerging sector investment plans health and environmental costs from the lack of services drain resources, create public health hazards and • Partnerships to be explored between Local damages that extend into the entire urban area. Government or the utility and NGOs and/or the private sector There are promising initiatives to improve water service provision that are worth studying further, replicating or • Performance monitoring and evaluation to be scaling up. Small scale sanitation improvements were associated with payment-based performance identified but unfortunately, no country in the review incentives demonstrated meaningful efforts to deliver sanitation services to support comprehensive city-wide fecal sludge • Development partners to support settlement management. Even where residents construct improved inclusion through technical assistance, analysis, toilets, virtually none of the waste appears to be safely and financing. For example: cost benefit analysis removed, transported, and treated or reused. of investments; advocacy; policy development and strategic planning; research of technical International examples provide approaches and options and piloting with NGOs and community- lessons that are relevant to Melanesia. There are rich based organizations; private sector support; peer- examples of water and sewerage utilities, and other to-peer knowledge exchange; and innovative stakeholders partnering to improve services for similar financing. settlements situations and low income households Africa, The Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF) is multi-development partner coordination, research and technical facility which supports infrastructure development in the Pacific. PRIF Members include: Asian Development Bank (ADB), Australian Development of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the European Union and European Investment Bank (EU/EIB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (NZMFAT), and the World Bank Group.