WASH in the market house - a situation analysis of water, sanitation and hygiene services in market places in Vanuatu

This report presents the results of research undertaken in thirteen fresh produce markets in the Republic of Vanuatu, located in Lakatoro (Malekula island), Luganville (Santo) and Port Vila (Efate) (Figure 1). The overarching research objective was to better understand the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) situation in a variety market places, from central market houses through to smaller satellite markets, in order to identify WASH-related COVID-19 vulnerabilities, the types and effectiveness of preparation and protection measures undertaken in market places thus far, and to explore their impacts on market vendors. Since the beginning of the pandemic there has been, as of June, 2021, just three active COVID-19 cases in Vanuatu - all of which have been detected in quarantine. Despite there being no community transmission of COVID-19 in Vanuatu to date, the pandemic has had a substantial impact on the country. The State of Emergency border lockdown and cessation of tourism has led to an economic recession, resulting in major job losses in the two main tourist centres of Port Vila and Luganville. Additionally, local and international remittances have greatly decreased. Whilst the government have implemented some economic support measures for small business this does not include market vendors. In response to the threat of COVID-19 the government have instigated a variety of public health measures that have directly impacted markets. These include an increased focus on hygiene (e.g. the installation of handwashing stations), social distancing guidelines, restricted selling hours and, in many but not all locales, a one-day-market rule whereby vendors are no longer permitted to sleep at markets. Combined with a general drop in demand for fresh produce due to the economic down turn, these measures are disproportionally impacting women, who make -up over 90% of market vendors. Results from this study affirm that vendors' income has decreased by half or more, with the greatest decrease experienced in Port Vila. Elsewhere in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the availability of affordable and nutritional food services, and there has been some concern that this may occur in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (e.g. United Nations, 2020a). Recent research from Solomon Islands has identified increased food insecurity in both rural and urban areas (Wairiu et al, 2020). Markets are one of the top three sources of food for Port Vila residents (World Vision Vanuatu, 2018) and there is a fear that if markets closed, prices increase and/or food supplies where disrupted, this would detrimentally impact urban residents - many of whom are already amongst the most socio-economically vulnerable in the country (VNSO, 2013). Whilst this study did not gather household level data (and hence cannot ascertain if household food insecurity has risen ) the data suggests that from a food systems perspective the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has thus far been on the demand, rather than the production and supply, side

WASH in short agri-food supply chains and marketplaces in Pacific Islands countries: a framework for assessing wash-related vulnerabilities to heath

The COVID-19 global pandemic has informed us about the resilience of family-based food production in many Pacific Island Countries (PICs) as well as exposing some of the vulnerabilities inherent in social, economic, political and biophysical systems. The pandemic has further raised global and regional awareness of the importance of good water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to providing some protection against not only COVID-19 but the many other infectious diseases that have long impacted human health and well-being across the region. Identifying where WASH-related vulnerabilities to infectious disease, ill-health and reduced well-being exist in the agri-food supply chain is essential to supporting resilience, protecting local food systems and livelihoods, and 'building-back better' into the future. This assessment Framework is designed to assist organisations and people involved in supporting and governing WASH, food supply chains or women’s livelihoods to identify where WASH-related vulnerabilities to infectious disease and ill-health are located in agri-food supply chains characteristic of many PICs

Development of a paediatric triage tool to aid clinical prioritisation and delivery of pharmaceutical care

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Strengthening health promotion development with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males in remote Australia: A Northern Territory perspective

Commentary. First published: 21 May 2022Aims: To elucidate key considerations for effective health promotion with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males in remote Northern Territory.Context: Despite the significant disparities in health outcomes amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, particularly in remote Northern Territory, investment in health promotion policy and practice has been inade-quate. Progressing towards self- determination with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males, and to meet the unique health and well- being needs of this mar-ginalised demographic, consideration for staff retention and training, strengths- based approaches, and implications of divergent masculinities must be considered when devising and delivering culturally responsive and appropriate health pro-motion interventions. Health promotion needs to be conducted in a collaborative manner, and in less conventional settings, to better engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males.Approach: This commentary draws on the author's reflections about working in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy, practice and research contexts in Northern Australia. It brings together diffuse strands of scholarship about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male health; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health promotion; and health promotion in rural and remote contexts. In doing so, we identify and discuss strategies that have potential to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male health promotion in rural and remote Australia.Conclusion: Health services and professionals in remote Northern Territory must leverage the inherent strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males to imbue service delivery with both meaning and capacity for self- determination. In doing so, this might ultimately help to alleviate the marginalisation of this demographic.Jonathan Souter MPhty, James A. Smith PhD, Kootsy Canuto PhD, Himanshu Gupta Ph

Strengthening community water management through a follow - up DWSSP activity – results of a pilot in Vanuatu

Community Water Management (CWM): Most of the water management findings reflect the experiences captured in our PaCWaM + research in Solomon Islands and Fiji. Of key relevance to DWSSP are: 1. Communities need ongoing support to build and sustain good water management, which is necessary to ensure safe, resilient and inclusive WASH outcomes 2. Water Committees (WC) are struggling to meet the prescribed gender quota of 40%, however many community members and all implementors interviewed recognise that women must be engaged in water management 3. Zones were not used for water management purposes. However, they exist, are frequently used for fundraising for non-WASH objectives and were reportedly used in other provinces 4. The three most active WCs were all strongly connected with the village council and, in some cases, Area Council of Chiefs (Lelepa, Taloa, Mangaliliu) 5. Water management was a low community and individual priorit

Climate resilient and climate vulnerable WASH service delivery models in Melanesian urban informal settlements

The Planning for Climate-resilient Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Urban Informal Settlements research objective was to investigate how urban planning processes in Melanesia be strengthened through participation and integration to improve the resilience of WASH service delivery in informal settlements within the urban footprint. By doing this, we seek to increase the inclusiveness of WASH planning in urban Melanesia so residents in informal settlements have access to more resilience WASH services. This study provides regionally appropriate evidence about what kinds of processes and systems could be explored within different urban contexts in Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The mixed methods research included desktop research, spatial analysis, household surveys, interviews, photovoice techniques, and stakeholder engagement. Based on this 1-year research program, some key lessons have emerged for practitioners and policymakers. This technical brief outlines some of the most important

Policy review – water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and climate change in urban planning systems in Melanesia

This document summarises a policy and legislation review conducted as part of the Water for Women funded research project conducted by the International WaterCentre (IWC), The University of the South Pacific (USP) and their partners. The overarching research question for this work is How can urban planning processes in Melanesia be strengthened through participation and integration to improve the resilience of WASH service delivery in informal settlements and areas identified for housing growth within the urban footprint? The sub-question this document intends to contribute towards is to: Understand what existing planning processes (knowledge, information systems/platforms, plans and policies) are in place for future and existing areas of growth and informal settlements. Following a broad overview of urban planning in Melanesia, this document is structured by city (Port Moresby, Suva, Port Vila and Honiara). The policy and legislative review attempted to collect the central documents for each of the following themes – urban planning, WASH, and climate change, as well as any overarching strategy or policy for development in the country of relevance. Fifty-eight (58) documents were reviewed across the four cities (Figure 1). In the following sections, those documents are briefly described, and then specific review of the main urban planning document for the city is reviewed using separate lenses of WASH; climate change; and informal settlements. Each of the documents was designated as (1) strategy, policy or implementation plan, (2) town planning scheme or urban development plan or (3) legislation or regulation; and further classified in terms of the dominant theme, as (1) cross-cutting (e.g., national sustainable development plans, (2) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and water resource management (WRM), (3) urban development or planning and (4) climate change. A comparison of terminology using a pairwise word search in each of the four thematic groupings was conducted to assess the integration of these themes within across documents. In addition to the review of documents, stakeholder interviews with key informants were conducted in Suva (Fiji) and Port Vila (Vanuatu) to better understand the current urban planning, WASH and climate change landscape in those cities. Interviews were conducted with water utilities (3), national government department officials (5), and local government officials (2)

Opportunities for collaborative and integrated planning processes for climate - resilient urban WASH in informal settlements

There are existing urban planning processes in Melanesian cities, however they are often reactionary, out-dated, and siloed from development requirements of specific sectors. • Those with responsibility for urban planning mostly don’t consider themselves to hold a mandate to be involved in WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) service planning, or informal settlements, and water utilities mostly don’t consider themselves as leaders in planning WASH services in informal settlements due to tenure and urban planning constraints. There are examples of this changing. • Existing planning processes for WASH in urban Melanesia mostly don’t integrate climate resilience and adaptation information, activities and impacts. • There is some progress being made in Melanesian urban informal settlements with respect to formalisation and upgrading: Fiji is currently formalising 46 settlements across the country including service provision, Solomon Water has connected over 2,800 households in settlements to piped water in the last year, Papua New Guinea’s new Port Moresby Urban Development Plan describes their ongoing settlement upgrade process, and Vanuatu’s urban wastewater taskforce is considering sanitation in urban settlements. Notwithstanding progress, WASH services remain very unevenly distributed across Melanesian urban centres, particularly in urban informal settlements

Drinking Water Safety & Security Planning (DWSSP) Structured Follow - up Implementation Guide

The International WaterCentre (IWC) at Griffith University, in partnership with The University of the South Pacific (USP), have prepared this Implementation Guide following pilot testing with the Department of Water Resources (DoWR) and Vanuatu Red Cross (VRC) in five villages in the Shefa province, Republic of Vanuatu. Research shows that Drinking Water Safety & Security Planning (DWSSP) has mixed results, with community Implementation Plans often not being progressed by communities due to a lack of ownership and collective action. As with community water management more generally, communities require some sort of follow-up support. This guide contains five targeted activities designed to assist communities to re-engage with their Implementation Plans. This DWSSP follow-up activities are especially designed for communities whose DWSSP Plans have stalled, and who may not have received some follow-up visits since the initial DWSSP intervention. This is not intended to be the only form of follow-up support provided to communities