Project Description
In the Pacific, the Pacific Resilience Partnership (PRP) recognizes the importance of strengthening engagement and cooperation in water security as a key determinant of resilience through the establishment of a Pacific Resilience Water Security Technical Working Group (WSTWG) to facilitate multi-sectoral collaboration and engagement. A key objective of the WSTWG is to drive the development of a Water Security Engagement Strategy. The goal of the Water Security Engagement Strategy (WSES) is to increase regional engagement and actions on water security as a critical component of resilience because addressing the challenge for water security engagement necessitates collective action across all levels of government and sectors.
The Water Security Engagement Strategy is a six-year plan designed to strengthen engagement in water security as a key determinant of resilience. The scope of water security engagement is focused on enhancing sectoral engagement, collaboration, coordination, synergies, advocacy, communication, good practices, and partnerships essential to sustaining water security engagement across all levels.
Project Personnel and Beneficiaries
The strategy is designed to encourage and increase the involvement of partners & actors across different levels and sectors. It is a strategy that is designed for all partners to strengthen and increase engagement, cooperation, and action on water security as a critical component of resilience by increasing multi-stakeholder engagement, with the strategy being a key outcome of the work of the Pacific Resilience Partnership Water Security Technical Working Group (PRP WSTWG).
Outcomes to Date
The strategy was formulated through a scoping study comprising 40 multi-sectoral consultations across a diverse range of stakeholders from local, regional, national and global scales across various sectors, who cooperated with the shared goal of achieving water security for the region. The consultations included the PRP WSTWG, government representatives, non-governmental organisations, industry experts, and development partners.
Consultations were guided by a plan to guide the objectives, methods & interview questions, stakeholder selection process, and data collection and analysis. This was augmented with a desktop study to gauge levels of engagement within existing regional and national frameworks to identify how water security is integrated into the climate resilient and disaster space and identify opportunities for engagement from existing and emerging initiatives. The strategy is to be used with the Water Security Engagement Action Plan which provides a list of actions partners
Project Significance
The Pacific continues to endure some of the lowest levels of access to safe water and sanitation of any region in the world and remains disproportionately impacted by the water-related impacts of disasters and climate change – including floods and droughts. Water insecurity is prevalent across the Pacific with Pacific Island countries calling for better sectoral engagement, coordination, collaboration, and partnerships toward improving sustainable, climate-resilient water security outcomes for Pacific communities. In the face of extreme climatic events and unpredictability, it is critical to strengthen engagement in water security to develop clear climate-resilient pathways for water security as a key determinant of climate-resilient development.
Securing the water security of Pacific Island nations requires accelerating engagement in water security as a key determinant of resilience across all levels and sectors. Strengthening engagement in water security is critical because climate change impacts on freshwater sources are evident in all Pacific Island Countries.
The data from the 2000 – 2022 Joint Monitoring Program Report for the Pacific shows that by 2030, at the current rate of progress, universal access to basic drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services in the Pacific islands will not be achieved. A 10x increase in current rates of progress is required to achieve the global SDG targets by 2030. The anticipated outcomes of strengthening engagement in water security are improved sector coordination, improved collaboration, synergies, sustaining capacity, and partnerships which are crucial to accelerating water security engagement given the requirement for a 10X increase towards the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 and all SDGs.