Excerpt from blogs.worldbank.org

Kiribati is one of the smallest, most dispersed countries in the world. Half of its citizens live on hard-to-reach outer islands and the other half live on the main island of South Tarawa; one of the most densely populated areas in the Pacific. The country is extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels, increased water salination, and unpredictable weather patterns, with limited resources for government services in the outer islands.

The GWSP has provided critical assistance in exploring water security and sanitation service options for South Tarawa, which has uniquely fragile water resources. The 2018 study helped to generate funding of more than $58 million, with $15 million from the World Bank. Recent GWSP support in 2021 included gathering input from several experts to update the South Tarawa sanitation roadmap, which guides investments and reforms in the sanitation sector over the next 20 years.

In Papua New Guinea, one of the most in-need countries in the Pacific, access to water and sanitation services is low, and has steadily decreased over the past two decades. With World Bank support, the country drafted and adopted its first national WASH policy in 2015. The GWSP has supported the country’s implementation of the policy, which has led to a $70 million World Bank funded project which began in February 2017.

Neighboring Solomon Islands is rapidly urbanizing, and the population of the capital, Honiara, is expected to triple in just 30 years. To help inform decision-making around how best to ensure this growing population is served with adequate water and sanitation, the GWSP funded a study on water and sanitation service delivery options for settlement communities—which are home to more than 30 percent of Honiara’s population. The results have informed investments in a program focused on WASH services in settlements totaling $82.3 million, which includes World Bank support of $15 million