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Where we work
The Oxfam Water for Survival programme supports work to provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene education in some of the world's poorest regions.
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The Oxfam Water for Survival Programme is committed to providing long-term help to communities around the world without safe water and sanitation. Pictured: Tanzania. Photo: Jim Holmes/WaterAid |
The programme has expanded in recent years, particularly in the Pacific and Southeast Asia as part of Oxfam New Zealand's increasing focus on poverty in our neighbourhood.
Oxfam is currently supporting long-term projects in:
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea ranks among the bottom ten countries for having clean, safe water and sanitation. Despite having one of the highest rainfalls in the world, less than 10 per cent of people living in the Highlands have access to safe water and even fewer have access to sanitation. Waterways are often polluted with sewage or residue from coffee processing or mining in the area.
Bougainville
Many children in Bougainville die needlessly. The majority die from preventable diseases caused by unclean water and sanitation. Water sources are often streams contaminated with human and animal waste. This means that water-borne diseases and cases of severe diarrhoea are common. The tragedy is that Bougainville, a very poor island province of Papua New Guinea, has one of the highest rainfalls in the world, yet less than 10 per cent of the population has access to clean, safe water.
Vanuatu
In the rural areas of Vanuatu, most people have only intermittent access to safe water and very few have any sanitation. Faced with rapid population growth and urban migration, there is an urgent need to develop sustainable water practices.
East Timor
East Timor is the poorest country in Asia. Only 58 per cent of the population has access to safe water, and even fewer have access to sanitation. In 1999, anti-independence Timorese militias caused widespread destruction of East Timor’s infrastructure, meaning the water supply in many places still needs to be rebuilt. Oxfam is working with some of East Timor’s most impoverished rural communities to improve access to safe water and sanitation.
Tanzania
In recent years, the Oxfam Water for Survival Programme has been working with WaterAid Tanzania to provide water and sanitation for 6000 people living in poverty in Tabora, Tanzania, where few people have access to fresh water and basic sanitation.
You can help support Oxfam's vital work in these countries by making an online donation to our Safe Water appeal.
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