Workshop advocates support for Wash projects

By ESTHER KAUGA
THE United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) held a two-day workshop in Port Moresby under the joint European Union initiative known as the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) project.
Guest speakers in attendance were Pravin Moore, Wash specialist from Unicef, and Takale Tuna, National Wash coordinator from the project management unit of the National Department of Planning and Monitoring.
The workshop was also attended by stakeholders, including government, development partners and civil society in the Wash sector.
The workshop, which started yesterday, aims to advocate for increased support and resources for Wash as well as to promote Wash-related knowledge and behaviours to the public.
Moore stressed that with the coronavirus being the current global health issue, practising proper hygiene methods needed to be encouraged.
“The simplest preventative measure that everyone is talking about right now is hand-washing,” Moore said.
“And even if there was no Covid-19 scare, our children suffer due to lack of safe water sanitation and hygiene.
“This is when the Wash project comes in.
“It helps communities to practice proper hygiene habits,” he said.
Tuna thanked the representatives who attended the workshop and stressed that their knowledge would help in the long-run to combat health-related problems in PNG.
“These types of workshops ensures that the knowledge that you have in your long years of being in the Wash project is captured,” Tuna said.
“That will help the government overcome the health-related challenges in the future.”
The EU-Unicef Wash project aims to improve the lives of people, including those with disability, to increase their access to safe, adequate and sustainable water supply, improved sanitation and hygiene practices.