PM urges coordination at Tonga’s First Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Sector Convention
8 September, 2022. Tonga’s Prime Minister, the Honorable Hu’akavameiliku urged participants at the Kingdom’s Inaugural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Convention to work together towards a shared vision of safe water and sanitation, and good hygiene for every Tongan.
Speaking to more than fifty representatives from donor governments and agencies, government ministries and non-government organisations, the Prime Minister noted the significant opportunity the WASH convention offered to strengthen the sector and its response to water and sanitation challenges.
“In this room we have those who plan, manage, deliver, operate and maintain our water supply and sanitation systems, as well as sectors that rely heavily on these services,” the Honorable Hu’akavameiliku said.
“Due to this central role water plays in our peoples’ health and wellbeing, the water, sanitation and hygiene, or WASH, sector remains a high priority in the Government of Tonga.”
“I believe that tangible outcomes and deliverables are important – not just discussions on policies but how to implement these plans and policies so that there are achievable goals at village level.”
“Tonga has made great progress towards universal access to basic water and sanitation… these are important achievements to celebrate, but we also must recognise the challenges we face,” he said.
The Prime Minister noted that water was essential in the country’s disaster response a. For longer-term issues he highlighted the importance of sustainable water management, especially groundwater. He added, “water tanks are also important and access to safe drinking water by all should become 100% with a roadmap to get there.”
The convention, held over two days at Fa’onelua Convention Centre in August, focused on coordination and collaboration across agencies; financial investment to maintain and improve services; hygiene and sanitation to protect health; and, monitoring and strengthening data management.
It was the first large water sector gathering since the Water Resource Act 2020 came into practice.
It was an opportunity for key agencies (Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Health, National Emergency Management Office, Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Foods and Forests, Women and Gender Equality Department) to discuss further collaboration and NGO engagement.
The WASH Convention proceedings will be published, and will include the recommendations discussed to develop a strong resilient water and sanitation sector to measure, manage and coordinate future WASH initiatives.
The WASH Convention was an initiative of the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga and was supported by the Asian Development Bank.
