Feedback Foundation (FF) is providing technical support to UNICEF, Papua New Guinea for ‘Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in schools and communities for COVID-19 prevention and response project in Rigo district of Central Province, PNG’. The objective of this project is to improve access to safe sanitation and hygiene behaviour in 30 schools and 80 communities in the district, by helping them achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status and improving hygiene practices. Based on the success of the pilot project, ’Strengthening the CLTS Capacity of four District Teams of Papua New Guinea viz. Nawaeb, Central Bougainville, Goroka and Mt Hagen’, FF was entrusted with the task of creating additional 80 communities of Rigo district ODF.

As part of this intervention, FF facilitated One-day Visioning and Action Planning Workshop on 11^th May 2021 followed by five-day Training of WaSH Facilitators, to enhance their capacity on CLTS approach and create a dedicated district resource pool to augment the implementation of safe sanitation and hygiene-related activities in the district. A 2-day training of focal teachers on WaSH in School (WinS) was also conducted from 29^th – 30^th June 2021, so that these teachers can train and mobilise the students of their schools to adopt safe sanitation behaviours and good hygiene practices and can take care of the WaSH facilities created in the school under the project. Communities are being triggered to adopt safe sanitation practices and to make their villages ODF and regular follow-up is being continued and hygiene sessions are being conducted in schools. 25 communities have achieved ODF status as of now, and 4 are on the verge of declaring themselves as ODF.