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The Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshop on Rainwater Harvesting took place in Vava'u, Tonga from 12-15 May 2004. Involving community extension workers from the Village Women's Development Programme (VWDP) of the Tonga Community Development Trust (TCDT), the training was based on a participatory approach that emphasised 'learning-by-doing'. Using a step-by-step process, workshop participants were introduced to various participatory tools and took part in participatory activities and exercises that they could potentially use during future training on rainwater harvesting in communities.

At the 3rd World Water Forum held in 2003 in Kyoto, Pacific island country ministers, delegations and representatives of civil society, reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and Targets of halving by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and the World Summit for Sustain- able Development (WSSD) Plan of Implementation.

Practioners representing national, regional and international agencies, tertiary institutions and non-government organizations involved in coastal management met at the offices of the South Pacific Applied Geosciences Commission (SOPAC) 10-12 December 2003. The meeting was convened by the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to discuss current initiatives and emerging issues relating to coastal management in the Pacific Islands region.

Access to safe drinking water is a basic need and is one of the most important contributors to public health and to the economic health of communities. Pacific island countries have yet to overcome the challenge of providing a safe and adequate supply of drinking water to its populations. Infectious, waterborne diseases, such as Typhoid and Cholera and newly emerging pathogens are a major cause of morbidity and mortality within the Pacific region. The World Health Organization (WHO) report that about 2 million people in the world die each year due to diarrhoeal diseases, most of them are children less that 5 years of age. The worst affected are the populations in developing countries. Lack of access to safe drinking water is one of the main contributors to this situation. Traditional approaches that rely on sampling and testing water have failed to achieve extensive improvement in access to safe drinking water. Pacific island countries are committed to achieving targets specified in the Millennium Development Goals (2000), including halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015. A new strategy is now being promoted globally that is based on risk management principles – drinking water safety planning.

The importance of safe drinking water for health and development in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) has been reflected in many regional action plans and policies. Through the Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water Management (Sigatoka, Fiji, 2002) Pacific Island Countries outlined actions that were needed to achieve sustainable water management through collaborative efforts by water sector authorities and inter-sectoral partners. The WHO workshop on Drinking Water Quality Standards and Monitoring in Pacific Island Countries (Nadi, Fiji, 2005) developed a Framework for Action on Drinking Water Quality and Health in Pacific Island Countries, designed to support the implementation of drinking water quality actions envisioned in the Regional Action Plan. The Pacific Island Countries embraced the Water Safety Plan concept during the workshop and this was reflected in the Regional Framework. It was recommended that PICs should use Water Safety Plans to better manage their water supplies to ensure safe quality drinking water for Pacific communities.

Active participation from people is key to the success of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The purpose of these guidelines is to support government departments and organisations in mobilising people towards IWRM.

He stressed that this session was an opportunity to ensure that all delegates were up-to-date with the Project and its background. To set the scene for the workshop he reported on the Project development history. In summary, he drew attention to the signing of the grant and financing agreements on the 13 March 2002. He also noted that the SOPAC Project has been at least 3 to 4 years in development.