Political Economy of Water Management & Community Perceptions in the PICs

The purpose of this report is to contextualise the unique characteristics of the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and identify some roadblocks to achieving universal access to clean water and sanitation. The PIC context is established by examining the PICs’ unique economic, socioeconomic, geomorphology, climate, and cultural characteristics. Governance, institutions, and the political economy of water resource management (WRM) are discussed for each PIC to determine the role of and power of stakeholders in WRM, the sociocultural variation among PICs and how these may be better harnessed or modulated to achieve progress in WRM.