This report on the Relief Response for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Manam on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea provides a detailed review of all sectors in relation to minimum Sphere standards (in Annex 2).

Between October 2004 and January 2005, close to 10,000 people were evacuated  from Manam Island when its volcano erupted. These internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now living in three official Care Centres, one informal de facto Care Centre and number of informal settlements in Bogia and Sumkar Districts on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.

More than half a year after their arrival, the IDPs are slightly better off than when they first arrived, but much work remains to be done.

Food security and livelihoods: Land is the key issue in this sector. Since resettlement of the Manams has not yet been resolved, the IDPs do not have enough land to grow sufficient food or cash crops. Food aid has done much to bridge the nutritional gap between what is available and what is needed. However, some gaps—such as provision of an adequate amount of vegetables—remain.

In order to avoid long term dependency of the IDPs on external assistance, it is absolutely critical that the issue of land is resolved as quickly as possible.

Shelter: While in some areas, IDPs have built homes out of local materials, for most families this is not an option as they cannot access bush materials. Tarpaulins are beginning to wear out. IDPs do not have access to transportation in order to bring bush material back from areas where they are allowed to gather.

As with food security, the heart of the matter lies with the land issue. When the IDPs have enough land, they will be able to collect their own materials for shelter.

It should be noted that collection of bush materials is also an issue around which there is potential for conflict between the Manam IDPs and the surrounding villages. Already there have been some low-level clashes, which will become more frequent the longer the land issue is not settled.

Water and sanitation: Access to sufficient quality and quantity of water continues to be a problem. Recent tests reveal that existing water supplies are contaminated. A project to install 28 bore wells in the Care Centres is now under way and if the water is potable, Care Centre residents will have adequate access to water. The situation requires continued monitoring.

Existing pit latrines are either not being used or are filling up. There is concern that the toilets are contaminating the ground water due to the high water table in the area. In order to meet the minimum standards for disaster response, there is a need for a greater number of toilets located in areas that do not contaminate existing water sources. The difficulty, however, is that currently there is not enough space to build an adequate number of safely-located toilets.

While this report focuses only on the sectors above, Annex 2 provides a detailed review of all sectors in relation to minimum Sphere standards.