ESP works with the Indonesian government and civil society to promote better health through improved water resources management and expanded access to clean water and sanitation services. Program staff work in the provinces of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Sumatra, East Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, West Java, and Jakarta, reaching more than half of Indonesia’s 220 million people.

ESP takes a “ridge to reefs” approach to link water resources management with improved health, creating a “blue thread” with water as an integrating theme to connect environmental health with public health. Driven largely by provincial-level integrated initiatives, the program supports four main technical components:

Watershed Management and Biodiversity Conservation works with upstream stakeholders to stabilize and improve the supply of raw water to downstream urban populations. ESP promotes a landscape approach to improved land stewardship that integrates conservation of natural forests with high biodiversity value, restoration and rehabilitation of degraded forests and critical land, and sustainable utilization of agricultural land. Enabling conditions for improved land stewardship include policy support for land tenure necessary for responsible community-based forest management and payment for environmental services.

Environmental Services Delivery contributes to improving the delivery of clean water, sanitation, and solid waste management services to key urban and peri-urban areas. ESP works closely with municipal water companies and other relevant stakeholders to increase access to improved water sources, emphasizing the urban poor; with local governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and community groups on city-wide and community-based sanitation systems; and with community groups and NGOs on solid waste planning and management.

Environmental Services Finance strives to leverage much-needed medium- and long-term public and private sector financing to stimulate investment in clean water production and distribution as well as sewerage system development. An additional focus is on development of financing options to reward upper-watershed communities for activities that help conserve a stable supply of raw water for their downstream neighbors.

Strategic Communications for Behavior Change includes both public advocacy and behavior change communications. ESP works with local media networks to build awareness of and discourse about key water, environment, and health issues through regular multimedia campaigns. Health and hygiene behavior change works with community groups and school systems on hygiene issues, especially hand washing with soap, to reduce the prevalence of diarrhea.