Ministers call for Acceleration of Water Security and Access to Safely Managed Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa

 
The Africa Water and Sanitation Week Conference has ended with the issuance of The Windhoek Multi-Stakeholder Resolutions for Accelerating Water Security and Access to Safely Managed Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa.
The Conference was convened virtually by the African Ministers’ Council on Water, AMCOW, and the African Union Commission, AUC, and hosted by the Government of Republic of Namibia.
The Conference provided a platform to over three thousand registered participants for dialogue and knowledge exchange to advance the water and sanitation agenda in Africa.
On water governance, the statement calls for the strengthening of policy, legal, institutional and regulatory environments by ensuring context specificity; intra- and inter-sectoral coherency.
It calls for upholding the principles of universal social inclusion and equity as the statement further enjoins governments to raise the profile of social accountability and transparency.
AMCOW Sanitation Project Manager, Mr. Kitchinme Bawa, said it is imperative to develop the requisite human resources capacity especially among the women and youth for sustainable services delivery.
On finance, the statement calls on governments and the private sector to significantly increase investments in climate-resilient and inclusive water and sanitation services and infrastructure.
The African Development Bank, Rural Water and Sanitation expert, Mr Nelson Gomonda, called on African countries to have clear-cut policies that will address the funding gaps in the sanitation and hygiene sector.
Speaking on “Driving National Progress on Hand Hygiene Through Diverse Financing”, Gomonda said it was worrisome that low investment in hygiene was inherent in countries.
He said it was of great concern that many countries did not have these plans in place.
Mr. Gomonda noted that having plans and policies was a major requirement for them to enjoy funding from development partners, who may want to give grants.
The ministers further, it calls for keeping up the fight against COVID-19, bringing down the over-all disease burden and preventing future pandemics.
On climate change and resilience, the statement calls attention to the recently published UN’s IPCC Assessment Report and the relevant priorities of the Glasgow Climate Pact.
These include integrating water and climate action through adaptation and resilience planning at national and regional levels