Campaign boost at AfricaSan '08
West Africa launches End Water Poverty campaign at AfricaSan ‘08
19 February 2008
End Water Poverty West Africa launches their
campaign at AfricaSan 2008, during the
advocacy for sanitation session
Credit: WaterAid / Charlotte Godber
Today at the AfricaSan conference in Durban, representatives of West Africa - including Abdul Nashiru, WaterAid’s Regional Advocacy and Policy Programme Advisor - announced that a large group of West African organisations and civil society groups are joining the global End Water Poverty campaign.
The End Water Poverty campaign was launched in 2007 and now has over 80 member organisations from 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Far East and Europe. The campaign brings together like-minded organisations who want to see a serious international effort to end the sanitation and water crisis. As a founding member of the campaign, WaterAid is supporting efforts towards building the profile of sanitation during the UN International Year of Sanitation.
In its strategy paper, End Water Poverty West Africa prioritises working more closely with regional institutions for region-wide impact. The region is committed to supporting the End Water Poverty campaign’s international and national demands.
Abdul Nashiru stated, “End Water Poverty West Africa will use its regional and international influence to both raise the sanitation profile and support civil society coalitions to increase pressure on governments and donors to tackle the sanitation crisis.
"We will be looking to West African governments to ensure the appropriate policies and implementation structures are in place and to provide adequate funding for meeting and exceeding the agreed national sanitation targets.
“It is very appropriate that we should be launching the campaign here in South Africa, where the government has shown that the sanitation target is achievable when there is political will.”
The End Water Poverty campaign states that without political will the sanitation sector will not make progress.
End Water Poverty West Africa hopes to build on the leadership already shown by Ministers in Mali, Ghana and Senegal for tackling the sanitation crisis.
Internationally, End Water Poverty is demanding:
- A global action plan for sanitation and water, with political endorsement at the highest level that recognises the integral role of sanitation in achieving the economic, health and education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- A global taskforce mandated at the highest level to plan, implement and monitor the extraordinary effort that is needed on sanitation and water
- A commitment that no credible country plan that is consistent with achieving the sanitation and water MDG targets should fail for lack of finance
On top of these demands, End Water Poverty West Africa is demanding that African governments:
- More than double access figures for water and to increase access to sanitation by fourfold (seven million to 28 million)
- Make sanitation a priority by demonstrating political commitment and the corresponding financial support
- Accelerate efforts to support sector social accountability mechanisms through participatory planning and budgeting, water expenditure tracking, and to promote citizens’ voices and empowerment of groups marginalised from water and sanitation services.
For more information, for photos or to speak to an End Water Poverty spokesperson please contact Charlotte Godber on 07876 330351 or email: charlottegodber@wateraid.org.