Decision on the Implementation of the July 2008 Assembly Declaration on the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments for Accelerating the Achievement of Water and Sanitation Goals in Africa
Decision on the Implementation of the July 2008 Assembly Declaration on the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments for Accelerating the Achievement of Water and Sanitation Goals in Africa
DECISION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JULY 2008 ASSEMBLY
DECLARATION ON THE SHARM EL-SHEIKH COMMITMENTS FOR
ACCELERATING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF WATER AND
SANITATION GOALS IN AFRICA [Assembly/AU/ Decl.1 (XI)]
Doc. EX.CL/817(XXIV)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the 2011 Report of the Commission on the Implementation of the July 2008 Assembly Declaration on the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments for Accelerating the Achievement of Water and Sanitation Goals in Africa;
2. COMMENDS the positive response of Member States in conducting selfassessments and providing information for the preparation of the inaugural report to the Assembly of the African Union on progress in achieving water and sanitation goals in Africa;
3. NOTES WITH SATISFACTION the enormous effort invested by Member States in implementing Assembly Declaration [Assembly/AU/ Decl.1 (XI)] to accelerate the achievement of the water and sanitation goals;
4. FURTHER NOTES the great promise of those efforts to assure water and food security in Africa, as well as reducing the vulnerability of many Member States and the peoples of Africa to climate variability and change;
5. ACKNOWLEDGES that considerable challenges also still abound, particularly to mobilise the minimum levels of investment required to meet the targets of the Africa Water Vision 2025 for basic water supply and sanitation; irrigated agriculture; and for supporting institutional development, capacity building, research, education and information management;
6. RECOGNISES the efforts of the African Union Commission, in collaboration with the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), in mobilising the key stakeholders and development partners to strengthen the partnership with AU Member States and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) for establishing a mechanism for regular monitoring, evaluation and reporting on progress in implementing the commitments on water and sanitation to the AU Assembly;
7. WELCOMES the Commitment of Africa’s leadership to further the pursuit of water and sanitation goals; and on the capacity challenges to be addressed to establish a functional African Water and Sanitation Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting System as a basis for informed decision making within the African Union;
8. ENCOURAGES the participation of Member States in the subsequent rounds of the report preparation in order to obtain a complete picture of progress in the implementation of the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments and requests the Commission to ensure that the template reaches all MS with a view to ensure that all member states respond;
9. RECOMMENDS that the report be updated with data that Member States have promised to provide;
10. RECOMMENDS as follows:
a) to increase investment in Member States to improve access to basic sanitation in Africa and raise the profile of sanitation;
b) to ensure synergy and complementarity of the efforts of sector institutions and development partners to avoid duplication of actions. Furthermore, more emphasis should be placed on actions with benefits that can be felt at community level, thus improving the living conditions of our people;
c) to conduct a study to determine levels of underground water available in Member States with a view to support irrigated agriculture. The Commission of the African Union, in collaboration with AMCOW, will support Member States in this activity;
d) to raise at least 50 million Euros from Member States and development partners to fund implementation of activities for water development, utilisation and management, as well as improvement of hygiene and sanitation at community level. With the aim of reaching at least an additional five million people, focus for this intervention should be placed on the 10 Member States in which the least progress has been reported in water and sanitation development. Part of this funding shall be raised by forgoing water and sanitation events in 2015;
e) to submit to the Heads of States and Government, the designate His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda to provide leadership in the implementation of the intervention in 9(d) above. He will present the 2015 African Water and Sanitation Report to the AU Assembly;
f) to enhance the capacity of Member States to prepare bankable projects, as well as resolving all bottlenecks hindering an accelerated use of available funds at the African Development Bank to support fragile and poor performing countries in closing the gap for improving their water sector performance;
g) to intensify efforts to facilitate peer-to-peer experiential learning and networks development among the water and sanitation Monitoring and Evaluation Focal persons at national level, particularly to share lessons from the experiences of the top performing Member States while at the same time appreciating the challenges faced by those Members States facing difficulties in either implementing the commitments and or monitoring their progress;
h) to conduct a comprehensive capacity needs assessments by Member States to inform a programme to strengthen national level M&E systems as well as institutionalising the vertical (continental-regional-national) and horizontal (between Member States or regional institutions) linkages required to establish a fully functional African Water and Sanitation M&E System.
11. ENJOINS the pursuit of the Africa Water Vision 2025; not as an option but, rather, as vital to unleashing Africa’s development potential.