African Ministers’ Initiative on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (AMIWASH)

In order to place water and sanitation on the political and social agenda, AMIWASH promotes inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral collaboration and involves a broad base of stakeholders, such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society, in the process.

While serving as an advocacy platform at the political level, AMIWASH also provides coordinated technical and advisory support to governments, promotes South/South partnerships, and maintains a strong reservoir of African water and sanitation experts and professionals.

In addition, the project seeks to attract resources and investments into the water and sanitation sector in African countries.

As a parallel initiative to AMIWASH, the global initiative “Women Leaders for WASH” is working towards gender equality in the decision-making and management of water supply and sanitation systems worldwide. The initiative, in collaboration with African Women Leaders, has started activities in Africa joining forces with AMIWASH to highlight the importance of these issues. AMIWASH therefore includes a group of women ministers who serve as WASH champions and work to raise issues of gender, the role of women in decision-making, capacity building, and educating children about sanitation and hygiene.

Environment.

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) campaign is a global advocacy effort by members and partners of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) to place water, sanitation, and hygiene on the political agenda. WSSCC is working with governments, parliamentarians, non-governmental organisations, community groups, and other stakeholders around the world to promote sanitation and water safety and conversation.

WASH was launched at the International Conference on Freshwater in Bonn, Germany, in 2001, with the aim to mobilise political support for the acceptance of the sanitation target within the Millenium Development Goals at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

AMIWASH was launched during the first Global WASH Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, in December 2004.


AMIWASH is closely affiliated to the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), formed in 2002 with an aim of developing sound policies and coordinating various water and sanitation initiatives in Africa. AMCOW’s ultimate goal is to enable access to water and sanitation services to all Africans. It has since established itself as a political vehicle for fronting water issues with a view to contributing to the social and economic development and poverty alleviation in Africa.

”Only one of every three Africans currently has access to basic sanitation; some 288 million also lack access to safe drinking water. According to WHO and UNICEF, less than 400 people in a typical African village of 1,000 have access to a latrine. On any given day, more than 20 of these villagers, of whom three quarters are children aged below five years, suffer from diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases. This situation adversely affects children’s education and erodes the productive capabilities of adults. Girls and women are the most affected. As a whole, the lack of access to safe water and sanitation affects every aspect of family life, and condemns people to a perpetual struggle for survival.”