By Komva Fillie
WASH-Net in collaboration with GOAL Sierra Leone and other WASH sector players including government officials, civil society organizations and development partners has ended a one-day Heads of State landscape analysis workshop at Njala Venue in Freetown.
The workshop was to identify major barriers to WASH access in Sierra Leone, and develop actionable recommendations that will be delivered to the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation (MoWRS). This will be a crucial step in Sierra Leone’s journey toward joining the Heads of State Initiative and will guide the delivery of the national WASH strategy.
The Heads of State Initiative for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), supported by Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), the Government of the Netherlands, IRC WASH, and UNICEF, is a global movement aimed at inspiring and supporting Presidents and Prime Ministers who commit to making WASH a priority in their mandates. Sierra Leone is preparing to join this initiative, focusing on elevating WASH issues to a national priority and accelerating progress towards universal access.
In his statement, Team Lead of WASH-Net Musa Ansumana Soko explained a comprehensive explanation of the workshop objectives, context, structure and expected outcomes.
In his key note address Raymond S. Komba, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resource and Sanitation on behalf of the Minister. In his address, he recalled the WASH advocacy journey since 2010 to date. He highlighted some key successes and pinpointed some critical areas that needed high-level discussions. He noted that the workshop as an event will enhance stakeholders with the requisite skills in the WASH Sector to proffer possible solution that will aid WASH System strengthening in Sierra Leone.
He made mention of the Sanitation and water for all partnership and stated its key objective which includes but not limited to Building and sustaining the political will to eliminate inequalities in WASH, championing multi-stakeholder approaches towards achieving universal access to WASH services and rallay stakeholders to strengthen system performance and attract new investments. The initiative seeks to inspire and support national leadership in prioritizing WASH issues, mobilizing resources and accelerating progress towards universal access to WASH and as a significant first step to driving the Sierra Leone WASH compact.
The workshop was divided into two (2) segments; allowing various stakeholders across key thematic areas; water supply, governance, sanitation and hygiene). Each group after comprehensive discussions made a presentation of the feedback in each session.
During the breakout sessions participants were divided into three groups to engage in plenary sessions to discuss important drivers in the WASH sector namely Water Governance, Water Supply and Sanitation with a clear objective to assess the current WASH status in Sierra Leone, identify barriers and challenges, proffering possible solutions and coming up with strong recommendations going forward.
