Accra, Feb. 13, GNA – WaterAid, a not-for-profit organisation, has called on the African Union Commission to endorse the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy (AWVP63) and elevate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) as a Head-of-State priority.
The organisation said WASH must be explicitly positioned as a whole-of-government issue linked to health, climate resilience and economic development, including in the AU’s common position for the UN Water Conference.
WaterAid made the call ahead of the 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, scheduled for February 14–15, 2026, in Addis Ababa.
It urged Member States to scale up WASH services in healthcare facilities by developing costed, Cabinet-endorsed national roadmaps, with ring-fenced health budget allocations and inclusion of WASH in external financing proposals.
WaterAid said 418 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lacked basic drinking water, 779 million lacked sanitation, and 839 million lacked basic hygiene services.
The gaps, it noted, were particularly severe in healthcare facilities and schools, directly affecting patient safety, learning outcomes and long-term human development.
The organisation said AU Member States had made several commitments through continental declarations, national reforms and the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy, aligned with the AU’s Agenda 2063 framework.
It noted that the endorsement of the Heads of State Initiative by several AU members recognised WASH as a strategic priority for health security, climate resilience and economic transformation, underscoring the need for renewed commitment.
WaterAid stressed that the declaration of 2026 as Africa’s Year of WASH presented a timely opportunity to consolidate momentum and accelerate implementation, adding that progress remained slow and uneven despite existing commitments.
It, therefore, urged the AU Commission and African Heads of State and Government to translate political commitments into sustained financing and measurable results, positioning WASH as a core driver of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal Six.
Africa has previously made strong political commitments through the 2008 Sharm El Sheikh Declaration on accelerating water and sanitation goals, the 2015 Ngor Declaration on sanitation and hygiene, and the 2016 Dar es Salaam Roadmap for achieving the Ngor commitments on water security and sanitation.
These include establishing and tracking sanitation and hygiene budget lines and allocating at least five per cent of national budgets to WASH, with a minimum target of 0.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.
WaterAid emphasised that the core challenge now lies in implementation, financing and accountability, and called for strengthened presidential leadership, domestic resource mobilisation and institutionalised accountability mechanisms.
WaterAid is an international not-for-profit organisation working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe