YVE Gambia and Partners organised National Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Wash data, gap identification and lobbying strategies on 17th January, 2022.

As water is considered to be  a key determinant of health, food, education and energy and a condition to an adequate standard of living and also key to all sustainable development goals which many  deemed  must be now recognized top importance for governments.  On 17^th January 2022, Young Volunteers for the Environment (YVE) Gambia in partnership with National Environment Agency and the Department of Public Health of the Ministry of Health  with support from WaterAidUK and Sanitation and Water for All Network  conducts a 1 day National Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Wash data, gap identification  and lobbying strategies  with Theme:  Secure water, empowered citizens: the essential role of social accountability  ‘Scaling up WASH and WRM solutions for broader impact’.

The one day multi-stakeholder forum was held at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) Conference Hall  in  Bakau which brought together , government , Civil society organisations , media , community members , vulnerable groups(people living with disabilities, women, girls, young children and the elderly in the country), Municipal council , members of parliament amongst others to discuss Water, Sanitation and  hygiene situation of The Gambia (Gaps, Challenges , best practices and opportunities ) for an  integrated participatory planning (In terms of WASH and WRM) coming up with possible strategy and approaches on engaging national institutions and local governments to better strengthen political commitment to address and integrate sustainable wash plans into national development frameworks.  

The executive Director of YVE Gambia , Mr. Joe Bongay in his opening statement , informed forum participants that , their core mission as members of the SWA partnership is to eliminate inequalities in realizing the human rights to water and sanitation – by raising political will, ensuring good governance, and helping to optimize financing. Our partnership focuses on the hardest to reach and most vulnerable individuals, communities, countries and regions, and puts women and girls at the center, not just as passive recipients, but as dynamic agents of change.

The various speakers coming from academia, government and CSO shared the importance of people and their entitlement  to access safe sanitation facilities in order to avoid water contamination and disease. However, participants believes the scope of the right to sanitation goes beyond health concerns and entitles people to access basic sanitation service that respects human dignity.

What is required to many at the forum is that sanitation facilities be adapted to the specific needs of the person. Gender-differentiated toilets and sanitation facilities accessible by disabled people are concrete examples of the obligations falling under the right to sanitation.

The event concluded with a common voice from participants calling on the duty bearers to include the right to water and sanitation in national legislation and used it as a guide for developing national policies and  Informed decisions should ideally be made in the context of reasonable baseline information and measurable parameters. They further call on the government of The Gambia urgently  need to identify and agree on the characteristics and criteria related to the requirements to comply with the right to water and sanitation and come up with WASH national policy for swift quality service delivery and peoples’ centered development framework to WASH right.

The event was funded by Water Aid UK and Sanitation and Water for All Network through its SWA Civil Society Constituency Catalytic Project.

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#Water, #Sanitation, #Health, #Hygiene

#WaterAIDUK, #SDG6, #UNFCCC

#UNEP, #yvegambia  ,#washrightgambia

#CSOConstituencyCatalyticProject, #GambiaWater

#EndWaterPoverty

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Report by: Ecoview Africa

YVE Gambia Trains CSOs, NGOs and Media Members on WRM/WASH data research, social accountability, organisational L & A strategy and policy influencing.

Young Volunteer the Environment (YVE) Gambia concludes a two days training workshop for members of the civil society, NGOs and the media on Water Sanitation and Hygiene data research, social accountability, organisational L & A strategy and policy influencing from the 11^th – 12^th January , 2022 at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) Conference Hall  in  Bakau. The capacity building training brought together vulnerable groups representatives , community members, journalists , human rights and environmental  advocates amongst others to be trained  on how to influence policies and legislative frameworks at local and national levels, promoting wash rights for the most marginalized and vulnerable groups (people living with disabilities, women, girls, young children and the elderly in the country). The two days event also helped participants to gain skills and knowledge on social accountability and advocacy skills to be able to better inform the public about their positions and mechanisms that promote sustainable wash service delivery and to facilitate integrated participatory planning (In terms of WASH and WRM) by engaging national institutions and local governments promoting these laws and process.

The Majority Leader of The Gambia National Assembly, Hon. Kebba K Barrow in his key note speech informed participants that , The WASH sector is already affected in many different ways by weather and climate events (such as variability,seasonality and extreme events). This translates into negative impacts on drinking water availability and quality, and also in negative performance of sanitation and hygiene services. Future climate change will put an additional stress on delivering and sustaining health and well-being related outcomes.

He further indicated that WASH/WRM is not a priority area in national policies, plans and not prioritized in the national budgeting process. In addition, poor WASH governance (including lack of accountability) is a barrier to effective use of the available financial resources. The root causes of these challenges range from political prioritisation and inadequate policies to inequalities in financial planning and budgets.

He concludes reminding participants, as citizens and partners in development in The Gambia, it is our responsibility  for developing a dissemination strategy for making sure that the relevant decision-makers and stakeholders are made aware of the importance of the WASH/WRM sector.

The participants echoed a well satisfactory and timely training event which had equipped them to be able to monitor, report and educate the public on WASH related issues accordingly. They also found the training very tools and modules very useful and serving as an eye opener on how to hold duty bearers accountable, report gaps and influence national polices as the country faces WASH challenges with little priority been given to the sector.

The event was funded by Water Aid UK and Sanitation and Water for All Network through its SWA Civil Society Constituency Catalytic Project.