The African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) convened consultations on water in the post-2015 development framework, in order to start discussion to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the process of consensus building on key future challenges in the water sector.
31 January 2013: The African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) convened consultations on water in the post-2015 development framework, in order to start the discussion to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the process of consensus building on key future challenges in the water sector.
AMCOW is a Specialized Technical Committee on Water and Sanitation to the African Union (AU). The consultations, hosted by the Government of Liberia, took place in Monrovia from 29-30 January 2013, on the margins of the outreach meeting of the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP).
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, Africa’s Goodwill Ambassador for Water, and HLP Co-Chair, chaired the second day of the consultations. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, AU Commissioner (AUC) for Rural Economy and Agriculture, informed that AUC had been mandated to lead the process of gathering the African input into the global development framework, and that the final regional consultations on water should take place in Tunis, Tunisia, in early March 2013.
The consultations, which took place under the theme “Hearing the African Voice,” focused on three thematic areas: water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); water resources management; and wastewater management and water quality. Participants drafted the Monrovia Water Sector Declaration, which includes sections on: lessons learned from the MDG process and period; arguments for including water in the post-2015 development framework; and key messages. Among key messages, the Declaration: calls for the Africa Water Vision 2025 to form the basis of the post-2015 development agenda for Africa as its relates to water management; recognizes the essential role of water to attain vital economic, health, educational, agriculture/food and energy benefits, as well as in climate change adaptation; stresses the importance of universal access to sustainable safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene; notes the need to make fundamental changes in African water resource management; and underlines the environmental and economic value of wastewater.
The Africa Water Vision 2025 calls for “An Africa where there is an equitable and sustainable use and management of water resources for poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, regional cooperation, and the environment.” [AMCOW Announcement] [AMCOW Press Release] [Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA) Press Release] [Statement by Rhoda Peace Tumusiime] [Publication: Draft Monrovia “water” sector declaration to HLP] [Africa Water Vision 2025]