2 May 2013: The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), the Uganda Water and Sanitation NGO Network (UWASNET), WaterAid East Africa, End Water Poverty, Sanitation and Water for All and the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) hosted the first East Africa Civil Society Forum on ‘Tracking Progress on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Commitments.’ Forum participants committed to advocating for and implementing WASH services to meet international and national commitments.

The Forum, which was held in Kampala, Uganda, from 16-18 April 2013, aimed to strengthen the capacity of East African water and sanitation civil society networks and organizations to engage with and monitor national and regional WASH practices and policies.

The Forum focused on improving civil society organization (CSO) network capacity through sharing advocacy resources and tools in four areas: budget tracking and advocacy; commitment monitoring; media advocacy; and sector performance monitoring. It included an action planning session in which participants discussed how to apply advocacy tools to existing national plans, including through: tracking national WASH service delivery commitments; harmonizing government WASH commitments; and raising awareness on commitments made. Over 50 participants committed to continue to engage in advocacy and peer-to-peer learning through ANEW following the Forum’s conclusion.

Participants highlighted a lack of financing as one of the main challenges in WASH implementation. Dominic Kavutse, Uganda’s Commissioner for Urban Water and Sewerage Services, urged CSOs to advocate for increased WASH funding. Participants also recommended advocating for increased resource allocation at higher political levels to ensure sufficient funding for WASH commitments and for domestic recognition and ownership of international commitments. Participants also recognized slow progress towards Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets on water and sanitation. [WSSCC Press Release]