Laying the Foundation for Sanitation Revolution in Africa: WALIS Technical Brief

After the slow progress made by African countries in meeting sanitation-related Millennium Development Goal targets, African governments and sector stakeholders renewed efforts to realize an African sanitation revolution via the “AfricaSan” movement. This was reinforced in 2015 by the adoption of the Ngor Declaration on Sanitation and Hygiene, which positions the continent to meet the ambitious Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 on universal access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene services for all, and the elimination of open defecation by 2030. Consistent with the four core elements identified by USAID as necessary to achieve universal access to sustainable sanitation – governance, financing, behaviors, and markets – the Ngor Commitments focus on the enabling environment for sanitation and hygiene.

To advance this African-led transformational change in the sanitation sector, USAID’s Water for Africa through Leadership and Institutional Support (WALIS) program partners with the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), a specialized committee of the African Union mandated to lead Africa’s sanitation agenda and give policy direction for African countries to meet the Ngor Commitments.