Join IRC at AfricaSan5

Published on: 12/02/2019

AfricaSan5 brings together countries and stakeholders around Africa to debate and talk about how to achieve the Ngor Commitments for sanitation and hygiene and Africa and the related SDG targets. Organised by the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), AfricaSan5 takes place from 18-22 February 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The theme is Transforming Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa and there are four exciting sub-themes that address some of the key issues 39 African countries have highlighted while generating reports on progress against the Ngor Commitments. The four sub-themes are:

1. Sanitation, Hygiene and the SDGs: Leave no one behind
2. Policies, Institutions and Regulation
3. Monitoring and using evidence to improve hygiene & sanitation
4. Building the Capacity and Financing Sanitation in Africa

Sub-theme 3 on the monitoring of sanitation and hygiene is not just about collecting data but more importantly Using Evidence to Improve Hygiene and Sanitation. Nicolas Dickinson of IRC, led the preparation for this sub-theme. IRC will share it's experiences and set the scene for seven rich sessions discussing how to improve the quality of evidence and its use:

Tuesday, 19 Feb 2019

• 11:00-12:30 in Room 1.6: Country-led Monitoring of Sanitation Goals and Commitments with UNICEF WCARO, Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Mauritania, IRC
• 14:30-16:00 in Room 1.6: Measuring the Last Mile: Assessing New Equity and Sustainability Data across African Countries WSSC, SWA, JMP, Ministry of Health - Kenya, Global Communities, Plan Tanzania

Wednesday, 20 Feb 2019

• 11:30-13:00 in Room 1.6: Achieving Universal Access to WASH in Schools with Innovative M&E - in Africa and Beyond with GIZ, UNICEF, SuSanA, UNICEF Chad, KCCA, WHO, Ministry of Education - Guinea, Ministry of Water - Mali
• 14:00-15:30 in Room 1.6: Accelerating Sanitation Access Through Mobile IT: Lessons from Using Data to Develop Sanitation Markets, Products and Services with the Container Based Sanitation Association, GSM Association, University of Oregon, KCCA

Thursday, 21 Feb 2019

• 10:30-12:00 Room 2.4.4: Monitoring Hygiene Behaviours Change – Experiences from WaterAid
• 13:00-14:30 Room 2.4.4: Using CLTS and Post-ODF data: monitoring country progress and local commitments with DNACP - Mali, UNICEF Guinea-Bissau, UNICEF Mali, Ministry of Energy Industry and Natural Resources - Guinea-Bissau, National Association for Local Development - NADEL
• 15:00-16:30 Room 2.4.4: Rapid Action Learning and Research for Rural Sanitation with IDS and UNICEF Ghana

More information on all the sub-themes is on the AfricaSan5 web site as well as the full programme.

The Ngor Declaration has set out an important vision for sanitation and hygiene in Africa. Countries have committed to eliminate inequalities in access and use and committing to establish government-led monitoring, reporting and learning systems. Even so, half of African countries are making significant progress on being able to monitor sanitation and hygiene, but there remain significant challenges.

In particular, while some systems are in place, there is a problem is assessing and understanding inequalities in access, tracking untreated faecal waste, budget tracking, understanding human resource needs, measuring outcomes in institutional settings and public spaces, communicating results and using data to develop and certify sanitation products and services. Ultimately, tackling these challenges can ensure we are measuring hygiene and sanitation outcomes well and evidence turns to action.

IRC is a member of the AfricaSan International Task Force and the AMCOW Sanitation Monitoring and Learning Sub-Committee.