Introduction/Background
For well over a decade, organised civil society and other Non-state actors have substantially impacted on the water and sanitation sector in Ghana. The role and performance of these Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have culminated in increased access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation to rural communities. The number of such NGOs is large, their locations approaches/strategies have been virtually impossible to track. Their work and achievements were thus rarely documented nor coordinated as complementary to national efforts. The absence of a clear mechanism for gathering and disseminating the growing experiences of NGOs makes it difficult to use field lessons to influence the sector and advocate for social changes
Giving the NGOs one voice for advocacy and lobbying has been one major desire for NGOs in the Water and Sanitation Sector in Ghana, within our overall vision of increasing access of safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all our people. Effective coordination and networking among NGOs and CBOs in the sector are some of the benefits that would accrue to members of an institutionalised coalition. This situation among others stimulated the interest in forming a coalition with a unified voice, capable of mobilising sector actors for actions that are non-confrontational but capable of resolving sector concerns.
Progress
A shared vision has been developed which requires reinforcement with all other stakeholders. CONIWAS is therefore making further commitment to reaching more sector agencies and actors to elicit their commitment as well.
The scope, content, consistency and patronage of Mole Conference, now being organised by CONIWAS clearly demonstrates its power to advocate, share best practices and stimulate consensus on important national water and sanitation issues. We seek to take the decisions of Mole further beyond the communiqué to engage productively with the appropriate policy makers, sector institutions, development partners and other appropriate bodies for action on the issues. This has been the expectation of all development partners and sector actors over the years.
Subscription to CONIWAS membership is quite promising. Currently over 35 organisations have registered as active members and are participating in our programmes and meetings. There is high potential of our membership growing up to 50 by 2009.
Other Services that the Coalition offers include:-
• Developing policy positions and initiating campaign for action
• Updating sector actors on new global paradigms in water and sanitation
• Carrying out publications and campaigns on relevant issues in the sector
• Initiating policy dialogue on developmental issues affecting the sector, and,
• Collaborating, networking, and maintaining close contacts with appropriate Government Agencies, Donors, International Bodies/platforms and the communities we seek to represent.
Track Record
1. National Advocacy and Campaign Platform:
CONIWAS has since, 1989, created a strong and effective advocacy platform towards influencing policy and enabling marginalized populations develop a “voice”. Our advocacy and empowerment goal is in response to the global challenges of:-
a) Ensuring equity
b) Promoting the fundamental principles underpinning the right to water
c) Stimulating Governments to respond to the water and sanitation needs of poor communities; lobbying for increased sector funding and effective fund utilization
All of these are geared towards meeting the water and sanitation targets (MDGs) by 2015 and poverty reduction. Members of the Coalition have consistently engaged with representatives of Government and the Private Sector at a forum called Mole Conference. It was incepted and managed by its members for over 15 years, making it the single most active advocacy platform for the Water and Sanitation Sector in Ghana.
2. Influence of National Institutional Arrangements for Service Delivery: CONIWAS has facilitated the creation of Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) formerly a department under the Ministry of Works and Housing. It facilitates the development of water and sanitation services in rural areas and small urban towns with roles including: ensuring sustainability of water and sanitation systems; maximizing health benefits through integration of health and hygiene; education and sanitation promotion interventions, and; facilitating capacity building of sector practitioners. Before its creation in 1998 by the instrumentality of CONIWAS, Water and Sanitation needs of rural areas were virtually unattended to by the existing institutional arrangement.
CONIWAS AND THE WATER AND SANITATION SECTOR MDGS
Mole XV conference was held in July 2004 at Kumasi, under the theme “Effective Partnerships Towards Achieving the Water and Sanitation Sector MDGS” The conference, which attracted large patronage from Civil Society organizations, government agencies, development partners and international organisations was described as highly successful. Following two days of intense deliberations, participants outlined a number of recommendations to carry forward in line with the desires of CONIWAS and its partners to support government efforts at attaining the Water and Sanitation Sector MDGs within the shortest possible time.
One important outcome of the 2004 conference was the realisation that a transparent system for tracking and measuring progress towards the Water and Sanitation Sector MDGs is not only critical to accelerating progress towards achieving the MDGs, but also fundamental to equitable access to the outputs derived from investments in the sector. The coalition, in consultation with its partners, has therefore dedicated Mole XVI in 2005 for this subject, under the theme “Counting the numbers, a Water and Sanitation Sector MDG Challenge”. However it is recognised that at the present time,, not many Ghanaians know much about the processes involved in Monitoring the Achievement of MDGs in the country. Even for CONIWAS and its members, knowledge about this is at best foggy. Following the Mole Conference in 2004, CONIWAS resolved, among others, to initiate a Water and Sanitation sector MDG monitoring project that will inform its entire membership, who have played pivotal roles in service delivery and advocacy within the sector for over a decade and continue to do so, on progress towards the MDGS.
To initiate such a project however, a thorough knowledge about existing frameworks and capacities of organisations that have the mandates to gather, process and transmit/disseminate data relating to progress monitoring towards the MDGs is fundamental. As a first step towards identifying the knowledge gaps towards the preparation of the CONIWAS led “MDG Monitoring” Project, and with a view to enriching the discussions during our intended zonal workshop, on “Measurement and Monitoring of Water Sector MDGs in Ghana” The assignment will have also seek to assess the general level of capacity among DAs, communities and NGOs for knowledge management (in terms of generation, access, and sharing of sector knowledge).
PLAN OF ACTION
Objective
The objective of the zonal fora are:
1. To identify and mobilise all sector stakeholders to create awareness towards the water and sanitation sector MDGs and achieve expected targets.
2. To localise the MDG Agenda in districts, and evolve strategies for increasing CSO role in advocacy around the Water and Sanitation related MDGs.
3.Facilitate understanding of the MDG monitoring system in Ghana, with regard to sources of data, institutional arrangements and the functional linkages between different organisations (MDAs) who have a clear mandate for monitoring the MDGs.
4. Determine the present and potential scope of involvement of Civil Society Organisations in the MDG delivery and monitoring process; and hence develop the framework for the formulation of the proposed CONIWAS led “MDG Monitoring Project”.
5. Audit Ghana’s performances
Activity
1. Organize 3 zonal fora or meeting to sensitize stakeholders(northern, middle and southern zones )
*Form Monitoring Committee out of the workshop to Draw monitoring framework for monitoring
