Staff Reporter
THE Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, has said that most African countries are far off target regarding the implementation of universal access to adequate and sustainable sanitation and hygiene services and the elimination of open defecation by 2030, paying special attention to the needs of women, girls, and those in vulnerable situations.
The Minister made these remarks at the 7th edition of the Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference (AfricaSan7) in Swakopmund, Namibia.
The AfricaSan Conference, as it is popularly known, is convened by the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) and the Commission of the African Union once every two years. The 7th edition of the conference is held under the theme: “Strengthening Systems and Partnerships for Accelerated Action on Safely Managed Sanitation and Hygiene.”
“Since the July 2008 Declaration on Accelerating the Achievement of Water and Sanitation Goals by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Sharm El-Sheikh, Arab Republic of Egypt, there was an intent for more attention to be given to sanitation and hygiene. It is within the framework of the Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration that the African Ministers responsible for water and sanitation adopted the Ngor Commitments on Sanitation and Hygiene during the 4th AfricaSan Conference in Dakar, Senegal, in 2015,” Schlettwein explained.
The minister added that the Commitments, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6.2, seek to achieve universal access to adequate and sustainable sanitation and hygiene services and to eliminate open defecation by 2030.
“The importance of safely managed sanitation and hygiene cannot be overemphasized. It is part and parcel of water cycle management, which is now in crisis due to climate change. Sanitation and hygiene cannot be addressed as a stand-alone matter; it must be considered as an integral part of the climate change and development agenda relating to the water cycle,” Schlettwein said.
He added that only seven years remain to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and noted with concern that 600 million people in Africa still lack access to electricity, while about 970 million lack access to clean cooking.
Schlettwein further said that extreme weather events and changes in water cycle patterns are making it more difficult to access safe drinking water, resulting in about 400 million people in Africa having no access to clean drinking water and 700 million without good sanitation (by now 800 million).
“We have to recognize that we are far off target. Against this background, the 7th AfricaSan Conference seeks to strengthen partnerships, drive knowledge exchange, and sustain efforts in advancing the progress in achieving the Ngor Commitments and leveraging investments in meeting the objectives of achieving safely managed sanitation and hygiene,” Schlettwein said.
He added that sub-Saharan Africa is in a water crisis, and mitigation, which concentrates on the energy transformation, is not sufficient to survive the climate crisis. “Adaptation and the funding thereof must be equally important. Solutions have been found for the energy transformation because they were seen as important and were appropriately funded and resourced. But much less has been done for water and sanitation. Therefore, a similar approach must be taken, similar urgency must be given to actions that bring the water cycle back into balance,” Schlettwein said.
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