In a significant stakeholder meeting held at Serena hotel earlier this week, partners from the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) country team. The discussions aimed at demystifying the SWA agenda and its processes in Uganda, enhancing more awareness about WASH, validating the cost of inaction study report, disseminating resolutions from the presidential dialogue and agreeing on the roadmap towards the Presidential Compact on WASH from ministry of water and environment.
According to Martha Naigaga the sanitation coordinator at the ministry of water and environment, Uganda has been identified for specialized support from the SWA secretariat, focusing on engaging high-level political leaders to prioritize WASH as a vital component of socio-economic transformation.
“As a country team we respond to the global agenda in sense that we gather ministers of finance around the world, discuss institutional reforms required to make better use of existing financing, attract additional resources for the WASH sector to achieve the SDGs” Martha explained.
The growing need for safe drinking water, improved sanitation, and hygiene practices has highlighted critical financing gaps in Uganda’s development plans. According to Dr. Ibrahim Kasirye, Director of Research at the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC),
“Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and environmental financing for NDP II and NDP III faced significant shortfalls, with an 88% shortfall for NDP II and a 56% shortfall for NDP III.”
These financing gaps underscore the challenges of achieving sustainable development goals in WASH and environmental health, emphasizing the need for increased investment and innovative funding mechanisms.
Cate Namyalo, a senior Environmental Health Officer at the Ministry of Water, emphasized the importance of community participation through initiatives like national cleaning days to foster community cleanliness and engagement.
“Some of our key requests to the president Was Adopting national cleaning days to support community cleanliness and the spirit of community participation and bulungi Bwansi” she emphasized.
“With respect with the disease burden, we estimate that there are over 47. 1 million disease cases per year associated with poor WASH. Rural areas account for 36.9 million cases per year (78%of total cases) Urban areas experience 11.9 million cases a year” – Dr. Ibrahim Kasirye added.
This alarming statistic underscores the urgent need for improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services, particularly in rural regions, to mitigate health risks and enhance overall public health.
The need for nations to prioritize access to clean water and sanitation as foundational elements for achieving broader development goals.
“When the SDGs came along it took us along time to see interconnectedness in every country, every country has a primary SDG focus yet many care less about SDG 6 which is to ensure that everyone has access to clean water & sanitation” – Kevin Roussel, Regional coordinator SWA explained
As Uganda prepares to sign a Presidential Compact on WASH, there is a collective push towards establishing sustainable financing strategies and enhancing accountability within the sector. This initiative is seen as a crucial step towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.
“Uganda was identified as a priority country for specialized support from the SWA secretariat and was given options to select from” – Martha Naigaga added.
This stakeholder meeting raised the urgent call to action for enhanced collaboration among government entities, civil society organisations and international partners to address pressing WASH challenges in Uganda. With significant disease burdens associated with poor sanitation and hygiene practices there is an imperative need for strategic investments and community engagement initiatives that can lead to sustainable improvements in water access and sanitation services across the country.
ABOUT SWA
SWA is initiative in Uganda plays a crucial role in enhancing access to safe water and sanitation services across the country. In Uganda SWA is coordinated by a SWA country team composed of representatives from Government sector line ministries including Ministry of Water and Environment (Alternate Focal Point), Ministry of Health (Focal Point), Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Ministry of Education.
Some of the strategic objectives of SWA include to build and sustain political will to eliminate inequalities in water, sanitation and hygiene, champion multi-stakeholder approaches towards achieving universal access to service, rally stakeholders to strengthen system performance and attract new investments.
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