On
27th September 2016, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry
of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources kicked off a four-day WASH
Bottleneck Analysis Workshop, supported by UNICEF.
The
workshop, held at the Ocean Bay Hotel and Resort, is part of efforts to
strengthen the enabling environment and improve service-delivery in the Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector in The Gambia.
The
opening of the workshop was preceded by a one-day training of a core group of
facilitators from government, UNICEF, academia, individual consultants and
researchers on the application of the Bottleneck Analysis Tool, led by the
technical officer from UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office in Dakar.
This
training activity is to have a pool of facilitators to co-facilitate the
workshop and subsequent ones, to ensure continuity and increased capacity
building in-country.
During
the period of the workshop, participants deliberated on key bottlenecks in the enabling
environment relating to the country’s WASH programme, drawing up concrete
recommendations that will feed into strengthening the national campaign to end
open defecation, as well as the review of national WASH policies and
strategies.
Speaking
at the opening ceremony, the UNICEF Country Representative, Sara Beysolow
Nyanti, welcomed participants and expressed delight in UNICEF’s partnership
with the Gambia government to ensure effective service delivery for children in
the country.
“The
Gambia is one of the few African countries that has made great strides in
improving access to WASH with coverage figures as high as 89% for water and 59%
for sanitation”.
This
is in addition to the remarkable progress made in reducing open defecation,
with the current national rate at 2%. She emphasized that although improving
equitable and sustainable access to WASH, especially for the poorest and most
vulnerable is still a challenge in the hardest to reach areas, the gains in The
Gambia are so good that achieving the global goals is possible.
Ms
Nyanti also said when all sub-Saharan African countries made the Ngor
Declaration to achieve Open Defecation free status by 2030 in line with the
SDGs, President Yahya Jammeh declared that Gambians would achieve this milestone
by December 2017. This workshop was a major step towards realizing that goal.
With
a global focus on the Sustainable Development Goals, the challenge has become
even greater for the country, especially with the set goals to achieve
affordable and safely-managed water, sanitation and hygiene for all, and at all
times.
The
UNICEF representative noted that the workshop came at a crucial time, as The
Gambia is implementing a national plan to end open defecation in 2017, in
parallel with the development of the United Nations Development Action
Framework (UNDAF) and the PAGE successor.
The
results of the workshop will also inform the implementation of the new UNICEF
and Gambia Government 2017-2021 Country Programme, creating a great opportunity
to build on the progress already made and ensure the sustainable provision of
efficient WASH services across the country.
Health
minister Dr Omar Sey thanked UNICEF for supporting the successful
implementation of the workshop.
“WASH
interventions improve health outcomes, advance education, reduce poverty and
malnutrition, increase child and maternal survival, drive economic growth,
contribute to gender equality and dignity and improve overall quality of life”.
He
added that an estimated 748 million people still lack access to safe drinking
water, and 2.5 billion lack access to basic sanitation.
Delivering
the joint statement for his Ministry and the Ministry of Environment, Sey
reaffirmed the two ministries’ commitment to the presidential declaration to
end open defecation in 2017. He also expressed their commitment to the
implementation of the results from the bottleneck analysis, in line with this
and other objectives.
The
bottleneck analysis workshop saw the support of the UNICEF Regional Office with
lead facilitation provided by Dawda Jawara, WASH Specialist at the UNICEF West
and Central Africa Office.
The
analysis centered on two subsectors of Rural Water Supply and Rural Sanitation
at national and subnational level focusing on Central River Region, which has the
lowest WASH and child survival indicators. The lessons from this analysis are
expected to be utilized for the planning of a similar assessment for urban
areas, in line with UNICEF’s policies on equity.
Participants
at the workshop used the tools to conduct an in-depth analysis on the gaps
existing across various building blocks, including policy and strategy;
finance; planning, monitoring and review; capacity development; institutional
arrangements; broader enabling environment; and service providers. This was
complemented by the identification of possible solutions and actions to address
the challenges and close the gaps in the WASH sector.
Following
the analysis of the existing gaps and challenges to progress in the WASH
sector, participants developed a costed plan of action for the removal of the
identified priority bottlenecks for improving WASH programming in The Gambia,
as well as an effective theory of change for the sector.
The
final outcomes will be compiled and validated, before further sharing with
stakeholders for advocacy. National, regional and local authorities will also
be fully engaged to ensure the effective implementation of the emerging
recommendations and action plan, as agreed upon by participants at the
workshop.
The
WASH Bottleneck Analysis Workshop and its consequent activities are expected
make a significant and positive change in the WASH sector for children in The
Gambia, as envisaged by UNICEF and partners.
Source:
UNICEF Gambia, 6 October 2016
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