National WASH Coalition
Five Liberian civil society organizations (CSO) formed the national CSO-WASH working group in 2008 to work towards a joint advocacy initiative and to strengthen WASH sectoral collaboration. The CSO-WASH members also have a partnership with the Liberia WASH Consortium.
Focus
The CSO-WASH working group aims to present the case to the government and donors for appropriate policy and adequate financial support for water, sanitation and hygiene. The members try to collaborate on WASH policy discussions with government and donors with a view to providing a sturdy civil society position. This goes hand in hand with community mobilization and education to create increased awareness of water, sanitation and hygiene with the focus on poverty reduction.
Milestones and achievements
The young coalition has been very active since it began. Its activities have included:
- Official launch of the group: in June 2009 Liberia’s Minister of Land, Mines and Energy launched the working group with a keynote message. The first CSO forum launched the Corina Declaration on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.
- The group organized five civil society WASH forums on water, sanitation and hygiene in 2009. These created awareness among local civil society, community dwellers and government officials and promoted greater advocacy for water, sanitation and hygiene in line with the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of Liberia.
- The group completed a research project on government budgets for water, sanitation and hygiene in Liberia. The research investigated whether the resources invested in the sector since 2006 had met the needs involved in reaching the targets of the PRS and MDGs.
- To increase the group’s visibility and to influence policy change, it held lobby meetings with government, development partners and other CSOs.
