ANEW OVERVIEW

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Overview

Africa Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW)

The African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) is an autonomous Africa- wide platform which aims to ensure that the diverse voices of African civil society organizations are represented and heard in the development and implementation of policies and plans on water and sanitation across the continent. ANEW promotes dialogue, learning and cooperation on water and sanitation issues in Africa and provides a platform for sharing and coordinating voices of its members, who include civil society organizations and academia.

ANEW is a powerful CSO platform that has been established by African CSOs and is recognized by government, CSOs and other major stakeholders in the water and sanitation (WASH) and water resource management (WRM) sector at the national, regional, pan-African and international levels.

The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) has charged ANEW with a substantial and significant mandate, from the grassroots and national level to the regional and pan-African level. Such recognition for CSOs in Africa is not common and is a demonstration of the impact that ANEW has made in the WASH/WRM sector in Africa.

THEMATIC FOCUS

The core of ANEW’s position in the WASH/WRM policy sector is the potential and current role that it plays in linking and building capacities for policy formulation and implementation at the national and pan-African levels. This includes facilitating an information exchange mechanism. All its member organizations rightfully expect improved advocacy ability and enhanced project implementation as a result of their membership with ANEW.

Advocating for the implementation of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation

Hold governments and other stakeholders accountable for progress and strengthen accountability platforms

Advocacy for Leaving No One Behind with a focus on Gender

Water Security and Climate Change

Vision

“An Africa where access to water, sanitation and hygiene is recognized as a right and where water resources and sanitation are sustainably managed and used by all.”
Mission

“To promote the effective engagement of diverse African civil society voices in the formulation and implementation of policies and strategies for water, sanitation and hygiene”

STRATEGY GOAL 2025

To strengthen recognition and realization of the human rights to water, sanitation and hygiene by governments and citizens of Africa through policy change and action that enhances vulnerable and marginalized citizens’ access to WASH services that focus on inclusivity, gender equity, nature based solutions and green growth.

Advocacy

To strengthen civil society influence on sector policy and action towards meeting SDG6 targets and N’gor commitments through:

Informed and effective engagement in multi-stakeholder policy dialogue platforms
Evidence based contributions to policy formulation
Raising public awareness and demand for universal access to WASH services and sustainable water and ecosystem resource management – Promoting participation of youth and women in advocacy campaigns
Effective engagement with regional and international forums and agencies (HLPF, UNWater, SWA, AMCOW, AU, AFRICASAN, SUSANA, AFWA, etc) STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE

Accountability

To enhance visibility and credibility of results of action taken on commitments by government and other sectors through:

Independent monitoring and reporting of sector programs
Budget and resource allocation tracking
Building & strengthening national platforms

Innovation

To contribute to accelerating access to and enhancing resilience of WASH and ecosystem services through:

support to grassroots action on innovative and participatory approaches to
documentation and promotion of CSO and CBO innovations in the sector
enhancing CSO engagement and partnerships with private sector and entrepreneur innovators to scale up solutions
enhancing productive use of WASH technologies and approaches to enhance livelihood of youth and women

Knowledge Building

To strengthen civil society impact through research, knowledge sharing and communication by:

partnering with research organizations, government agencies and others to address knowledge gaps regarding community vulnerabilities and marginalization, including gender and generational exclusion
interpreting and packaging evidence-based data for advocacy
enhancing network communications and sharing of experience – enhancing media engagement (social and public)

Institutional strengthening

To strengthen ANEW’s sustainability and effectiveness as a cohesive, coherent and inclusive voice of African civil society in the WASH sector through:

strengthening governance structure
strengthening national platforms and coordination structures
effective engagement with partner organizations
Strengthening management and M&E systems – Continental linguistic inclusivity.