The water, sanitation and hygiene sector has been an increasingly visible political priority in Liberia. SWA has supported high-level political engagement and accountability in the country’s sector for more than a decade. Back in 2011, the Government of Liberia created a ‘joint mission’ with SWA to shape, drive and galvanize support for the sector, with government officials, donors, civil society and others coming together to share their expertise and experience. Crucially, the joint mission was backed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. This high-level political platform helped engage all four of the ministries involved in the sector, SWA partners, and many of Liberia’s development partners.
The momentum created by the joint mission was seen by many as a springboard for action in the sector. It led to Liberia’s ‘WASH Compact’, which has provided a clear focus for all the stakeholders. The Compact included the formation of the Liberia Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Commission in 2018 – a new regulatory agency which has reduced fragmentation and now regulates and co-ordinates the sector. Partnership with SWA has helped the Commission to ensure engagement with a wide range of sector actors, and strengthened principles of mutual accountability in its work.
Bringing together key decision-makers and working with SWA has helped raise the sector’s profile and increased national political will to move forward fast.
Such sector visibility has meant politicians in Liberia are increasingly keen to stress their personal commitments to improving water and sanitation services to voters. Several candidates for the Liberia Senate committed to formal, public pledges to voters on water, sanitation and hygiene ahead of elections in 2020. The issue has been championed by the country’s civil society organizations, who have mobilized effectively to put electoral pressure on candidates.
These various moves over the last decade to increase the political visibility of the sector has paid dividends in the country, propelling water, sanitation and hygiene to prominence in the minds of voters and politicians alike. And work to increase water, sanitation and hygiene as a political priority continued in 2021, with the SWA Secretariat supporting country partners to begin the development of a new Compact, which will set out priorities and commitments for the sector in the coming years on behalf of the Liberian Head of State.