In Malawi, the Mutual Accountability Mechanism process has helped to increase engagement and improve joint responsibility in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector – and beyond. Malawi has always sought to identify areas for process improvement, and the Mutual Accountability Mechanism has helped to develop a response to this ambition, adjusting and improving existing review and coordination platforms so that they now work better for the sector.
The Mutual Accountability Mechanism has increased collaboration both inside and outside the sector, which has had a significant impact on sector resilience and preparedness.
Malawi developed its Mutual Accountability Mechanism commitments and agreed on them as part of the country’s Joint Sector Review (JSR) process. While Malawi’s JSRs had always been seen as important, a WaterAid study in 20204 identified that they nevertheless lacked a clear focus on action and responsibilities to move beyond being just an annual reporting event. The introduction of setting commitments as part of the Mutual Accountability Mechanism has helped the JSR process to evolve. Now, sector priorities and commitments are set at the JSR, which helps to keep stakeholders focused on these objectives through the year. Building on the country’s JSRs, the Mutual Accountability Mechanism process has proved to be an effective way to facilitate collective action, acting as a coordination mechanism.
The Mutual Accountability Mechanism process has also benefited conversations beyond the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. There has been increased collaboration and engagement, bringing in more actors to define a clearer and common purpose. For example, specific support was provided by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council to help engage civil society organizations representing among other groups, people living with disabilities, and prisoners, and involving the health, education and justice sectors in water and sanitation sector dialogues for the first time. These efforts were part of the civil society constituency’s commitments to ‘mobilize its members to develop and implement action plan towards addressing the needs of the people left behind after Open Defecation Free’ and to identify approaches to ‘facilitate increased access to basic sanitation, in poorest and hardest to reach areas and marginalized groups.
Download the Mutual Accountability Mechanism Global Report