Mali is a particularly engaged SWA partner country and, as a ‘pioneer country’, helped SWA ‘test’ the Mutual Accountability Mechanism. This is set against backdrop of a challenging political context and much upheaval in the past decade. Despite this, the sector has progressively strengthened its foundations, with much of this built around the SWA Framework and the Mutual Accountability Mechanism process. This has helped sector actors to create stable spaces and structures for dialogue, even in the midst of uncertainty.
The Mali water, sanitation and hygiene sector has a reasonably strong Joint Sector Review (JSR) process, but it is often very much viewed and used as a reporting forum. Progress is reviewed, but as in many countries, the dialogue during the JSR often remained at a high, strategic level, with few specific actions agreed on. Mali’s sector has responded by introducing an annual cadre de concertation EAH (or ‘water, sanitation and hygiene consultation framework’), which successfully fills this gap. The activity of the cadre has been structured around SWA principles for several years, with the Mutual Accountability Mechanism providing the central focus since 2019. The annual meeting focuses on a shared vision for the sector, and how each actor can contribute to achieving it. The cadre de concertation is attended by representatives from across the sector, including actors from all the SWA constituencies, and has strong ministerial support.
The commitments made under the Mutual Accountability Mechanism are at the centre of the Malian sector’s consciousness. The culture of mutual accountability that SWA has helped to nurture is embraced very strongly across the sector.
Mali has also put an ‘SWA Committee’ in place comprising key sector actors, which has kept a consistent focus on the Mutual Accountability Mechanism commitments. It has also driven and supported other strategic dialogues, for example on sector financing and the climate crisis. The committee has been a stabilizing influence for the sector, helping to absorb shocks and uncertainties related to the challenging political situation in the country. This has kept commitments at the centre of the sector’s consciousness. The culture of mutual accountability that these spaces have helped to nurture is warmly embraced across the sector. Multi-constituency engagement in the country is one of the strongest in the SWA partnership: Mali has focal points for all constituencies, and each constituency has made its own commitments in support of the overarching commitments made by the Government. These commitments have identified strategic priorities and offered a way of engaging with actors to address them. The mechanism has given a sense of urgency and focus to the sector, for example on the updating of national strategies and plans. Mali’s Ministry of Finance, for example, had indicated that increased funding was only likely with a clearer, harmonized sectoral strategy. The Mutual Accountability Mechanism provided the space to develop that strategy, formalizing actors’ commitments and focus so that sector plans were developed much earlier than would otherwise have happened.
The core Mutual Accountability Mechanism commitments have now led to the creation of sector plans and programmes developed through multistakeholder engagement and articulating a shared vision for the sector. Most notably they are enshrined in the Cadre Stratégique pour la Relance Economique et le Développement Durable, or ‘CREDD’ – Mali’s strategic framework for economic recovery and sustainable development.
Even in contexts where sector structures are considered to be strong, the Malian experience shows how the Mutual Accountability Mechanism can help them to evolve. It has provided the basis to lift the strategic conversations and translate them into action and shared responsibilities, ultimately making the sector stronger and more resilient to political upheaval, financial uncertainty and other shocks in the future.