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Who we are
Our
Mission
WASH-Net’s mission is to contribute to the development of Sierra-Leone by supporting the poor and marginalized groups to access safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene as a human right, engage government and other stakeholders to ensure that these services are delivered effectively to all. We will do this by advocating for increasing numbers of poor households and vulnerable groups to be able to enjoy the benefits of safe water and sanitation services for domestic and productive use that is reducing poverty.
Our
Objective
WaSH-Net Sierra Leone aims at promoting multi-stakeholder processes at the national, district and regional levels, pioneering joint actions and learning to address water, sanitation and sanitation issues and at the same time providing policy options that will adequately represent the interest and demands of the communities as far as sanitation and water resources are concerned.
About us
The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Network of Sierra Leone (WASH-Net Sierra Leone) is an independent national platform which seeks to ensure that the diverse voices of citizens with respect to WASH are represented and heard in the development and implementation of sector related plans and policies.
Registered with the Government of Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, WASH-Net is the leading national alliance of civil society organizations (non-state actors) in Sierra Leone with the desire of joining existing platforms in addressing the critical barriers to achieving universal and sustainable sanitation and drinking water for all. These barriers include insufficient political prioritization, weak sector capacity to develop and implement effective plans and strategies, coupled with inadequate investments to place WASH at the heart of national development agenda.
At WASH-Net Sierra Leone, we build the capacities of citizens and their institutions by providing the needed tools that enables them to effectively engage in order to demand fulfillment of promises, accountability and effective delivery of WASH services for a desperate situation.
The absence of a clear mechanism for channeling citizen’s voices disseminating these growing challenges makes it difficult to use “on-the-ground realities” to influence change in the sector and provide workable alternatives. This formed part of the growing concerns among CSOs for a unified voice, capable of mobilizing sector actors for actions that are non-confrontational but capable of resolving some burning WASH sector challenges. Giving the NGOs one voice for advocacy and lobbying has been one major benefit to the coalition.
WASH-Net’s approach in drive is to enhance and facilitate a multi-stakeholder process across the sector, engender and promote knowledge, identify opportunities for intervention and foster learning and joint action.
WaSH-Net Sierra Leone aims at promoting multi-stakeholder processes at the national, district and regional levels, pioneering joint actions and learning to address water, sanitation and sanitation issues and at the same time providing policy options that will adequately represent the interest and demands of the communities as far as sanitation and water resources are concerned.
Specifically, WASH-Net aims at:
Advocating for adequate budgetary allocation and financing to the WaSH sector as an integral component of ensuring adequate WaSH for all; thereby reminding government on policy frameworks
Providing policy options at the national level that will adequately represent the interest and demands of the marginalized communities as far as sanitation and water resources are concerned.
Increasing access to potable water and sanitation facilities and promote positive behavior towards water and sanitation facility utilization & hygiene practices.
Promoting fair and equitable distribution of affordable and hygienic water resources and access to services, with special focus to the needs of poor and marginalized groups.
Ensuring that the increasing numbers of poor households and vulnerable groups are able to enjoy the benefits of safe drinking water and improved sanitation.
The fact that Water is Life and the provision of adequate water and sanitation services for the people of Sierra Leone is a necessary precondition for socio-economic recovery at all levels of society and in meeting MDGs and the PRS III targets, WASH-Net is inspired by the daily water and sanitation crisis Sierra Leoneans are faced with. A lack of water and sanitation contributes to poverty with the need to make good on the commitment to provide access to clean water to the nearly 1 billion people worldwide who currently rely on bacteria-infested water that causes everything from diarrhea to dysentery and fighting the disturbing reality that more people die each year from contaminated water.
Civil society organizations have a critical role to play in promoting the national and global policy objectives which will contribute to the Africa Water Vision for 2025: Equitable and Sustainable Use of Water for Socioeconomic Development, and working with and monitoring States’ compliance with their obligations under United Nations resolution on the rights to water, sanitation and hygiene and other applicable regional and national instruments.
WASH-Net’s approach to development in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector is to enhance and facilitate a multi-stakeholders process that involves various actors across the sector, engender and promote knowledge, identify opportunities for intervention and foster learning and joint actions through:
Media engagements
Mobilization and Awareness raising campaigns
Grassroots actions
Membership Capacity Building
Advocacy for the right to WASH
Policy Dialogues/Meetings
Sector Monitoring
Research and Documentation