Ethiopia Water Sector Builds Accountability Momentum

Nairobi, September 27, 2024.

By Rose Njage.

On 7th August, Water Witness Ethiopia held their launch meeting for Phase 2 of the Accountability for Water Programme. The meeting comprised national WASH and WRM leadership, experts and practitioners. The participants acknowledged the high value of the Accountability for Water Coalition in Ethiopia and re-expressed commitment to further work with the coalition in this country. Some of the organisations participating were the ministries of Water and Energy, Health, Environmental Protection Authority, Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority, USAID, WaterAid, IRC WASH, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Population Services International, Creative Associates International, Ethiopian Federation of Water Utilities, and Addis Ababa University.

Partners and stakeholders expressed the need to strengthen action-oriented research to improve sector governance as well as service delivery. They also underlined the need for strengthening the existing accountability and advocacy practices, creating synergy among existing research and action programmes, projects and activities of different organizations, regular opportunities for co-learning, co-sharing and joint-planning and action.

The National Advisory Group (NAG), which guided the first phase of the project into successful completion from mid-2021 to mid-2023 has been working on ensuring that the programme activities continue to influence policy. The participants stressed the need for further action-oriented research and appreciated the second phase model in which research will be focusing on individual institutions (e.g., public water utilities and industries polluting rivers and water bodies).

The institutions were keen to be part of the action research cocreation and seek internal and external resources to put to practice at least some of the research findings and insights from phase I. These will be design to improve governance and service delivery that are socially, economically and ecologically sound and sustainable, especially for marginalised sections of society. Toward this, participants advised seeking the use of prior and recent research results, especially that completed on 78 public water utilities across the country, and the need for exploring the relationship and political dynamics of water boards, water customer forums and utilities themselves during phase II.

In view of the growing number of CSOs engaging in water accountability and donor financing and investment the participants advised that Water Witness, Ethiopian Water Technology Institute (EWTI ) and the NAG need to organise co-learning and co-sharing meetings with other organisations working on water accountability in Ethiopia. Private sector and CSO actors were also keen to work in collaboration with the Accountability for Water programme. During the meeting, some important questions were discussed for Phase 2 of the programme. The main question for the NAG to consider going forward is this:

How best to manage the National Advisory Group? Should it be part of the National Water and Energy Working Group, or another similar forum? Or be formalized into an independent partnership or forum for water accountability with it’s own secretariat and fundraising? What structure would be best in raising the importance of accountability for sector progress in Ethiopia, while avoiding further fragmentation and overlap of roles and responsibilities of institutions? These questions will continue to be discussed among participants as we move forward together in Phase 2 of the programme.