African Ministers’ Council on Water (Amcow) water resource development unit the Africa Water Facility (AWF) recently engaged stakeholders in a series of meetings to evaluate its performance in the past decade and map out a long-term strategy.
On the first day, a review was conducted of the AWF’s current strategic plan, which extends until the end of 2016. As the AWF reached the midpoint of its intended life cycle in 2015, the milestone provided an opportunity for the organisation to reflect on its past performance and chart the way forward for its 2017 to 2030 strategic period.
The AWF Governing Council (GC) meeting was held on the second day to review the outcome of the previous day’s for endorsement. The GC endorsed the outcomes of the consultative workshop and urged the AWF to work closely with the Resource Mobilisation Steering Committee to accelerate the preparation of the long-term strategy, considering its importance for resource mobilisation from AWF funding partners.
The GC endorsed the 2016 Work Plan and budget and invited the AWF team to increase its actions to better market the facility in Africa and internationally and to reinforce the resource mobilisation efforts.
The issue of unfulfilled commitments from the African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) regional member countries and the gap in funding for AWF activities from now until 2018, when the funding for the new strategy is expected to materialise, was a prime focus on the final day. On improving donor cooperation for the facility, AfDB sector operations VP Aly Abou-Sabaa emphasised that “the bank needs the partnership of the member States in appreciating the urgency to bring about the desired transformation and growth for Africa. The facility is the natural choice for this partnership”.
The government of Nigeria responded with a commitment to contribute $1-million, while the Amcow secretariat and donors agreed to support a fundraising campaign – to be launched by the AWF – to mobilise €50-million by the end of 2016 and secure the resources for the 2017 to 2018 transition period.