Mutual Accountability Mechanism
Mutual Accountability Mechanism
Accountability is central to the SWA partnership. It is the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions and account for them to others. It is a requirement for progress and a human rights principle.
Accountability is about how promises are translated into action and aspirations into reality. While States ultimately have an obligation to ensure the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, all stakeholders have a role to play in moving our societies toward the vision laid out in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
In response to this need, the Sanitation and Water for All partnership has created the Mutual Accountability Mechanism: a tool for partners to commit and hold each other to account for progress in achieving the SDGs’ water and sanitation targets – as well as an opportunity to collaborate, learn and catalyze collective action.
What is the Mutual Accountability Mechanism?
SWA’s Mutual Accountability Mechanism (MAM) is the only global accountability process in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector that is dedicated to all stakeholders working together towards achieving universal access to water and sanitation services. The mechanism helps to set priorities and a shared vision for the sector, as well as to identify roles and responsibilities for achieving them.
The MAM provides a process for all partners to make commitments and hold each other to account on the specific, measurable, time-bound actions they plan to take to achieve their targets set on the road to reaching the Sustainable Development Goal 6.
Commitments tabled under the MAM are based on national policies and enable monitoring. In just four years since the mechanism’s launch, over 400 commitments have been tabled, with half of them coming from 60 national governments.
COMMITMENTS
Government
External Support Agencies
Civil Society
Research and Learning
Private Sector
| Country | Constituency | Body / Organizations | Commitment | Target year | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global | External Support Agencies | World Health Organization | In order to contribute to informed decision-making nationally and internationally, WHO will provide global monitoring data through its GLAAS (Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water), TrackFin ( Tracking funding for sanitation, hygiene and drinking water at national level) and JMP (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water and Sanitation). | 2025 | |
| Global | External Support Agencies | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (UK) | In line with FCDO’s WASH Approach Paper and the SWA Framework, FCDO will increase its work with governments and partners to strengthen national capacity and delivery systems. This will improve effectiveness and sustainability of WASH services. It will also help attract additional resources to the sector. | 2020 | |
| Global | External Support Agencies | World Health Organization | WHO will provide normative guidance to promote more effective WASH and health programming, policies, standards and regulations, and technical interventions. | 2025 | |
| Global | External Support Agencies | United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | Regional Leadership Consistent with the U.S. government's commitment to strengthen governance, financing, and institutions in the water sector at all levels, with the goal of transitioning countries away from a reliance on donor assistance, USAID will engage with regional institutions, such as the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), to: increase coordination of actors within the water and sanitation sector; support efforts to track financial data on public allocations and expenditures for water and sanitation; and support the development and implementation of governance systems grounded in evidence, and which provide a sound framework for providing safe drinking water and sanitation services and water resources management at all levels | 2022 | |
| Global | External Support Agencies | Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency | PLANNING Human Rights to Water and Sanitation principles applied in all Swiss water programmes. | 2020 | |
| Global | External Support Agencies | World Health Organization | WHO will promote action to ensure that every health care facility has reliable WASH services. | 2025 | |
| Global | External Support Agencies | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (UK) | Noting that sustainability of WASH services remains a key concern for the sector, FCDO will assess the sustainability of the results it achieved between 2011 and 2015, sharing lessons learnt, and applying these to inform to its future work. The same assessment will also look at how we target our interventions in the context of leave no-one behind. | 2020 | |
| Global | External Support Agencies | United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | Global Coordination & Impact In addition to enabling environment support, USAID will simultaneously seek to increase the number of people worldwide who have access to water and sanitation. Specifically, USAID aims to provide 15 million people with sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2022. In addition, USAID aims to provide eight million people with sustainable access to sanitation services by 2022. | 2022 |
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Line of Control as promulgated in the 1972 SIMLA Agreement
Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not been agreed upon by the parties
The boundaries and names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations
Why should my government or organization participate?
The Mutual Accountability Mechanism provides a concrete entry point for dialogue, transparency, and coordination. It is an opportunity for stakeholders to sit around the table to plan, mutually commit to act in a coordinated way, and improve the Sustainable Development Goal 6 outcomes through collaborative efforts. The MAM provides a framework for tracking progress and increasing the visibility of water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives, nationally and globally.
Mutual Accountability Mechanism Global Report 2021
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