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 | Civil Society | UN1FY | Institutionalize a youth-focused Secretariat to support the implementation of the Water and Climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda with financial and institutional support provided by UN agencies and UN member states. | 2024 | |
Global | Civil Society | UN1FY | Establish a biennial conference to support the implementation of the Water and Climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda with financial and institutional support provided by UN agencies and UN member states. | 2025 | |
Global | Civil Society | UN1FY | Create a Water and Climate Support Fund to support the implementation of the Water and Climate Youth Development Plan and Agenda with financial and institutional support provided by UN agencies and UN member states. | 2025 | |
Global | Civil Society | Akvo | Build capacity locally in data management and design for impact with data systems so that the work of global stakeholders and local actors' benefits from the various existing data systems. | 2026 | |
Global | Civil Society | Akvo | Together with our partners, develop methodology for local engagement with data system for the water sector, as well as an information system and sustainability plan for the water sector. The information systems will involve data on equitable resource allocation, sustainable water management, drought and flood resilience, climate WASH resilience and integrated water resource management. | 2024 | |
Global | Civil Society | Global Water Challenge | Co-create and incubate high potential initiatives with private-sector ingenuity and multi-sector resources. | 2030 | |
Global | Civil Society | Global Water Challenge | Support innovative women-led programming and water enterprises through impact investing | 2030 | |
Global | Civil Society | Global Water Challenge | Fortify 50 vulnerable watersheds and improve sustainable clean water access for 10,000 communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America. | 2030 |
Explore our Partner countries
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