Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) paid a courtesy call to the African Minister's Council on Water (AMCOW) in Abuja to discuss possible strategic partnerships.

Speaking during the visit, AMCOW's Executive Secretary Dr. Canisius Kanangire said that AMCOW views JICA as a partner and that JICA can play an important role in the area of disaster capacity development.

"Disaster capacity is what we see JICA helping us with. Africa needs small but effective plans to address disasters on the continent," said Dr. Kanangire

Dr. Kanangire noted that AMCOW was looking at how to innovate to deliver on its mandate. "We are in the process of strengthening AMCOW to effectively deliver on its mandate. We have re-organised and strengthened our capacity but above all we are exploring new and innovative ways in implementing water and sanitation across Africa."

The Executive Secretary said that AMCOW was developing and providing a platform for coordination for Member States on issues of sanitation and water. The Executive Secretary lamented the high level of defecation on the continent and noted that this needs a high level of commitment from African governments.

Dr. Kanangire called on the continent to develop a think tank mechanism to be able to transform the environment on which water is managed in Africa. "It is critical that we engage and empower our youths in the Water and Sanitation Sector to harness the Demographic Dividend through investments in the Youth.. We must provide them with ways and means andcapacitate them to help with the many issues surrounding the continent especially in the Water and Sanitation Sector."

"We are asking JICA to help with the Volunteer and Internship Program for the ouths in Africa who in turn will help the vulnerable people on the continent. The youth should benefit from capacity building to make Africa become the engine of development."

The JICA delegation was led by Takashima Wataru, Project Formulation Advisor (Water supply) and Professional Engineer (Water Supply & Sewerage) Japan International Cooperation Agency Kenya Office who said that it was critical for JICA to visit AMCOW's Secretariat and lean more about what AMCOW was doing. He noted that the delagation will convey what was discussed in the meeting to JICA headquarters, stating that the information shared in the meeting will be usefull for decision making on any collaboration in near future.

AMCOW is an Institution with ample opportunity to be the platform for coordinating action on the African continent toward accelerated improvements in the water and sanitation sector and the SDGs.

The central role of AMCOW in Africa also gives it the unique mandate to revitalize the efforts of the continent to translate into reality by 2025 Africa Water Vision of “an Africa where there is an equitable and sustainable use and management of water resources for poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, regional cooperation and the environment.”

Africa Water Facility (AWF) with support from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, has undertaken an Appraisal Mission for the proposed Pan African Water and Sanitation Sector Monitoring and Reporting System Phase II Monitoring and Evaluation Support Project at the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) Secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria.

The appraisal mission which held from 22nd – 27th November 2018 by the AWF team was reacting to a request made by AMCOW for AWF to support implementation of monitoring and evaluation capacity strengthening initiatives for the water sector targeting African Countries under the AU framework.

The key objectives of the appraisal mission are to undertake a comprehensive appraisal exercise of the project. The overall objective of the project is to support and strengthen the decision-making process at national, sub-regional and continental level by providing relevant, timely and high-quality data and information to interested stakeholders about the development and progress of the water and sanitation sector in Africa and towards the high-level commitments set by political leaders of the Africa Union.

The project is a follow-on project to the initial Pan African Monitoring and Evaluation Project that led to the establishment of a comprehensive Monitoring and Reporting System for the Water Sector in Africa. The project was initially funded by the African Water Facility and was implemented by AMCOW from 2013 – 2016.

The AWF team reviewed AMCOW's responsibility towards the 2008 AU Heads of state and Governments Sharm El Sheikh commitments1 with regard to monitoring and evaluation of water projects in Africa and other commitments and strategic priority actions linked to the proposed operation. The team also held discussions and review sessions with AMCOW Secretariat officials to deliberate on the objectives, scope and components of the project and create possible links with the existing Monitoring and Evaluation Systems.

During the Appraisal Mission, a stakeholder consultation was conducted with cooperating partners such as UNICEF, GIZ, UN GLAAS, UNEP; UN JMP; Nigeria Ministry of Water Development and the African Union Commission to ascertain their level of involvement with the initial project, create synergies with other existing monitoring and evaluation systems and seek possible co-financing arrangements and support on project design in technical, social and financial aspects).

The African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) has benefited with support from the Africa Water Facility (AWF) to establish a Web based harmonized Water and Sanitation sector to fulfill the mandate given by the Head of Sates at Sharm El Sheik. A sector report for 2016 was produced which revealed some of the challenges the reporting process is facing and the critical need for further capacity building, which is one of the objectives of this project.

The overall objective of the proposed project is to support and strengthen decision-making process at national, sub-regional and continental levels by providing relevant, timely, high-quality data and information to all interested stakeholders about the development and progress of the water and sanitation sector in Africa towards the high-level commitments set by political leaders at the 2008 Africa Union Summit in Egypt.

The project aims to consolidate the achievement of the phase I project and to ensure it is in line with the AWF strategic directions: i) Up-scaling and investment projects, in fact, enhanced capacity for M& E and reporting will generate quality data that will enable better targeting of investment, and the resource mobilization for investments will have a well-informed base; ii) Enhanced capacity for Water information management will inform decision and improve the transparency on sector performance; and the accountability on commitments will be increased; institutionalization of M&E will improve the governance of water sector; Different reports and knowledge products (Policy briefs and thematic reports/notes will increase the water knowledge).

The proposed web-based harmonized Water and Sanitation sector project consists of 4 components: i) Strengthening Capacity for Monitoring and reporting at National, Sub regional and Regional level; ii) Strengthen Systems and Infrastructure for monitoring and reporting; iii) Strengthen Knowledge Product and dissemination; Iv). Project Implementation and Management.

The project will be implemented by AMCOW Secretariat over a period of 36 months by a Project team with specialized technical assistance from AMCOW stakeholders and partners. The project implementation function is part of AMCOW’s capacity building platform to enable the Secretariat continue with the M&E reporting process on a sustainable manner. To achieve a successful implementation of the project, a coordination mechanism at the national level will be strengthen and an M&E Task Force will be established to support quality assurance and give overall technical guidance to the project.