Coming together to increase the political prioritisation of water, sanitation, and hygiene and ensure the integration of these services in national climate, health, and economic policies and strategies.
Published on: 19/04/2022
Sanitation and Water for All [SWA] are organising the 2022 Sector Ministers’ meeting that will be hosted by the government of Indonesia on 18-19 May 2022, in Jakarta.
The theme of the meeting is: Theme: Building Forward Better for Recovery and Resilience
Building on previous SWA High-level Meetings (HLMs), the 2022 SMM is a critical opportunity to link with other sectors, with a view toward increasing the prioritization of water, sanitation, and hygiene across national policies.
For the first time in an SWA High-level Meeting, the 2022 SMM will bring together ministers of water, sanitation, and hygiene, and their counterparts responsible for climate, environment, health, and the economy. It will provide a space for leaders around the world to meet and find innovative ways to work together to increase the political prioritization of water, sanitation, and hygiene and ensure the integration of these services in national climate, health, and economic policies and strategies. Delegations from the different SWA constituencies will also join the discussions.
The meeting is an important occasion to ensure alignment across sectoral policies, using the SWA Framework, and Mutual Accountability Mechanism as tools for stakeholders to come together and jointly review commitments and progress.
"IRC is excited by the upcoming Sanitation and Water for All Sector Minister's Meeting, especially because a large number of Ministers will be joining us from outside of the water and sanitation sector. Connecting outside of the traditional boundaries of our sector is essential to delivering water, sanitation, and hygiene services that become a bedrock for resilience in the face of future disruption such as pandemics, climate change, and political instability. We hope that relations and enthusiasm generated during the meeting can be harnessed and put into action at home to drive the systems change necessary to achieve all of our shared goals" says IRC's CEO, Patrick Moriarty.
IRC contributed to the design of the SMM through our membership of the high-level political Dialogue Working Group and SMM taskforce. We will be active participants in Jakarta through the presence of IRC Uganda's Country Director, Jane Nabunnya. IRC's CEO Patrick Moriarty will also attend in his role as Chair of SWA's Steering Committee.
The 2022 SMM is preceded by a 6-month-long preparatory process composed of discussions at national and regional levels, during which partners jointly analyse progress, identify bottlenecks and successes, and agree on joint future actions.
