WASH-Net strongly mobilizes its member institutions to effectively act and provides a platform for collective voicing of WASH sector related issues at local, national and international levels, with the strategy of influencing policy decisions on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene as a critical part of advancing increased health outcomes.

Whether at the national, regional or a local community, WASH-Net seeks to ensure that debates are informed by practical realities of what works for people on the ground.

For change to take effect, an understanding of major global commitments and processes but be generated from not only our member institutions or communities, but also building knowledge capacities respective Local Council Authorities and line ministries is of great essence to our work. WASH-Net shares relevant information with members to enable civil society to monitor, analyze and advocate national progress against international commitments and best practices.

Providing the right spaces for meaningful engagement between civil society and governments can help to generate stronger political will for the progressive realization of the rights to water and sanitation

At WASH-Net, we identify opportunities for members to access policy makers at the national, levels. Our members are equipped with years of local experience and many are strong and articulate advocates, monitors and service delivery partners.

Providing the needed tools for citizens at the grassroots level to enable them effectively demand accountability from their duty bearers is a strong component of WASH-Net’s interventions. Not only providing them with the voices and tools to engage, but we also educate them on how to better manage their own WASH facilities, taking into account safer and hygiene practices.

Through our dedicated team of volunteers and Focal Points that decentralized level, we go far and wide in reaching out to most of Sierra Leone’s vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities in the search for sustainable solutions.

Being a member of the Budget Advocacy Working Group; a platform consisting of Save the Children, Oxfam, Evidence for Action, Freetown WASH Consortium, Budget Advocacy Network, Health Alert, Health for All Coalition and WASH-Net, our work in the Budget Process of Sierra Leone has generated greater value addition for accountability in the WASH and Health sectors.

As an umbrella platform for civil society institutions in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector of Serra Leone, WASH-Net is aware that its members have varying capacities in different WASH related areas. Its therefore the network’s responsibility to see that capabilities of members are strengthened to enable them be effective in complimenting government’s efforts, monitoring and achieving WASH goals thereby ensuring sustained and effective service delivery nationwide. The network builds the capacity of its members in various areas including WASH governance; advocacy; budget tracking; WASH monitoring and evaluation; and research activities.

In partnership with WaterAid and IRC in the Netherlands with support from WASH Facility Grant through DfID and administered by Adam Smith International, institutionalizing WASH sector research and learning in Sierra Leone is essential to create, transfer and mobilize knowledge for effective policy-making, better service delivery, and to achieve the development outcomes that the Government aspires to in the NWSP and the overarching aspirations of the Agenda for Prosperity.

Through this Policy Brief and its attendant outputs, the Ministry aims to prioritize sector learning across WASH policy, planning, and service delivery in Sierra Leone, and establish an enabling environment for all stakeholders to contribute to, benefit from, and put to use shared knowledge and research.

This mean, the sector learning framework and its arrangement will be sustained with ongoing interventions by various players in addressing the WASH sector challenges in Sierra Leone and how lessons can be drawn from each of these interventions to inform learning and knowledge sharing across.