N.B. : These descriptions will have to be updated as the WaSH sector is moving in Sierra Leone and Institutions might be re-organised…

The National Water and Sanitation (WASH) Policy of 2008 allowed the shift from a Water Supply Division of the Ministry of Energy, to Water Directorate of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, and in 2013 to a dedicated Ministry of Water Resources and an on-going structuration of the sector.

The Water Directorate in Freetown (Tower Hill)

        Collaboration and capacity building initiated :

1. Inter Aide provided support to the Water Directorate of Bombali for water quality analysis: trainings on bacteriological analysis procedures, evaluation of the maintenance and respect of standards for the laboratory .

2. The Water Directorate of Bombali district and Inter Aide were jointly organizing monthly coordination meetings before the Ebola crisis. It restarted with Unicef in June 2015 who is now supporting the WD in the same direction. The objective is to provide support in terms of:

• methodology to facilitate the monitoring of partners activities and to improve overview of the WaSH situation in the district – i.e. defining clear meetings’ agenda, ensuring participation of all actors, improving actors’ reporting by introduction of common indicators and templates …
•  Those meetings are also opportunities to develop dissemination of good practices in terms of construction by bringing forward a specific time in the agenda to discuss of technical questions between participants based on the ministry’ guidelines (water analyses, standards in construction, yield test for well construction…)

3. Organization of joint monitoring missions : a rotation between actors has been set up to allow on-site visits of constructions and activities in order to facilitate exchange of good practices.

The National Water and Sanitation (WASH) Policy (2008) and its National WASH implementation strategy (2010) :

This combines elements from the PRSPs of 2005 and 2008, and Sierra Leone Vision 2025, statements on achieving the Millenium Development Goals, and more general commitments to achieving a high quality livelihood for the people of Sierra Leone, attaining good governance through the rule of law, and developing a strong and competitive economy.

It is in an echo to the Sierra Leone‘s Third Generation Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP 2013 – 2018 “Agenda for prosperity”) that includes improvement of water supply in its third pillar “Accelerating Human Development” .

www.sierra-leone.org/Agenda 4 Prosperity.pdf

The PRSP III outlines the lack of public awareness of the need to manage water resources and the lack of participation and capacity in the management of water resources at national, provincial, district and community levels, which take account of gender concerns.

Among the strategies and objectives planned in the PRSP it is proposed to encourage capacity building efforts to make available the knowledge and the skills necessary to manage water resources at various levels.