Nearly 50 ministerial delegates gathered in Madrid in October 2025 for the Sector Ministers’ Meeting to advance integration of water, sanitation, and climate action ahead of COP30 and the UN 2026 Water Conference.
African representatives used the platform to highlight regional challenges and priorities, which were incorporated into the “High-Level Leaders Compact – the Madrid Commitment to Action.”
African ministers must integrate water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), and climate priorities into national adaptation and development strategies. UNEP reports show that in 2024, no African sub-region is on track to meet the SDG 6.5 target for Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM).
Governments must move beyond fragmented management to secure political leverage and institutional coherence capable of accelerating WASH progress.
“Despite progress, 1 in 4 people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack safely managed drinking water, and 2 out of 5 lack safely managed sanitation,” SWA notes, citing UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Report data.
Inclusive, rights-based approaches are essential. Using high-quality, disaggregated data to identify underserved groups — women, children, Indigenous peoples, displaced populations — ensures WASH investments are transparent and effectively targeted.
Climate-driven water scarcity is already displacing millions in Africa. A 2025 SAPA report found 2 million people displaced in East Africa due to drought and conflict, while Earth.org projects up to 700 million could be affected by 2030.
Ministers must integrate climate and environmental risk assessments into urban and regional planning, and invest in nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration to prevent future displacement and strengthen resilience.
Only 3% of water sector investment in Africa comes from public-private partnerships, according to the World Bank. Expanding resources requires incentives for investors, stronger project pipelines, and risk-reduction instruments.
Green and blue bonds, results-based financing, and PPPs can help fill funding gaps while maintaining alignment with the SWA High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security and Resilience.
Sub-Saharan Africa loses an estimated 5% of GDP annually to poor sanitation and unsafe water. The High-Level Leaders Compact emphasises:
"Addressing these barriers requires strengthened political leadership, inclusive whole-of-government collaboration, inclusive governance, and more predictable and efficient investments that meet the needs of all people, particularly the most vulnerable."
More than half of the countries endorsing the Compact are African, including Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South Sudan, and Tanzania. Civil society and organisations like UNICEF continue to support implementation and monitoring.
African ministers are urged to accelerate action on these five priorities to secure water and sanitation access, enhance climate resilience, and support sustainable development across the continent.
