Monrovia – The Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) Legislative Caucus (WLC) is on the pathway to divert more energy to improving Water Sanitation and Hygiene across Liberia.
In a brief meeting on Wednesday, 29 March 2018 at the Capitol Building, the Caucus brought together newly elected lawmakers from the House and Senate to receive the concept of making water sanitation and hygiene available and affordable to people across Liberia.
Hon. Vicent S. T. Willie of Grand Bassa County District #4 represented the House of Representatives, while Sen. Jonathan L. Kaipay represented the Senate.
Other members of the Legislature, Ministry of Health, UNICEF, USAID, Water Aid, African Development Bank and civil society organizations attended the meeting.
The stakeholder discussed challenges the WASH sector faces and the importance of making it vibrant.
Senator Kaipay, Chairman of the WLC, emphasized the importance of safe drinking water and improved sanitary and hygiene facilities across the country.
“The importance of water cannot be over emphasized. When you’re born, it is water that brings you to life as a baby, and it affects our lives as a people, in all aspects,” he said, adding that the Legislature will begin to argue budgetary allocation to support the WASH Commission.
“We could not capture the WASH Commission in the recast budget because the budget was a focused on what was left to be achieved from the projects it was originally made for.
So, we can rest assure that the next budget year, we as members of the WASH Legislative Caucus, will be in a good position to ensure that the WASH Commission is not left to get chocked to death,” Sen. Kaipay added.
Anne-Catherine Bajard, Oxfarm Country Director and Chair of the Board of Liberia WASH Consortium, pledged her entities’ support to the commission and the WLC.
Ms. Bajard sees the establishment of the WLC as a major achievement for the WASH Sector in Liberia. She says the commission should consider the inclusion of other necessary ministries of government, as well as building a WASH agenda.
The WASH Consortium Board Chair said her organizations will work to arrive at “durable solutions for the sector and bring on board, knowledge”, comparing the Liberia WASH Sector to other countries’.
In separate remarks, key actors of the Liberia Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Sector stress the importance of WASH Legislative Caucus, and charged members to work promote budgetary allocation for the WASH Commission so as to improve the living conditions of the Liberians.