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2012 High-Level Meetings

Chaired by His Excellency H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, and convened by UNICEF, the HLM took place at the World Bank in April 2012.

The 2012 SWA HLM was a watershed moment for SWA. An unprecedented demonstration of political attention on WASH resulted in over 400 commitments from developing country finance ministers and international development partners to take immediate steps to speed up global access to sanitation and water.

The meeting benefitted from a comprehensive preparatory process, and strong inter-agency collaboration and organization. Over 80 ministers of development co-operation, finance, water and sanitation and representatives of the world’s leading water and sanitation agencies, including 45 developing country governments, mainly in Africa and Asia, attended the meeting or were engaged in the dialogue process. 

HLM 2012 Commitments

Following engagement with finance ministries, 37 developing countries made 353 commitments to increase access to sanitation facilities for 307 million new users and water services to 224 million new users. At the same time, donors announced plans to massively increase the number of people they are reaching.   

Monitoring the 2012 High-Level Commitments

Countries, donors and development banks participating in the 2012 High-Level Meeting each tabled a Statement of Commitments [add link to commitments page], detailing the key political actions to be undertaken in the following two years. Measuring commitments tabled at the HLM is an essential component of the entire process and is critical to strengthening accountability in the sanitation and water sector. As such, developing country governments, donors and development banks agree to report annually on the progress made in implementing commitments tabled at the previous HLM. 

Following the 2012 SWA HLM, the SWA Secretariat conducted a full analysis of the 402 specific commitments made by 37 developing countries and 11 donors/development banks. The 2012 SWA HLM Summary of Commitments draws out the key trends emerging and should provide a useful framework for tracking progress and as an information tool to use in 2012 SWA HLM follow-up activities. 

The 2013 Progress Update on the 2012 SWA High Level Meeting Commitments, launched on 14th August 2013, tracks achievements made against the commitments so far.

 

“Today, I have been impressed by the scope, breadth and attention to detail of this Ministerial discussion. It is a powerful reminder that it is national leadership that will lift performance of this sector. We must now hold ourselves accountable. We will be judged by our actions not our words.”
— H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, SWA Chair

Documents

View all Key documents
Key documents Type
2012 HLM: Summary of Commitments
Tables of 2012 SWA HLM Commitments
2012 HLM: Compilation of self-reporting on commitments by donors and developing countries
2013 Progress update on the 2012 SWA High Level Meeting Commitments