...Most African countries have developed plans to reach the MDGs on water supply andsanitation, but these often exist only as documents and are neither country-owned nor activelyimplemented. Further, the plans have little consistency between different countries, makingit difficult for policy makers to measure and track progress. In response to this gap, an Africawide, country-owned, regionally supported WSS MDG Roadmap process was conceived bythe African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) to help support achievement of the targetsand to enable more effective learning processes and support mechanisms. The roadmapswere conceived as planning frameworks and include strategic investment programs to alignand accelerate existing country plans towards the targets.As part of the MDG roadmap process, a Status Overview has been prepared to gauge thesuccess of sixteen African countries in implementing these Roadmaps, and assess progresstowards their water and sanitation goals, as of mid-2006. This undertaking under the auspicesof AMCOW was supported by the Water and Sanitation Program-Africa (WSP-Africa), incollaboration with the African Development Bank, the European Union Water Initiative, theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and The World Bank.The Country Status Overview consists of individual country reports produced throughconsultation, data gathering using local sector experts, detailed discussion with country sectorstakeholders, and endorsement by lead government sector agencies. The use of an agreedupon and standardized format means that while it is a country-led initiative, it allows asector-wide perspective and creates a comparative basis for sharing country experience andidentifying corrective action.

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