At the 83^rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, held in Banjul, The Gambia, from 15–22 May 2026, Nyasha Mpani, Project Leader of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation’s Data for Governance Alliance Project, delivered an observer statement on the Right to Water and Sanitation on behalf of Afrobarometer, a partner of the institute.

The observer statement, grounded on robust empirical data from 38 countries, contributed substantively to the Commission’s deliberations during the AU’s Year of Water Sustainability.

The statement presented a data-driven account of the water and sanitation crisis facing African citizens, drawing on the following key findings:

• 57% of Africans went without enough clean water at least once in the past year, with one in four experiencing this shortage many times or always.

• Citizens now rank water supply as their third-most-pressing problem, surpassed only by health and unemployment.

• Severe rural-urban inequality persists: 67% of urban residents have access to piped water compared to only 31% in rural communities.

• Only 25% of communities are connected to a sewage system; in rural areas this figure drops to 8%.

• The proportion of citizens reporting water shortages has climbed from 46% to 56% over the past decade, reflecting systemic stagnation.

• One in three Africans (34%) has been forced to reduce water consumption or change primary water sources due to climate change, rising to over 50% in countries such as Tunisia and Guinea.

• On average, only 39% of citizens give their governments a passing grade on water and sanitation management.

 

In light of these findings, Afrobarometer urged the Commission to adopt four concrete interventions:

• Formally affirm justiciable rights by establishing explicit accountability mechanisms for State Parties under Article 16 of the African Charter.

• Target marginalised demographics by mandating disaggregated state reporting to expose rural, gender, and economic inequalities.

• Integrate climate resilience by recognising climate change as an active driver of human rights violations within the continental legal architecture.

• Enforce continental benchmarks by embedding specific water and sanitation metrics within the Commission’s Concluding Observations and Special Mechanisms.

The statement was well received by the Commission and member state delegations in attendance. Of particular note, the delegations from Tanzania and South Africa expressed strong interest in the findings and engaged directly with the Afrobarometer team following the presentation. Both delegations formally requested access to the underlying data, indicating their intention to use the evidence to address water and sanitation concerns within their respective national contexts. This positive reception underscores the relevance of citizen-generated data in informing both national policy and continental human rights accountability processes.