Accra, Feb. 18, GNA - Representatives of African governments, the private sector, NGOs and multilateral development organizations are in Durban, South Africa, to launch a report to promote sanitation and hygiene improvement programmes in Africa.

A statement issued by WaterAid in Accra on Monday said the report dubbed: "Giving Sanitation the Green Light" is to assist key African stakeholders to accelerate achievements of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and national targets for sanitation.

It said, presently, sanitation was the most off-track target and lack of progress in this area was holding up progress across all MDGs. The statement quoted Oliver Cumming, WaterAid's Sanitation Policy Officer, as saying: "The global sanitation crises are driven by political neglect; the sector is plagued by a lack of political priority compared to other sectors such as health and education, compounded by a chronic lack of funding. Leadership and accountability are urgently needed in order to deliver much needed sanitation to people in poverty." It said the report drew on research conducted in 12 countries with the view that robust policy frameworks, institutional strength, coherence and coordinated action were essential foundations for progress across the whole continent. 18 Feb. 08