The African Ministers' Council onWater (AMCOW) commissioned the production of a second roundof Country Status Overviews (CSOs) to better understandswhat underpins progress in water supply and sanitation (WSS)and what its member governments can do to accelerate thatprogress across countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). AMCOWdelegated this task to the World Bank's Water andSanitation Program and the African Development Bank who areimplementing it in close partnership with UNICEF and WHO inover 30 countries across SSA. This CSO2 report has beenproduced in collaboration with the Government of SierraLeone and other stakeholders during 2009-10. The analysisaims to help countries assess their own service deliverypathways for turning finance into water supply andsanitation services in each of four subsectors: rural andurban water supply, and rural and urban sanitation andhygiene. The CSO2 analysis has three main components: areview of past coverage; a costing model to assess theadequacy of future investments; and a scorecard which allowsdiagnosis of particular bottlenecks along the servicedelivery pathway. The CSO2's contribution is to answernot only whether past trends and future finance aresufficient to meet sector targets, but what specific issuesneed to be addressed to ensure finance is effectively turnedinto accelerated coverage in water supply and sanitation. Inthis spirit, specific priority actions have been identifiedthrough consultation. A synthesis report, availableseparately, presents best practice and shared learning tohelp realize these priority actions.