AMCOW, others to hold continental water and sanitation conference
The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Government of Namibia will convene a virtual joint 8th Africa Water Week (AWW-8) and 6th AfricaSan Conference from November 22-26, 2021.
The Africa Water and Sanitation Week will provide a platform for dialogue and sharing of knowledge on advancing the water and sanitation agenda in Africa. Participants will also agree on action plans to further the pursuit of the water and sanitation related targets of the SDGs. These will follow from the week-long discussions on opportunities for solutions to overcome sector challenges and make the final push to achieve the Africa Water Vision 2025. The conference will be organized in both English and French.
The Africa Water and Sanitation Week follows in the tradition of 7 previous editions of the Africa Water Week, and 5 AfricaSan Conferences. It will be hosted, albeit virtually, by the Republic of Namibia for and on behalf of the Southern Africa region of the African Union. The conferences are held on a rotational basis in each of the 5 subregions of the African Union on a rotational basis.
The Africa Water and Sanitation Week has two specific objectives, namely: to ensure water security in Africa by 2030, and to accelerate action to end open defaecation and achieve universal access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030.
Within this context, knowledge sharing and information dissemination during the conference will be organised along two themes and nine sub-themes as follows:
- Water Security for Public Health and Human Development with the following sub-themes:
- Transboundary water management for cooperation and shared development
- Enhancing water security through sustainable management of groundwater resources
- Building Africa’s resilience to climate change and related disasters, and
- Addressing water and sanitation sector enablers and drivers: policy, capacity development, knowledge management, financing among others
- Accelerating Access to Safe Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa at SDGs+5 and Covid-19 era the sub-themes of which are:
- Inclusive policy and strategy for accelerating sanitation and hygiene improvement in Africa
- Bridging the human resource gap for sanitation and hygiene in Africa
- Fecal Sludge Management, Green Economy and Climate Change
- Improving hygiene in Africa: Building on the momentum of COVID Era hand hygiene, and
- Securing innovative financing for water, sanitation and hygiene in financially challenging times as a cross cutting sub theme.
Representatives of African Union Member States, UN Agencies, Development Partners, the private sector, civil society, community-based organizations and the media are expected to take part in the conference.
