Rural water and sanitation in Africa :The African Water Facility and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will be taking part in the 6th Africa Water Week (AWW-6), starting from 18-22 July 2016 at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Tanzania’s capital Dar es Salaam.
The AfDB will on 20th July 2016 unveil a study highlighting on the performance and significance of rural water and sanitation in Africa specifically Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Burkina Faso and Rwanda over the last ten years
In the year 2003, the pan-African Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) was formed with the aim of reducing poverty by enhancing access to clean rural water supply and sanitation facilities in the African continent.
The African Development Bank has launched a review of RWSSI and the RWSSI Trust Fund (RWSSI TF) that is aimed at developing a new RWSSI and RWSSI TF Strategic Plan 2016 – 2025 based on its findings.
This public engagement and consultation will be undertaken after the consultant –Niras-Indevelop– visited the four countries selected for the RWSSI initiative countries and carried out several of analyses.
It will engage several key stakeholders of the RWSS Initiative to update them about the preliminary findings of the external review so far, deliberate on the next milestones of RWSSI initiative development and collect initial inputs and reactions about strategic options for the RWSS Initiative.
Reflecting over the past 10 years it has been in existence, the RWSSI Trust Fund –based on financial contributions from Canada, Burkina Faso, Denmark, Italy, France, Switzerland and the Netherland offered support to over 49 projects in 33 countries in Africa.
In wake of the several challenges with rural water and sanitation in Africa –with 8 of 10 people having no access to safe water and improved sanitation in Africa living in the rural areas– what steps should be undertaken by RWSSI, as to continue participating and contributing in an even more important way to the realization of the Africa Water Vision and the Sustainable Development Goals?
The Africa Water Week brings together the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) in partnership with the African Union Commission and organized with several other development partners supported by the African Water Facility and African Development Bank.
It is a representation of a political commitment at the highest level with over 1,000 delegates from regional institutions, governments, the private sector, international partners, civil society the scientific community and the media from all over the world, and particuraly Africa, convening to deliberate and collectively establish remedies to Africa’s water resources, and sanitation challenges.
It is now held after every two years in keeping with the decision of the AMCOW to institutionalize AWW so as to build momentum on realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to water security and sanitation by 2030, and the 2025 Africa Water Vision as well as crystallizing the way to actualizing Africa’s Agenda 2063.
