Capacity building: AfWASA members learn from Office National du Sénégal

The African Water and Sanitation Association (AfWASA) is organizing a benchmarking visit to  Office National de l'Assainissement Senegal's (ONAS) from October 29 to 31, 2024, as part of its mission to build the capacity of water and sanitation operators to provide better services to the population. The visit will benefit AfWASA members from Niger, Ghana, the Republic of Guinea and Togo.

The aim of this initiative is to promote knowledge sharing between ONAS and the participants, to highlight best practices that position ONAS as an African leader in sanitation management, and to gather useful information for improving sanitation services in the participants' respective countries. The delegation is made up of some twenty sanitation professionals representing ministries, municipalities, emptiers and local experts.

The agenda includes indoor working sessions and a field visit.

During the indoor sessions, presentations will be made on the state of sanitation in Senegal, ONAS's missions, progress made, challenges encountered, as well as strategies for resolving them and prospects for improvement. Participants will also have the opportunity to present the sanitation situation in their own cities, followed by discussions aimed at better understanding local contexts and developing appropriate action plans.

As for the field visit, it will enable participants to discover sanitation infrastructures at first hand, explore the technologies used and observe the application of the concepts discussed in the classroom.

This benchmarking visit is part of AfWASA’s Citywide Inclusive Sanitation Program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.