The Scientific and Technical Council (STC) of the African Water Association held its meetings from July 25th to 27th 2016 so as to make an assessment of the activities carried out and to define the roadmap of the work groups it is composed of. The opening ceremony, chaired by the Minister for Hydraulics and Energy of Angola, Joao Baptista Borges, took place at the Luanda Talatona Convention Center.

These meetings which were held 5 months after the 18th congress of the AfWA, dealt with the following topic “CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE ACCESS TO DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES IN AFRICA”. Several presentations made it possible to better know AfWA and its various programs, to make an assessment of the water and sanitation situation in Angola. The three Specialized Committees of this body gathered in restricted groups in order to think over the problems dedicated to them, namely: Management, Technical Management and Sanitation.

The first Committee focused its reflection on three activities, namely the reinforcement of the activities of the Task Force Communication and Knowledge Sharing, the adoption of a support strategy to the training of Young Professionals, and the evaluation of the representativeness of women in the water and sanitation related sectors. The second Specialized Committee focused its work on the issues related to Non-Revenue Water and Water Quality. Finally, the third Specialized Committee tackled to present the statement of progress of RASOP projects, to format the project “Toilets for all” in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Popular Republic of China, and the setting-up of a task force to fight climate change as well.

The works ended on Thursday, July 28, 2016, with the restitution of works in commissions, followed by the closing ceremony chaired by the Angolan Secretary of State in charge of Water, Ing. Luis Filipe who praised AfWA for holding these meetings. “AfWA would play a fundamental role in the provision of drinking water and sanitation services in Angola and in Africa in general”, the envoy of the government said before closing officially the works. The STC was followed, on Friday, July 29, by the meeting of the Executive Board. The next AfWA meetings will be held in November 2016 in an African country.