It is now done: the AfriCap program of AfWA and Sanitation Service Delivery program of PSI have officially started. These are two programs funded by the West Africa Regional Office of the US Agency for International Development (USAID-WA). The Africap program will enable AfWA to reinforce its capacities to better fulfill its missions, promote knowledge sharing and improve water quality by strengthening the capacities of the laboratories. The second program, SSD, piloted by Population Service International, will provide basic sanitation services to households in distress. This presentation ceremony marking the official start of these two programs took place on Friday, December 9, 2016 in Abidjan and brought together several personalities from the water and sanitation sector, as well as technical partners and donors.

Opening a series of addresses, Mr. Sylvain USHER, the Executive Director of the African Water Association, presented the objectives pursued by his organization before pointing out the urgency of granting substantial funding to the water and sanitation sector, whose impacts on public health are often disastrous if water resources are not properly treated. With the support of his country to the African continent, the representative of the USAID Office in Côte d'Ivoire, Jeff Bryan, recalled that the United States is investing significant resources in development programs such as AfriCap and SSD to strengthen support to the countries in the sub-region in achieving their national development goals. To further inform the audience on these two different programs, the respective coordinators, Giles Djagoun on behalf of AfriCap, Capacity Building Programs of AfWA, and Serge Milord Seiba on behalf of the SSD Program of PSI, in turn, presented their objectives, missions, targets and expectations.

Mr. Tape Zékré, Special Adviser on Sanitation Issues, welcomed and encouraged the joint initiative of AfWA and PSI on behalf of the Minister for Urban Sanitation and Urban Waste Management of Côte d'Ivoire, Anne Désiré OULOTO. He also indicated that the Government is ready to support these various programs, whose results, in the long-run, will contribute to improving water quality and sanitation services for the populations in the sub-region in general and in Cote d'Ivoire in particular.

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