A meeting of experts from the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) was held from May 15 to 16, 2017 in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, to restructure the Sanitation Task Force (AfricaSan). This meeting is in line with the policy for strengthening commitments stemming from the last regional conference held in Dakar, Senegal, in 2014, and that of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in 2015 on improving access to sanitation services and hygiene for all.

According to UNICEF, nearly 2.3 billion people in the world have little access to safe drinking water, the vast majority of which reside in Africa.
One of the objectives of the Libreville meeting was to assess the progress of the commitments made by African Heads of State in the development of the water sector and to establish better guidelines to further improve access to sanitation and hygiene services in African countries. To materialize this vision, four sub-committees have been set up with guidelines to focus on specific themes.

The theme of "sanitation in urban areas" has been assigned to the African Water Association, which intends to share its experience in this field and make the voice of the sector heard at the political level as a reference platform.

The African Ministers' Council on Water was established in 2002 in Abuja, Nigeria. Its aim is to promote cooperation, security, social and economic development and poverty eradication among member states through the effective management of Africa's water resources and provision of water supply services.