Recently, representatives from the International Water Association (IWA) met with Mr. Sylvain Usher, Executive Director of the African Water Association (AfWA) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Tom Williams, Interim Executive Director of IWA, and Sarah Tibatemwa, Africa Regional Director of IWA, were in Abidjan visiting other partners and stopped by AfWA’s office to discuss upcoming cooperation between the two organizations.

IWA has a long-established relationship with AfWA, a Memorandum of Understanding covering many areas, and mutual activities on which they work together. Usher, Williams and Tibatemwa discussed the upcoming Water and Development Congress & Exhibition on November 13-16, 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina (www.waterdevelopmentcongress.org). Over two thousand participants are expected to attend. IWA and AfWA work on the same interests in water and sanitation, and are working together to market this event to stakeholders in the region to promote attendance of African utilities. IWA and AfWA are also exploring running a joint session on water and climate as part of the technical program, focusing on how it affects stakeholders, activities and cities.

A more detailed overview of AfWA and IWA’s joint efforts will be established at the Science and Technical Council on July 17-21, 2017 in Accra, Ghana. In addition to the marketing of the Water and Development Congress, they also will discuss how to promote participation of young professionals from the region at the IWA Young Water Professionals Conference on December 10-13, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa (www.iwaywpconference.org), and IWA’s involvement at the upcoming AfWA Congress on February 11-16, 2018 in Bamako, Mali.