Two USAID representatives – Abigail Jones, Water and Sanitation Advisor, and Melody McNeil, West Africa Environment Team Leader – met with African Water Association (AfWA) staff on July 12, 2017 to discuss the upcoming Scientific and Technical Council (STC) Meetings in Accra, Ghana. The STC Meetings will be held July 17-21, 2017 at La Palm Royal Beach Hotel focusing on Improving the Performance of the Water and Sanitation Sector in Africa. Sylvain Usher, AfWA’s Executive Director, reviewed the panels and workshops that would be of most interest to USAID and encouraged their attendance. Of special interest was the AfriAlliance workshop that will focus on how climate change is affecting the daily operation of water utilities and potential mitigation efforts that can be implemented.

Two program coordinators also took part in this meeting. Gilles Djagoun, Coordinator of the AfriCap Program, provided updates on the program. AfriCap is a three-year program financed by USAID for capacity building of AfWA and water quality laboratories in West Africa. Mbaye Mbéguéré, Coordinator of the RASOP Program, elaborated on the implementation of the program for Reinforcing African Sanitation Operators Partnerships.

Also discussed were potential future projects that AfWA and USAID could pursue together. AfWA explained more of its previous projects and implementation strategies. Together they discussed what may be in the future of the African WASH sector, including sharing examples of innovative companies and the largest gaps in financing.

AfWA also met with USAID representatives Alex Deprez, the West Africa Regional Mission Director, in April 2017 and Margaret McMorrow, West Africa Environment Officer, in May 2017.

For more photos, see the album on Flickr!