Under the theme "Technology innovations to improve the performance and efficiency of water and sanitation operators in Africa", the 80th session of the Scientific and Technical Council (STC) of the African Water Association (AWA) opened on Monday, November 19, 2018 at Kempinski Hotel in Djibouti. The opening ceremony was chaired by Djibouti's Minister of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries, Livestock and Fisheries Resources, His Excellency Mohamad AHMED AWALEH.
After a short film screening on technological innovations initiated by the Djibouti National Office for Water and Sanitation (ONEAD) on the effective and efficient management of water, the honor went to the Managing Director of ONEAD, Mr. Mohamad FOUAD ABDO, to open the series of speeches. He welcomed all participants and expressed his gratitude to AfWA for organizing this 80th meeting in his country. While presenting the situation of access to water, the Managing Director of ONEAD noted the difficult supply conditions that led the government to set up a Drinking Water Supply Master Plan. Thus, important projects have been undertaken, including transboundary water supply from Ethiopia to meet the population's demand.
Following this, the Executive Director of AfWA, Mr. Sylvain USHER, thanked the President of the Republic of Djibouti, His Excellency Mr. ISMAÏL OMAR GUELLEH, "who kindly agreed for the meeting to be held in his country and for all the facilities enjoyed by the delegations since their arrival in Djibouti". He congratulated the women of ONEAD for their dynamism and for the perfect organization of this STC. Coming back to the transboundary water supply project with Ethiopia, he said that AfWA is very sensitive to this because it contributes to increasing the population's access to drinking water. Addressing the delegates of the meeting, he stressed the urgent need to share experiences in order to meet the challenge of resilience to the problems of the water and sanitation sector, which are common to Africa.
The President of the STC, Dr. Papa SAMBA DIOP, expressed his joy of being with the water and sanitation family to discuss the issues in order to find appropriate solutions. He commended the Djibouti people for their hospitality, warm welcome and availability. Addressing the STC theme, Dr. Papa Samba recalled a quote from author Robert CAMP in his book Benchmarking: "Whoever wants to improve must measure himself and whoever wants to become the best must compare himself". He said he was convinced that the meeting will make it possible to "revisit the methods of calculating performance in order to achieve good benchmarking".
The series of speeches ended with the address of the Minister of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries, Livestock and Fisheries Resources of Djibouti, Mr. Mohamad AHMED AWALEH. He stressed the benefits of technological innovations and the sharing of knowledge and experience in the development of nations, which make it possible to overcome the challenges in difficult situations. The Minister drew everyone's attention on the difficulties ahead in 2050 due to Africa's rapidly growing population. He took the opportunity to invite donors to finance infrastructure that can be profitable over time. He finally expressed the wish to see the emergence in Africa of revolutionary technologies that could serve as an example to other nations.
Before the inauguration and the group photo, two presentations were made on the Djibouti hydraulic sector by Dr. Jalludin, the Center for Study and Research of Djibouti’s Director, and on ONEAD by Mrs. Deka KHAIREH, Director of Studies and Projects.