• At AfWA level

  • The performance of the governance system of AfWA is improved
  • AfWA's operational and management performance is compliant with international standards
  • AfWA's member services are improved and membership base is enlarged with registration of new members
  • AfWA addresses its member's needs through  a clear Board-approved Membership Services and Programs plan that tracks performance over time.

  At operator’s level

  • ≥ 300 African sanitation stakeholders are skilled on CWIS through trainings and peer network
  • ≥ 06 African sanitation operators have developed CWIS plans and implemented innovative approach and technologies on CWIS
  • At least 30 African Mayors from UCLG and AIMF networks are favorable to the implementation of CWIS in Africa
  • Various networks (Mayors, PASA, Women and Young WASH Professionals) are strengthened to consider and/or implement  CWIS approaches
  • ≥ 60 African women are skilled on leadership and/or entrepreneurship

The project has five (5) components

Component 1: Improvement of AfWA organizational effectiveness to undertake its mission and vision in Africa by 2022

• Realization of 1 market analysis of AfWA members' needs
• Review of AfWA strategic business plan
• Assessment and strengthening of AfWA’s staff capacity building needs to provide quality assurance for effective SOPs and capacity building programs
• Conduct of an assessment study of CWIS capacity building needs among AfWA members and other operators, development of a capacity building workplan.
• Elaboration and implementation of AfWA projects/programs monitoring and evaluation plan
• Preparation and delivery of Water Congress 2020
• Diversification of AfWA's technical and financial partners to cover membership needs on CWIS
• Implementation of the ISO 9001 certification of AfWA finance department

 Component 2. Improvement of the capacity of 300 African sanitation stakeholders from 30 cities for the implementation of city-wide inclusive sanitation (CWIS) by 2023

• Identification of African sanitation experts to be involved in CWIS trainings
• Organization of 02 training of trainers sessions of 40 persons on CWIS
• Facilitation of 06 peer-to-peer learning partnerships between mentors and mentees utilities/municipalities in Africa
• Organization of 02 benchmarking visits between African sanitation stakeholders and Asian counterparts
• Training of 240 African sanitation stakeholders on CWIS
• Establishment and facilitation of a community of practice amongst all the involved stakeholders

Component 3. Adoption of innovative approach and technologies in 10 African cities for implementation of CWIS by 2023

• Organization of 01 exhibition on innovative approaches and technologies
• Training of 300 sanitation stakeholders from 30 African cities on innovative approach and technologies
• Elaboration and implementation of 06 african cities inclusive sanitation plans taking into account innovative approaches and technologies

Component 4. Enabling environment for the implementation of CWIS in 30 African cities in Africa by 2023 through advocacy and communication

• Revision and adoption of AfWA's communication and advocacy plan
• Organization of 01 WASH events (01 AfWA congress),
• Organization of 01 mayor’s forum to sensitize mayors on CWIS in Africa
• Organization of 01 YWP forum
• Organization of 01 fora of the Panafrican Association of Sanitation Actors (PASA)
• Production and dissemination of Communication products on best Practices
• Organization of 15 country networks of Young Water and Sanitation professional
• Allocation of 10 Grants to YWP for their participation to WASH events
• Organization of 02 benchmarking visits of 10 members of African emptiers Union members in Africa
• Capacitation of 100 emptiers on CWIS

Component 5. Empowerment of the leadership of 400 African Women in the African WASH sector by 2022

• Conduct of a gender analysis undertaken
• Development of a gender action plan approved
• Sponsoring of 10 African women professional in WASH for their participation to AfWA Congress
• Organization of 01 forum of African women professional in WASH
• Organization of 02 training sessions on leadership for African women professional

This project aims at improving, (i) AfWA organizational effectiveness and (ii) the capacity of operators to deliver City-Wide Inclusive Sanitation through peer-exchange, training, networking and advocacy in order to provide safe sanitation to over ten million people in thirty cities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Access to sanitation services is one of the crucial challenges for most African countries. The quality and coverage of services by sanitation operators are inadequate due to many factors, including institutional fragmentation, lack of leadership of policy and decision makers, weak regulatory frameworks, poor skills in management, operation and maintenance of sanitation systems, and lack of sustainable financing models for on-going service provision. Since 2006, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on water and sanitation recognized the WOP (Water Operators' Partnerships) approach - which fosters capacity building and knowledge sharing through partnerships of water and sanitation operators - as an effective means of improving the performance of the operators and fast-track progress in achieving the MDGs for water and sanitation services. Rather than substituting public operators with private entities and expertise, as is commonly done in public-private partnerships (PPPs), WOPs rely on not-for-profit exchange and peer-to-peer learning to strengthen the performance of public water and sanitation utilities. Thanks to the funding and technical support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Water Association (AfWA), launched from 2015-2019, the “Reinforcing Capacity of African Sanitation Operators on non-sewer and FSM systems through peer-to-peer learning partnerships (RASOP-Africa) project aiming at improving the quality of urban faecal sludge management and non-sewer sanitation services and coverage for at least one million people in the Sub-Saharan Africa region through improving strategic sanitation planning, development of sustainable projects, and institutionalization of sustainable operational and financing framework for sanitation in the utilities and/or municipalities.

Building on this SOPs experience an achievement, AfWA has benefited since July 2020 a new investment by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand the approach to other African cities and AfWA members in order to contribute to the SDGs and the overall urban sanitation agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa following the city-wide inclusive sanitation approach. This will be done in its new program entitled “Strengthening AfWA and operators’ capacity for the implementation of city-wide inclusive sanitation in Africa”.