UN-Habitat, in partnership with the African Water and Sanitation Academy (AWASA) of the National Water & Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) of Uganda, is organising a Webinar Series on setting the agenda for Wastewater Treatment and Monitoring in The Context of The SDGs from the 6th – 8th of June 2022.

The ultimate objective is to help countries achieve Target 6.3 by promoting wastewater safe treatment and reuse among sanitation and water utilities, through stimulated investment. 

The registration link is https://www.nwsc.co.ug/es.

The webinar link is: https://broadcaster.interactio.eu/join/qj5f-fsh9-i6k2 

As part of the implementation of Component 2 of AfWA AfriCap program, which focuses on the development of partnerships and mentoring relationships between AfWA members, experts from Togolaise des Eaux (TdE, water utility of Togo) and the Office National de l'Eau et de l'Assainissement de Djibouti (ONEAD, water utility of Djibouti) made a benchmarking visit to the Office National de l'Eau et de l'Assainissement of Burkina Faso (ONEA, water utility of Burkina Faso) from April 19 to 21, 2022. The objective of this visit was to share ONEA's best practices in water quality monitoring and control.

This mission started with a series of presentations on the institutional and legal organization of the drinking water sector in Burkina Faso, the organization and operation of ONEA, ONEA’s laboratory for water quality analysis and monitoring, water quality management in ONEA, the management of metrology, and the monitoring and management of the equipment pool. Actions in progress and future endeavors for improved monitoring and control of water quality were also discussed.

These various presentations were followed by field visits and individual interviews. Thus, the delegations actually visited the ZIGA treatment plant, the Water Quality Department’s laboratory at the PASPANGA plant, the facilities of the National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP) and the Centre des Métiers de l'Eau (CEMEAU, Center for Water Professions) as well. They equally visited the water quality management equipment as well as the visible part of the CEMEAU underground network for leakage detection. The visit of the Ziga plant allowed these visitors to appreciate the size of investments and the facilities in this renowned site, and better still, its key role in supplying water in the capital city of Burkina Faso.

At the end of these three (3) days, the experts unanimously affirmed that this benchmarking visit allowed them to acquire new knowledge and discover innovative practices in the field of water quality monitoring and control. These new skills will be shared with their respective teams and put into practice in order to improve their utilities’ performance. They also expressed their gratitude to USAID and AfWA for initiating such a substantial program.

It is worth noting that Africap program is a capacity building program of AfWA that aims over the period from 2016 to 2023, to promote partnerships in the drinking water sector. It is structured around three (3) components: i) Disseminating knowledge products and good practices in line with the demands of AfWA members, ii) Developing partnerships and mentoring relationships between AfWA members, and iii) Strengthening AfWA institutional capacity.

 Quotes

‘’At ONEAD Djibouti, we are certainly doing a lot, but ONEA Burkina Faso is ahead of us in terms of accreditation, something we would like to acquire as well. And the road is winding, the benchmarking mission and the online training have given us the tone of what lies ahead.’’ Hana Abdourahim, Head of Laboratory Department, ONEAD (Djibuti)

‘’Exchanges with our colleagues from Djibouti and Burkina Faso have allowed us to grasp their way of doing things. It is up to each of us to take advantage of this and to add a small seed to our plants to achieve improvements.’’ Tebié Esso-Nana , Head of the Laboratory Department, Togolaise des Eaux (Togo)

After almost two years of online meetings due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Scientific and Technical Council of the African Water Association (AfWA) is back to in-person meetings.

Thus, AfWA is pleased to inform its members and the entire community of stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector that the 89th meeting of its Scientific and Technical Council will be held from June 13 to 16, 2022 in N'Djamena, Chad, under the auspices of the Société Tchadienne des Eaux (STE).

AfWA invites all stakeholders and all those interested in the development of the WASH sector on the continent to save the date to attend this meeting of exchanges around the challenges of access to water and sanitation in Africa.

And if you want to receive the latest news from AfWA as well as from the water and sanitation sector, please click on the link to subscribe to AfWA Newsletter

AfWA is pleased to inform its members, partners and all stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector that it will hold its first digital congress from 22 to 29 July 2022 under the theme: "rising up from the global covid 19 pandemic and accelerating universal access to water and sanitation services in Africa by 2030".

Indeed, the Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of the availability of good quality water in sufficient quantity, as well as access to adequate sanitation services. Water and sanitation utilities, on the front line of the fight to contain the spread of the virus, had to show resilience to maintain quality and continuity of service during this period of lockdowns and border closures. Today, the whole world is gradually recovering from this pandemic, which has taught us many lessons that it is important to capitalize on.

Thus, in its willingness to fully ensure its function as a platform for sharing experiences, AfWA will bring together, during this digital congress, experts, technicians and researchers, to share the lessons and best practices adopted to recover from the Covid-19 global pandemic, and to capitalize on in view of accelerating the achievement toward SDG6 related to access to water and sanitation services for all.

To this end, AfWA invites professionals, development partners, policy makers, industrialists and all those who have a direct or indirect interest in the issue of water and sanitation in Africa, to join this important Pan-African forum, in order to share experiences, seek and propose solutions to To capitalize on in view of accelerating the achievement toward SDG6.advance the issue of providing people with safe drinking water and adequate sanitation in Africa.

Please do not miss this AfWA event. Registration for this online conference will open soon.

And if you want to receive the latest news from AfWA and the water and sanitation sector, please click on the following link to subscribe to our newsletter AfWA Newsletter. 

As part of its Capacity-Building Program for African stakeholders in the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector (AfriCap) funded by USAID West Africa, the African Water Association is awarding research scholarships to African Young Water and Sanitation Professionals. Target beneficiaries are master students and engineers at the end of their training.  Each scholarship, with a   maximum value of USD l,000 (one thousand), will make it possible to carry out a research work sanctioned by a scientific report on a theme related to the WASH sector.

Please click on the link to read more. https://bit.ly/3Jn9MWt

Opened on Monday, March 21, the 9th World Water Forum, held under the theme "Water Security for Peace and Development", ended this Friday in Diamniadio, near Dakar in Senegal, with the adoption of the Dakar Declaration entitled "Blue Deal" for water security and sanitation for peace and development.

This declaration urges the international community to accelerate the implementation of the right to drinking water and sanitation for all by adopting appropriate legislative frameworks and mobilizing all actors through integrated and inclusive strategies.

The document also calls for the implementation of international humanitarian law, in particular the additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which provide for the protection of water and sanitation systems vital in times of conflict.

The Declaration also calls for the adoption of sustainable and integrated management plans to preserve water resources and ecosystems and ensure resilience to climate change and demographic pressure, to raise awareness of these issues in order to bring about a shift towards more sustainable and responsible production and consumption patterns, and to strengthen the protection of wetlands and encourage the conservation of traditional water systems, recycling and reuse of treated wastewater.

The forum also recommended to the government of the Republic of Senegal and to the World Water Council, in their capacity as co-organizers of the forum, to submit the present "Dakar Declaration" as a contribution to the United Nations Water Conference in 2023.

It also invites the international community and all stakeholders to endorse this "Dakar Declaration on Water and Sanitation Security for Peace and Development" and to contribute to the effective implementation of the outcomes of the Dakar Forum.

The 10th World Water Forum will take place in 2024 in Bali, Indonesia.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

The 9th World Water Forum opened this Monday, March 21 in Diamniadio, Senegal, in the presence of several African Heads of State, under the theme of water security for peace and development.
This forum, which is held for the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa, aims to be a forum of solutions for Africa, whose populations suffer from a severe lack of water, while the continent is full of water.
During the opening ceremony, the President of the Republic of Senegal, His Excellency Macky Sall, referred to the alarming figures of the United Nations report on water, published in March 2021: 2 out of 5 people live in regions where water is scarce; 2 billion 100 million people are forced to consume polluted water, 80% of water is discharged into nature without treatment, endangering the health and lives of 4.5 billion people... That is why the President of Senegal sounded the alarm on the seriousness of the situation, so that the issues related to water, remain at the heart of the international agenda. "The lives and health of billions of people around the world are at stake, as well as international peace and security''. Mr. Macky Sall concluded by wishing that the results of this 9th World Water Forum fully meet the expectations of the populations.
Opened on March 21, the 9th World Water Forum will close its doors on March 25.