As a prelude to the 5th International Conference on Feacal Sludge Management to be held from 17 to 22 February 2019 in Durban, South Africa, AfWA is organizing from 15 to 16 February 2019 in Durban, the final evaluation workshop of the RASOP-Africa programme , " Reinforcing African Sanitation Operators through peer-to-peer learning partnerships”. This programme, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and implemented by AfWA since 2015, aims to support the implementation of autonomous sanitation and sludge management strategies in five African cities: Bamako (Mali), Yamoussoukro (Côte d'Ivoire), Yaoundé (Cameroon), Kampala (Uganda) and Lusaka (Zambia).

Thus, after three years of implementation, AfWA and the BMGF are bringing together in Durban, all stakeholders as well as current and potential partners to assess the implementation process of this project and draw lessons that could be used to improve the new investment’s implementation of its sanitation portfolio. The workshop’s objective is therefore to present, through a "market" approach, the results obtained within the framework of the RASOP-Africa project, including the difficulties encountered and lessons learned, by different groups of partners involved (mentors, mentees, AfWA project management team, drains); to present the new AfWA initiative on capacity building for inclusive sanitation at the city level funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a follow-up to the RASOP Africa project.