Top Government officials, representatives of development partner s, researchers and stakeholders are meeting in Ouagadougou Burkinabe Faso, December 5-8 to seek solutions to Africa’s water supply and sanitation problems.
Top on the agenda is discussion on how to implement several political commitments in the sector such as the vision of Africa for Water in 2025, the Declaration of Heads of State of the African Union on the water (Sharm El-Sheikh, 2008) and eThekwini Declaration on Sanitation (2008).
It
is estimated that two-thirds of the population in Africa lack access to adequate sanitation resulting in a loss of about 5% of GDP. But it is believed that with a strong and targeted action by governments and donors, equality in access and the cycle of poverty will reduced.
To seek concrete and realistic action plans for these frames, CREPA, – the African Regional Centre for Water and Sanitation is organising a multi-stakeholder dialogue which is featuring a Ministerial dialogue and donor round table; launch of a study group (Think Tank) for innovative solutions in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene in Africa; and development of proposals on the position of Africa with high-level meetings on water and sanitation initiative such as the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) in April 2012 and the 6th Global Forum Water (6th FME) in France March 2012.
Explaining the theme of the four day event tagged –‘Resourcing the supply chain for water and sanitation for all in Africa’, Issoufou, Niger’s Minister of Water Resources and President CREPA Ministerial Council said:
‘Sanitation and Water constitute a complex and multifaceted sector with a wide range of service providers, technologies, and approaches interwoven with distinct cultural, institutional and sectoral environments. The robustness of the supply chain is determined by the strength of human resources and technical capabilities, infrastructure, regulation, market functionality and financial flows. Getting this fundamental issues right has long been a major challenge in Africa, with the primary constraint being the adequacy and appropriate structuring of financial flows. This meeting is bringing CREPA’s 22 African country partners, 36 development partners, and numerous civil society organisations together to find innovative WASH solutions.’
