Join AMCOW at the World Water Week 2021

World Water Week is the leading conference on global water issues and in 2021 it will be held as a digital event from the 23rd to 27th August. The Week has attracted participants from some 170 countries and with different professional backgrounds. World Water Week is a non-profit event, co-created together with leading organizations and offers a mix of participants and perspectives, with sessions on a wide array of water-related topics, from food security and health, to agriculture, technology, biodiversity, and the climate crisis.

With a focus on collaboration and shared learning, World Water Week is an important catalyst for change and attracts leading researchers, decision-makers, business representatives, NGOs, students, and international organizations. The Week attracts many decision-makers congregating to get new inspiration and form alliances that can influence other international processes such as the global climate talks.

With a theme of Building Resilience Faster, this year’s event will focus on solutions to address climate change and other water-related topics including COVID-19 recovery, hygiene and health, and gender empowerment. 

AMCOW Sessions at the World Water Week

AMCOW’s knowledge management hub: Connecting African water practitioners

Tuesday 24 August 13:00-15:30 CEST

Knowledge management is an integral part of any water, sanitation and hygiene program. Establishing and maintaining knowledge exchange and learning channels is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for future global crises. Having a central repository for results, both quantitative and qualitative, will help WASH practitioners organize knowledge to facilitate better-informed decisions on sector programming now and in the future. The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) supports African Union's Specialized Technical Committee to drive impactful results in the water and sanitation sector. Its provision of political leadership, policy direction, and advocacy on WASH issues across the AU's 55 member states place AMCOW at the forefront of WASH knowledge as a hub for timely, reliable information and one year after the launch of the AMCOW Knowledge Hub, we’ll delve into 1) how to continue building knowledge management communities across countries, 2) the most persuasive storytelling techniques, and 3) what knowledge management and communications are needed for learning and successful advocacy in the water and sanitation sector. 

Participants will also discuss how sector leaders can best engage with the Hub, and how it can be improved to become the go-to knowledge management location for WASH professionals in Africa.

Convenors: African Ministers' Council on Water, African Union Development Agency, British Geological Survey, International Water Management Institute, NEPAD Water Centres of Excellence, Southern African Network of Water Centres of Excellence, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and USAID Water for Africa through Leadership and Institutional Support

Programme

Improving Sanitation in Africa through African Sanitation Policy Guidelines (ASPG)

Wednesday 25 August 08:00-09:00 CEST

The session will focus on disseminating the ASPG to create awareness among wider sanitation stakeholders. There will be presentations on the ASPG and panel discussions with policy formulators. There will also be an engagement session with all participants on how to access support to adopt the ASPG with presentations on the ASPG and stories on the engagement process with countries, the progress made and panel discussions with policy formulators being undertaken. The session will also provide information on the multistakeholder partnerships that have been built and how they are coordinated towards ensuring synergies for success. There will also be an engagement session with all participants on the modalities that are in place to create the demand and manage the uptake of the ASPG by countries. The engagement will provide an opportunity to harness thoughts from participants on innovative ways for accelerating the implementation of sanitation policies developed using the ASPG.

Convenors: African Ministers' Council On Water, African Union Commission, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Center for Water Security and Cooperation, United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization

Programme

AMCOW-Groundwater Program: Spearheading a vision on groundwater resilience in Africa

Wednesday 25 August 14:00-15:00 CEST

This session provides an opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders on African groundwater issues to learn about and engage in an open dialogue around AMCOW’s novel pan-African Groundwater Program (APAGroP). The session will focus on key ideas and future strategy to achieve its goals of enhancing sustainable utilization and management of the continent’s groundwater resources in the provision of water supply and sanitation services and maintenance of African ecosystems. By bringing together participants from government and academia, along with NGOs, the private sector and donors, the session will address barriers to sustainable use of groundwater resources in Africa along three dimensions:

(i)    Strengthened understanding of pathways for enhancing information and knowledge base given that groundwater resources are poorly understood;

(ii)    strengthened understanding of the links between research, policy and development of governance tools in the groundwater sector;

(iii)    strengthened understanding of how a combination of public and private investments can be deployed for groundwater resources development.

The session will give stakeholders and partners – both existing and prospective – the opportunity to learn and reflect on future priorities; thus, enabling APAGroP to spearhead a continental process and platform for long-term sustainable groundwater development, water security and resilience in Africa

Convenors: African Development Bank, African Ministers' Council on Water, British Geological Survey, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Germany, German Water Partnership, Global Environment Facility, Global Water Partnership, International Water Management Institute, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and World Bank Group

Introduction

This session provides an opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders on African groundwater issues to learn about and engage in an open dialogue around AMCOW’s novel Pan-African Groundwater Program (APAGroP). The session will focus on key ideas and future strategy to achieve its goals of enhancing sustainable utilization and management of continent’s groundwater resources in the provision of water supply and sanitation services and maintenance of African ecosystems.

Programme

To participate in these sessions, register here 

For more information, please contact Maimouna Tall| Communications and Visibility Manager | Africa Ministers’ Council on Water| Email: mtall@amcow-online.org