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From June 20-22, the Ethiopian government hosted focal points from nine AMCOW member countries for special training on data collection and reporting on the state of water and sanitation in Africa. The delegates were representatives of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Comoros, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda, Seychelles, Somalia and Djibouti.
The activity was organised to provide capacity development to countries that missed the earlier rounds of the same exercise delivered through May 2022 before the data collection campaign launch. It forms part of the Water and Sanitation Sector Monitoring and Reporting (WASSMO) and the African Union Heads of States and Government Ngor Commitment on sanitation and hygiene processes.
H E Dr Eng. Habtamu Itefa, Minister of Water and Energy, FDR of Ethiopia and AMCOW’s Vice President for Eastern Africa, chaired and declared open the event, which took place at Hilton Addis Ababa. During his remark, the Minister expressed joy in Ethiopia’s involvement in implementing Africa’s commitments toward equitable and adequate water and sanitation services provision.
“I commend this team of dedicated individuals, who provide the Global Assessment of Water and Sanitation Issues (GLAAS), the WASSMO, and the reports from the tracking of NGOR commitments, which have been done without fail.”
The Minister informed participants that Ethiopia has constituted its National Coordination Platform (NCP) – comprising relevant ministries responsible for water, energy, sanitation, health, hygiene, and other cross-sectors, which is now responsible for driving data collection and reporting.
The workshop strengthened Member States’ capacities in the monitoring and reporting framework of the WASSMO and AfricaSan Ngor Commitments and helped participants understand how to input data into the web-based WASSMO system. It was a good platform for sharing sector knowledge and deepening collaboration for more effective data collection and reporting. It is expected that countries will present better quality data and information in the 2022 round of reports.
Prior to the WASSMO training, the Honourable Minister received a delegation from AMCOW Secretariat, led by the Executive Secretary, Dr Rashid Mbaziira. They deliberated on AMCOW’s plans for the forthcoming Stockholm World Water Week 2022, the 13th Ordinary Session of the EXCO and CoP27. Also, they discussed how to strengthen early warning systems for eastern African countries. H E Habtamu would be engaging further as AMCOW’s Vice President for Eastern Africa to raise the voice of the region on issues concerning water and sanitation.
