The 9th Africa Water Week

The 9th edition of the Africa Water Week (AWW9) will be hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt and jointly held with the 7th Cairo Water Week on 13 to 17 October 2024 in Cairo, Egypt. It will conclude with the 14th ordinary session of the Executive Committee of AMCOW on 16 October 2024. The Council will, among others, consider the outcomes from AWW9 and guide on the necessary interventions to ensure their implementation.
With less than two years remaining until the end of the Africa Water Vision (AWV) 2025, the 9th Africa Water Week aims to evaluate progress made in implementing the vision, consolidate the gains and derive lessons for the future. Currently, the Water Sector and Sanitation Monitoring and Reporting (WASSMO) system tracks progress in the implementation of the AWV 2025. As such, the theme and subthemes of AWW9 are aligned with the themes of WASSMO to promote discussions and position the outcomes of AWW9 as contribution to the consultative process of post 2025 AWV towards achieving Agenda 2026: The Africa We Want!
In alignment with the decision of the AMCOW Governing Council, AWW9 is intended to galvanise action to actualise the Africa Water Vision 2025 and the related goals of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. The African Union Agenda 2063 and the Africa Water Vision respectively prioritise – among others:
i) assuring water security; and
ii) improving water wisdom.
UN-Water defines water security as the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability (UN Water, 2013). Thus, the economy as a whole is directly or indirectly dependent upon the output of sectors for which water is an important input , and is – by inference – sensitive to capacity constraints in the water sector. In this respect, improving water wisdom is a necessary condition for realising Africa’s development agenda as encapsulated in Agenda 2063.
The 9th edition of the Africa Water Week (AWW9) will be hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt and jointly held with the 7th Cairo Water Week on 13 to 17 October 2024 in Cairo, Egypt. It will feature the 14th ordinary session of the Executive Committee of AMCOW on 16 October 2024. The Council will, among others, consider the outcomes from AWW9 and guide on the necessary interventions to ensure their implementation.

Africa Water Week

The Africa Water Week is an AMCOW flagship initiative to facilitate dissemination, sharing, networking and brokering of knowledge and information on water management and WASH services provision in Africa.

Historically, over 1000 participants from Africa and beyond participate in the Africa Water Week. This includes Ministers and representatives responsible for water affairs in Africa; development partners; civil society organisations and lake and river basin organisation to contribute to identifying practical solutions for advancing successes in the water sector. The youths, research organisations, academia; and the media are also instrument in ensuring discussions during the water week is amplified to attract the desired attention.

From the first edition in 2008, the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) now convenes this event every two years in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other partners.

In alignment with the decision of the AMCOW Governing Council, AWW9 is intended to galvanise action to actualise the Africa Water Vision 2025 and the related goals of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.

The African Union Agenda 2063 and the Africa Water Vision respectively prioritise – among others: i) assuring water security; and ii) improving water wisdom.

UN-Water defines water security as the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability (UN Water, 2013). Thus, the economy as a whole is directly or indirectly dependent upon the output of sectors for which water is an important input1, and is – by inference – sensitive to capacity constraints in the water sector. In this respect, improving water wisdom is a necessary condition for realising Africa’s development agenda as encapsulated in Agenda 2063.

The African Union Agenda 2063: “The Africa We Want” provides the framework and roadmap to achieve the African Union Vision by 2063. It is premised on assuring self-reliance, regional integration, industrialisation and enhanced partnerships through:

Agenda 2063 describes the vision of Africa, in 50 years’ time from 2013, with respect to different aspects of human wellbeing and socio-economic development. The vision comprises seven key aspirations of the people of Africa for the year 2063 with set quantitative targets. Aspiration 1 of agenda 2063 is summarised in the table below.