Namibia Government, AMCOW And AUC Hold Water Conference

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Namibia Government<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that the African Ministers&&num;8217&semi; Council on Water &lpar;AMCOW&rpar; with the African Union Commission &lpar;AUC&rpar; and the Government of Namibia will convene a virtual joint 8th Africa Water Week &lpar;AWW-8&rpar; and 6th AfricaSan Conference from November 22-26&comma; 2021&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This is contained in a statement made available to OpenLife by <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;">African Media Agency&comma;AMA&period;<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;According to the statement&comma; the Africa Water and Sanitation Week will provide a platform for dialogue and sharing of knowledge on advancing the water and sanitation agenda in Africa&period; Participants will also agree on action plans to further the pursuit of the water and sanitation related targets of the SDGs&period; These will follow from the week-long discussions on opportunities for solutions to overcome sector challenges and make the final push to achieve the Africa Water Vision 2025&period; The conference will be organized in both English and French&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Africa Water and Sanitation Week follows in the tradition of 7 previous editions of the Africa Water Week&comma; and 5 AfricaSan Conferences&period; It will be hosted&comma; albeit virtually&comma; by <strong>Namibia<&sol;strong> government for and on behalf of the Southern Africa region of the African Union&period; The conferences are held on a rotational basis in each of the 5 subregions of the African Union on a rotational basis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Africa Water and Sanitation Week has two specific objectives&comma; namely&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>• to ensure water security in Africa by 2030&comma; and<br &sol;>&NewLine;• to accelerate action to end open defecation and achieve universal access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Within this context&comma; knowledge sharing and information dissemination during the conference will be organised along with two themes and nine sub-themes as follows&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>1&period; Water Security for Public Health and Human Development with the following sub-themes&colon;<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>a&period; Transboundary water management for cooperation and shared development<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>b&period; Enhancing water security through sustainable management of groundwater resources<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>c&period; Building Africa’s resilience to climate change and related disasters&comma; and<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>d&period; Addressing water and sanitation sector enablers and drivers&colon; policy&comma; capacity development&comma; knowledge management&comma; financing among others<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>2&period; Accelerating Access to Safe Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa at SDGs&plus;5 and Covid-19 era the sub-themes of which are&colon;<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>a&period; Inclusive policy and strategy for accelerating sanitation and hygiene improvement in Africa<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>b&period; Bridging the human resource gap for sanitation and hygiene in Africa<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>c&period; Fecal Sludge Management&comma; Green Economy and Climate Change<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>d&period; Improving hygiene in Africa&colon; Building on the momentum of COVID Era hand hygiene&comma; and<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>e&period; Securing innovative financing for water&comma; sanitation and hygiene in financially challenging times as a cross cutting sub theme&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Representatives of African Union Member States&comma; UN Agencies&comma; Development Partners&comma; the private sector&comma; civil society&comma; community-based organizations and the media are expected to take part in the conference&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;