AfDB Unveils Strategy for Water and Sanitation in Rural Areas

3 June 2015
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

African Development Bank key stakeholders in its rural water and sanitation initiative have defined the outlines of an ambitious four-year strategy, to be aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for universal access to water and sanitation.

Programs led by the AfDB initiative provided 15 million rural people with access to improved water supply and about 13 million people with access to improved sanitation facilities in 2014.

The annual meeting of the initiative, held at AfDB headquarters in Abidjan on June 1, 2015 was chaired by Mohamed El Azizi, Director of the AfDB Water and Sanitation Department (OWAS). Prominent donors, the French Ministry of Finance, and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, provided valuable input on expectations from their respective governments.

The meeting focused on actions for post-conflict reconstruction in fragile states and adaptation to climate change. The current work plan features post-Ebola reconstruction operations, eight new country operations, and progress on the recent partnership with the Rwandan Government and the African Union.

The Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI), underpinned by the RWSSI Trust Fund, is now intent on mobilizing further resources to accelerate the much-needed provision of water supply and sanitation in post-conflict and fragile states.

About the Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI)

The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) is hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The objective of the RWSSI is to reduce poverty by accelerating access to improved rural water supply and sanitation facilities across Africa. Since 2003, the AfDB has approved 49 rural water supply and sanitation operations in 33 countries. These have already contributed to improved access to drinking water for an estimated 97 million people and improved sanitation for an estimated 70 million people. The initiative is funded through contributions from the AfDB, international governments, beneficiary communities and the RWSSI Trust Fund (TF).

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