Africa: Amcow And ADB Organize the First African Water Week (AWW-1)

Tunis — The African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) and the African Development Bank (ADB) are proud to host the First African Water Week (AWW-1) event to be held in Tunis from 26th to 28th of March, 2008. The AWW-1 will take place under the theme "Accelerating the Water Security for Socio-Economic Development of Africa". Water security is the capacity to provide sufficient and sustainable quantity and quality of water for all types of water services and protect society and the environment from water-related disasters.

The main objective of the First African Water Week (AWW-1) is to create a forum for African water sector professionals, stakeholders and partners to discuss the opportunities and challenges of achieving water security for the socio-economic development of Africa; and to formulate concrete policies, strategies and actions to accelerate water resources development and provision of services taking into consideration the challenges and impacts of climate change and variability.

This theme is in line with the Heads of States and Governments of Africa "Sirte Declaration" of 27th February 2004, which identified achieving water security as a priority deserving significant investments in infrastructure such as storage dams, water harvesting, irrigation and hydropower structures.

More specifically, the main deliberations of the AWW-1 will focus on:

-Lessons of world experiences on achieving water security;

-Water security challenges and the sanitation gap;

-Infrastructure investment requirements to achieve desired water security;

-Investing in water information and knowledge in Africa;

-The challenges of environmental and social impacts for water infrastructure;

-The roles of main stakeholders and the development of appropriate partnerships.

AMCOW is composed of all African Ministers in charge of water. It provides political leadership, policy direction and advocacy in the provision, use and management of water resources for sustainable socio-economic development and maintenance of African ecosystems in Africa.

In its Sixth Ordinary Session held in Congo Brazzaville, from 28th to 31st May 2007, AMCOW decided to institutionalize the African Water Week, with the first event to be held in Tunis and hosted by ADB.