WASH United at AfricaSan 3: High-level decision makers kicking the sanitation crisis
Thorsten Kiefer, International Coordinator welcomes the Prime Minister of Rwanda, Bernard Makuza, to the WASH United Club.
With a very hectic agenda, high-level decision makers, politicians, experts and practitioners from Civil Society Organisations from all around the world attend the conference in Kigali to debate and discuss practical solutions to make sanitation sustainable and accessible, to scaling up coverage, to address questions regarding financing sanitation and to share expectations* on the coming five years on the way to the approaching deadline for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for sanitation is about to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to sanitation by 2015. Only nine countries in Africa will meet the MDG target on sanitation - Rwanda, the AfricaSan 3 host is one of these countries. The overall objective of AfricaSan 3 is therefore to get Africa on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for sanitation.
*Read the CSO Message for AfricaSan 3 below
Every poo needs a loo: Africa United for Sanitation for All
Besides participating meetings and workshops, WASH United together with the United Nation Secretariat Advisory Board (UNSGAB) and the organisers of AfricaSan 3 itself, seek commitment and action for the five year drive to 2015 from all AfricaSan 3 participants in a very special way. We have set up the World Toilet Cup game in the gardens of the hotel. The motto: “Every poo needs a loo”!
Next to the World Toilet Cup, we have set up a blank map of Africa where the pictures of the participants will be glued as a symbol of their commitment to acting as champions for sanitation and hygiene for all people in Africa. Our mission: Getting a commitment from all AfricaSan 3 participants to tackle the sanitation crisis and to achieve sustainable universal sanitation coverage in Africa. As we all know: Sanitation for all is possible, it´s "just" a matter of political will.
Prime Minister from Rwanda, Bernard Makuza, kicks the sanitation crisis
The first person kicking ‘the poo into the loo’ and committing to acting as champion for sanitation has been the Prime Minister from Rwanda, Bernard Makuza. He inaugurated the game and like him, national as well as international high-level decision makers tried their skills kicking the poo into the loo and committing to tackle the sanitation crisis in Africa. Among others, the water and sanitation ministers of Burkina Faso and Togo and the Minister of Health of Uganda, Dr. Christine Ondoa, committed to acting as champions for sanitation and hygiene for all people in Africa and have also become members of WASH United club, uniting forces to fight the lack of water and sanitation in their countries and in the whole continent.
Everyone grew in excitement with WASH United´s approach, finding the way and the energy of the initiative refreshing. “This is a great initiative”, said Geoff Tooth, High Commissioner for Australia. “I am proud of being a WASH United champion”, asserted while doing the three fingers salute - representing the three club goals: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all everywhere!
WASH United participates this conference with representatives from nearly all African programme countries (Mantopi Lebofa (Lesotho), Dounantie Dao (Mali), Doreen Kabasindi Wandera (Uganda), Femin Mabachi (Tanzania), Nancy Githaigha (Kenya)) as well as representatives from the International Secretariat (Thorsten Kiefer, International Coordinator and Antonio Jaen, Media Officer).
About AfricaSan 3
AfricaSan3 is the Third Africa Conference on Hygiene and Sanitation (AfricaSan 3) to be held from July 19-21, 2011 in Kigali, Rwanda. The overall objective of AfricaSan 3 is to get Africa on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for sanitation. AfricaSan 3 is being hosted by the Government of Rwanda and the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW).
The specific objectives of AfricaSan 3 are to:
● Increase the evidence-base on sanitation and hygiene in Africa and exchange knowledge on strategies to overcome key blockages to assist decision-makers in implementing large-scale sanitation and hygiene programs
● Take stock of progress made by African countries and the efforts needed to meet the MDG on sanitation by 2015
● Review progress on implementing the eThekwini Declaration (pdf), update and re-confirm these commitments by African Ministers. Also prepare fresh commitments for measurable action by all key stakeholders, including donors, financing institutions, multilaterals and civil society;
● Undertake reviews of country sanitation and hygiene action plans, in order to improve their quality, realism and potential for impact; and,
● Raise the profile of sanitation and hygiene as a determinant to sustainable development in the region; and strengthen leadership and advocacy for sustained sanitation and behavior changes
More information about AfricaSan
CSO Message for AfricaSan 3 (doc)
CSO Update from AfricaSan 3 (pdf)
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