It is held annually in keeping with the decision of the AMCOW to institutionalize AWW in order to build momentum on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) water and sanitation targets by 2015, and the 2025 Africa Water Vision. This is in line with AMCOW’s belief that adequate and equitable access to water and sanitation makes a critical contribution to Africa’s progress towards sustainable growth and development. GWP, together with other key stakeholders, is a lead organizer of this event
Four aaw’s have been organized to date. The 1st Africa Water Week, was held in Tunis, Tunisia in 2008 with theme “Accelerating Water Security for the Socio-Economic Development of Africa”; the 2nd Africa Water Week with the theme “Carrying Forward the Commitments of the Sharm el Sheikh AU Summit on Water and Sanitation: a Sprint to Finish” was held in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa in 2009, while Ethiopia hosted the 3rd Africa Water Week in Addis Ababa in 2010 with the theme: “Implementing the Africa Water Vision and meeting the MDG target: Challenges and Opportunities in Water and Sanitation.” The 4th Africa Water Week, hosted by Egypt from the 14th – 18th May 2012, came at a time when greater attention is being focused on the nexus between water and growth and development, hence the decision to call back attention on how far the continent has exploited water resources to grow Africa’s economies given the sectoral linkages with agriculture, energy, transport, environment and health.
During the 4th Africa Water Week, AMCOW launched the Strategic Framework for Water Security and Climate Resilient Development. The initiative helps senior professionals and decision makers to identify and develop ‘no or low regret’ investment strategies, to integrate these into development processes, and to influence development activities so they become more resilient to climate change and variability.
The Strategic Framework has been developed as part of the Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP), an AMCOW programme implemented by Global Water Partnership (GWP). It has evolved through a strong collaborative relationship between AMCOW and its Technical Advisory Committee, GWP and the Climate Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) who funded the work.
More information: www.gwp.org/wacdep, www.amcow-online.org