Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina is set to participate in the 9th Africa Water Week (AWW) and 7th Cairo Water Week (CWW) from Sunday.
The session will be held from Sunday, 13 October to Thursday, 17 October in Cairo, Egypt.
The 9th edition of the Africa Water Week will this year be held jointly with the Cairo Water Week, hosted by the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, through the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.
The Africa Water Week is an African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) flagship initiative to facilitate the dissemination, sharing, networking and brokering of knowledge and information on water management and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services provision in Africa.
Since the establishment of the AWW, participants have included Ministers and representatives responsible for water affairs in Africa; development partners and civil society organisations from Africa and beyond.
Held under the theme “Placing Water and Sanitation at the Heart of Achieving Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, “Africa Water Week will have three running sub-themes.
The sub-themes include financing, investments and resource mobilisation; water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and wastewater; and water infrastructure for economic production, climate resilience, and disaster risk reduction.
“With less than two years before the end of the Africa Water Vision 2025, the 9th Africa Water Week aims to evaluate progress made in implementing the vision, consolidate the gains and derive lessons for the future,” Majodina said.
Meanwhile, the Cairo Water Week to be held under the theme “Water and Climate: Building Resilient Communities” aims to explore the intricate relationship between water and climate, emphasising their collective impact on community resilience.
Discussions will extend beyond recognition, delving into the need for sustainable and adaptive practices that fortify communities against the challenges of climate change and water scarcity.
Climate change
As part of the event, various related sub-themes and sub-topics will be explored in plenary and technical sessions organised by international and regional organisations.
Majodina said government is standing at a defining moment as climate change is a lead conversation with rising sea levels that increase chances of floods, its impact on droughts and changing weather patterns that force changes in agricultural productions.
She said the impacts are global, hence the importance of the Cairo Water Week Theme.
“As a country, we are constantly working towards Goal Six of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which aims to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. I look forward to engaging with my counterparts from across the continent and learning from their work and taking some of the lessons home,” Majodina said.
During her visit, Majodina will attend high-level plenary sessions and will be meeting with her Egyptian counterpart, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister, Professor Hani Sewilam.
The Minister will also be delivering keynote addresses at sessions convened by Water and Sanitation on the African Transboundary Management Benchmarking and Youth, Gender and Social Inclusion workshop, among others.
The Youth, Gender and Social Inclusion Strategy is aimed at addressing power imbalances and social inequalities based on various social identities.
Taking an action-oriented, and youth and women-led approach; it is improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society - improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those who have been disadvantaged based on their identity. – SAnews.gov.za
