South Africa participates in the 7th Africa Sanitation Conference in Namibia
The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu will lead a delegation from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) at the 7th Africa Sanitation (AfricaSan) Conference between 6 -11 November 2023 at Swakopmund, Namibia.
The conference convened by the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) and the Commission of the African Union (AU) is attended by the Ministers and Heads of Delegations responsible for sanitation and hygiene in Africa, together with senior civil servants, academics, civil society, development partners and the private sector.
Advance teams led by the Deputy Directors-General for Water and Sanitation Services and International Relations, Mr Risimati Mathye and Ms Lindiwe Lusenga are currently participating in the technical sessions on various sanitation and hygiene focused themes. On Friday 10, November 2023, Minister Mchunu is expected to participate in a high-level Ministerial Dialogue with other AMCOW member states where conference outcome recommendations and decisions will be taken.
Minister Mchunu said South Africa has dealt with sanitation challenges with the involvement of all stakeholders including science organisations and the private sector. He has acknowledged AfricaSan7 Conference which ensures that issues of sanitation are addressed in the African continent.
“Sanitation is essential for human dignity. It is the bedrock of our well-being and an essential element for human health. Lack of sanitation can be a barrier to individual prosperity and sustainable development. It is therefore important that the conference under AMCOW is keen on raising sanitation’s profile on the continent. Together we want to see an enabling environment created to improve access to safely managed and sustainable sanitation services throughout the region,” said Minister Mchunu.
This year’s conference is themed “Strengthening Systems and Partnerships for Accelerated Action on Safely Managed Sanitation and Hygiene.” It started in South Africa in 2002 and was initiated to provide a platform for technical and political dialogue with governments and stakeholders to identify and share knowledge to address the sanitation and hygiene challenges in Africa.
Clean water, safe sanitation, and good hygiene practices are prerequisites for health and contribute to productive communities. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the value of these basic necessities of life because handwashing with soap and water was the single and cost-effective practice to minimise the transmission of harmful pathogens including communicable diseases.
However, millions in the continent of Africa, still lack a basic level of drinking water and basic sanitation services and some still practice open defaecation.
At the 4th AfricaSan held in Dakar, Senegal in 2015, the Ministers and Heads of Delegations at the conference took a resolution to address those challenges by adopting the Ngor Declaration on sanitation and hygiene.
The vision of declaration is to achieve universal access to adequate and sustainable sanitation and hygiene services and eliminate open defecation by 2030. To realise this vision, the governments in the African continent made 10 commitments.
The commitments adopted by the member states also reinforces the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) that have the same ambitious goal of achieving global access to safely managed sanitation and hygiene paying special attention to the needs of women and girls by 2030” (SGD 6.2).
Both the Ngor commitments and the SDGs are closely aligned in that they both focus on establishing the enabling environment necessary to attain universal access.
The DWS has made strides in 2 of the 10 commitments of the Ngor Declaration. Commitment 2 aims to mobilise support and resources at the highest political level for sanitation and hygiene to disproportionately prioritise sanitation and hygiene in national development plans.
These commitments were realised in the country following strategic plans that have influenced the paradigm shift of sanitation management in South Africa. These plans include:
- National Development Plan (NDP), which set a target that all south Africans should have affordable and reliable access to sanitation by 2030.
- National Water and Sanitation Master Plan (NWSMP), with its goal No 3 stating that water and sanitation must contribute to economy & job creation.
- National Sanitation Policy, which provides policy positions on the entire sanitation value chain and recognises the economic value of sanitation. appropriate sanitation. It also encompasses new technological ways of waste management system.
- Industrial Action Policy Plan, which promotes development of off grid sanitation technologies with lower water requirements for sanitation.
On Commitment 7, that aims to progressively eliminate untreated waste and to encourage its productive use, DWS has revitalised the Green Drop Certification Programme and the development of National Faecal Sludge Management Strategy.
For more information, contact
Wisane Mavasa Spokesperson, Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 060 561 8935
Kamogelo Mogotsi, Spokesperson for the Ministry
Cell: 076 523 0085
