NAN-AE-3
Water
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Aug. 29, 2017 (NAN) African Water and Sanitation Ministers attending the 2017 World Water Week in Stockholm, have resolved to adopt and promote effective wastewater management across the continent.
In a statement at the opening plenary in Central Stockholm, the ministers underlined the importance of wastewater to the continent’s aspirations for economic growth and sustainable development.
The statement by Mr Atayi Babs, Communication Officer, African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), was released to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to the ministers, improved wastewater management is not only critical to achieving the Africa Water Vision 2025 and Sustainable Development Goal on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), but also to other goals of the 2030 Agenda.
Specifically, Gerson Lwenge, Tanzanian Minister for Water and Irrigation, recalled that African ministers responsible for sanitation took proactive steps before the end of the MDGs era in 2015 by adopting the N’gor Declaration.
Lwenge, who is the President of AMCOW, said that the steps entailed a commitment that Africa would “progressively eliminate untreated waste by encouraging its productive use”.
He said to actualise the potential of turning waste to benefits, Africa needed to create the right policy environment and move from policy to effective implementation.
“It is on this basis that the High Level Ministerial Panel at this year’s Africa Focus Sessions will explore possibilities of using science to enrich policy making and increase policy implementation efficiency,” he added.
The Senegalese Hydraulic and Sanitation Minister, Amadou Faye, said that this year’s World Water Week, and by extension, the Africa Focus Sessions, would provide a global platform for the ministers to discuss policy options.
He said that the ministers would also discuss enabling factors that supported the adoption and implementation of innovative wastewater management approaches and technologies.
Dr Mohamed Abdel-Atty, Egypt’s Water and Irrigation Minister, said AMCOW was committed to achieving an Africa where there was equitable and sustainable use and management of water resources for poverty alleviation and socio-economic development.
“With improved wastewater management particularly in the industrial and agricultural sectors, Africa will be on the firm path to food security and sustainable development,” Abdel-Atty, who is AMCOW Vice President for North Africa, said.
AMCOW’s Executive Secretary, Dr Canisius Kanangire, said faecal sludge and wastewater continually posed threats to human livelihood, especially in African cities experiencing population growth due to rural-to-urban migration.
According to Kanangire, experiences by AMCOW member states show that wastewater can be a resource for irrigation with basic treatment and proper hygiene practices; sludge can be used as a source of energy and fertilizers.
“The productive use of waste water can generate income, development of micro enterprise and employment as well as contribute to urban food and energy security.
“The threat, therefore, could be turned into opportunities for poverty alleviation” Kanangire said.
AMCOW brings together Water and Sanitation ministers from 55 African countries to promote cooperation, security, social and economic development and poverty eradication among member states through the effective management of the continent’s water resources and provision of water.
The World Water Week organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is an annual gathering for all stakeholders in the globe’s water issues. (NAN)
TAK/YAZ
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Edited by Yusuf Zango