The theme of the AfricaSan7 Conference is:
“Strengthening Systems and Partnerships for Accelerated Action on Safely Managed Sanitation and Hygiene”
The overall objective of the conference is:
“Revitalising the Pursuit of the Ngor Declaration Targets on Sanitation and hygiene”
Specific objectives:
The specific objectives for the AfricaSan7 conference include:
- Strengthen partnerships and facilitate knowledge exchange for action on delivering safely managed sanitation and hygiene services
- Empower governments and stakeholders to fully leverage investment in sanitation and hygiene services
- Catalyse action on research and innovation, capacity development for sustainable and equitably sanitation and hygiene solutions
- Promote hygiene and behavior change and gender mainstreaming and inclusive approaches
About the AfricaSan Initiative
The Africa Sanitation (AfricaSan) Conference was initiated to provide a platform for technical and political dialogue with governments and stakeholders to identify and share knowledge to address Africa's sanitation and hygiene challenges. Organized biennially, the conference promotes high-level political prioritization of sanitation and hygiene issues across the continent. Since its creation, the AfricaSan movement has inspired other regions across the developing world to initiate similar sanitation conferences. Some of which include East Asia Sanitation Conference (EASAN); South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN), and Latin America Sanitation Conference (LATINOSAN).
Central to the AfricaSan movement is the multi-stakeholder AfricaSan International Taskforce (AITF) coordinated by the AMCOW Secretariat. AITF serve as the think tank for sanitation improvement and provide technical support for sanitation processes, AfricaSan Ngor monitoring and AfricaSan Conference planning and execution. Through the AMCOW Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), Member states provide leadership to the AITF and ensures its priorities are aligned with the needs of the Member States.
The first conference took place in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002. Since then, the conference has become a continental sanitation movement implemented in a cyclical process of commitment setting, action-planning, implementation and monitoring. It is worth noting that since inception, the AfricaSan movement has led to two distinct high-level declarations: the eThekwini declaration on Sanitation and Hygiene in 2008 and the Ngor Declaration on Sanitation and Hygiene in 2015.
