The governments of Chad,
the Republic of Congo
and France
announced on 14 March that they would pledge some €45 million to support the Africa
Development Bank’s (AfDB) Rural Water and Sanitation Initiative and the African
Water Facility.
The pledge from the French government, made at the Sixth
World Water Forum in Marseilles, was €40 million
and that of Chad
was USD 1 million to support the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative
(RWSSI). The RWSSI is designed to increase access to water supply and improved
sanitation in Africa’s rural areas.
In a statement, AfDB said the funds add to a USD 20 million
dollar contribution to the RWSSI from the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation, announced in November 2011.
The Republic of Congo announced a USD 5 million pledge for
the African Water Facility (AWF), an initiative of the African Ministers’ Council
on Water (AMCOW), established to mobilise and apply resources to finance water
infrastructure and investment facilitating activities in Africa.
“These pledges are important for ensuring progress in the
water sector, as much as political will, which is manifest and strongly
reaffirmed at this historic conference today” said AfDB president, Donald
Kaberuka, who added: “The AfDB stands by all African governments eager to take
the leap forward, wholeheartedly committed to helping them to reach their objectives.”
This was followed by the adoption of the RWSSI and AWF
Declaration whereby some 300 participants, including African water and finance
Ministers, development partners and civil society representatives, reconfirmed
their overall commitment to mobilise the required resources.
They pledge to make all necessary efforts to improve water
resources management as well as to achieve the Millennium Development Goal
targets for water supply and sanitation on the continent.
At the Forum, various water and development experts affirmed
the importance of water in improving economic and living conditions in Africa, which the AMCOW president, Mrs. Edna Molewa,
summed up as “using water to wash poverty away.”
According to her, nothing in development can happen without
water. “It is time to act,” she declared.
The Declaration was the final result of the day-long
conference hosted by the AfDB, in collaboration with the African Union
Commission, the African Ministers’ Council on Water, the UN Economic Commission
for Africa and the French government.
Author: Modou S. Joof
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