KAMPALA – Uganda has been selected to host next year’s 20th African Water Association (AFWA) Congress, which is aimed at promoting the productivity of the water sector in Africa through benchmarking and knowledge sharing.
It has more than 200 members across the world.
The congress will be held next year February 24 to 27 in Kampala.
Under the theme dubbed breaking new grounds to accelerate access to water and sanitation for all in Africa.
Speaking at the launch of the Congress in Kampala on Friday, the Managing Director National Water and sewage Cooperation(NWSC), Eng Dr Silver Mugisha, said that the Congress is expected to attract over 2,500 delegates cross Africa.
“The Congress will bring together a diverse range of practitioners, scientists, development partners and industry representative, working across different areas of water and sanitation sector across the world,” said Dr Mugisha He added that during the congress, they will identify the breakthrough both in research and good practices in addressing water and sanitation challenges in Africa “The Congress will increase the visibility of Uganda and promoting tourism potential and bring a diversity of economic implication to the country,” He said.
Mr Muhamood Lutaaya, the regional manager NWSC, revealed that during the 20th congress, AFWA will also celebrate 40 years of existence and launch the first ever African water and sanitation academy.
“There will be every excellent exhibition to bring research and practice together in a way to come up with solution and innovation to address the water and sanitation challenges that Africa is facing,” He said Mr Lutaaya added that they expect to bring on board a number of academicians to see how they can translate research into practice, researchers will be able to share with us some of their breakthroughs as far as research is concerned.
The AFWA congress 2020 will be organised by the NWSC on behalf of the government of Uganda in association with local partners and the AFWA executive office.
AFWA congresses are held every after two years, Uganda hosted the 2010 Congress, followed by Morocco in 2012, Kenya 2014 and lastly was in Mali in 2018.