Uganda starts early preps for Continental Water Congress

By THE OBSERVER UG

Buoyed by the recent success in hosting two major international conferences, Uganda has started early preparations for the forthcoming African Water and Sanitation Association International Congress and Exhibition (Afwasa ICE2025) that will be hosted in Kampala in February 2025.

In January this year, Uganda successfully hosted the NAM and G-77 + China summits at the Speke Resort Munyonyo. Last year, the African Water Association (AfWA) granted Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) the rights to host Afwasa ICE2025. The event is slated for February 16-20 but organizing officials have started early preps to achieve maximum success in staging this conference.

Speaking at a colourful launch function held on March 26 at the NWSC Resource Center in Bugolobi, Sam Cheptoris, the minister of water and environment who was the chief guest, said hosting the Afwasa conference is a timely opportunity for Uganda to lead discussion challenges in the water and sanitation sector.

Cheptoris noted that Uganda is one of the African countries in sub-Saharan Africa lagging in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six, which declares the importance of providing clean water and sanitation for all in 2030 as set by the United Nations Assembly.

“I am sure that bringing together experts to share knowledge, experiences, and breakthroughs during the congress will provide the necessary impetus to accelerate the access to water supply services if the SDG Six 2030 target is to be met,” he stated.

NWSC managing director, Dr. Silver Mugisha said they are expecting more than 2,000 delegates to come to the country for the event. “These delegates will be here to learn and benchmark but also this is a great opportunity for our tourism and other service sectors to make money,” Mugisha said.

Mugisha added that during the congress, AfWA will also inaugurate the African Water Academy to be hosted in Kampala as a model institute for Africa on water innovations.

Previously, Uganda hosted the 2010 and 2020 AfWA conferences in Kampala. The 2020 event, which was held in February before the Covid-19 lockdown in March, brought in 1500 delegates. It was hosted at the Kampala Serena hotel.