The Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP) was unveiled by the governments of South Africa and Senegal during the 8th World Water Forum (WWF8) in Brasilia, Brazil.
On World Water Day (22 March 2018), during the World Water Forum 8 in Brasilia, a beta version of the Youth for Water & Climate #YWC digital platform was launched.
Achieving SDGs in a changing climate will require governments, societies and the private sector to change the way they use and manage water.
To accelerate this transformation, Member States of the African Union will implement the AIP as a vehicle to cultivate the leadership required to champion a comprehensive, inclusive and collaborative way of developing and managing water resources and improving water and sanitation related challenges.
In addition to implementing relevant outcomes of the HLPW, AIP will address the challenges defined by AfDB and AMCOW in the Africa Regional Report for the 8th Word Water Forum.
Shaneica Lester and Dr. Kevon Rhiney are the authors of a recently published scholarly paper entitled “Going beyond basic access to improved water sources: Towards deriving a water accessibility index.”
The AIP Technical Advisor will be responsible for leading the entire cycle of AIP programme development and coordination with the African Union, NEPAD, UNECA and AMCOW. S/he will pay particular attention to balancing the Pan African political and technical requirements for the full operationalisation of the AIP; and ensure alignment of AIP to the AU/NEPAD, UNECA and AMCOW pan African water agenda.
The HLPW was co-convened in 2016 by the UN Secretary-General and the World Bank President to provide the leadership required to tackle one of the world’s most pressing challenges – an ever growing water crisis. The Panel identified ways in which the world could accelerate progress towards ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG 6).
In June 2017, the Government of the Republic of South Africa, under the aegis of the High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) commissioned the Global Water Partnership (GWP) to develop a legacy initiative of the HLPW in Africa. In response, the Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP) was developed by GWP in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) and the HLPW Secretariat at the World Bank/UN.
