Background

The Phase II of the Water for African Cities Programme (WAC II) was launched by African Ministers in Addis Ababa in December 2003 during the Pan African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water, and had the full support of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW). It has also been fully endorsed by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The following recommended priority areas form the current focus of the WAC II programme:

• Pro-poor water governance and follow-up investment;
• Sanitation for the urban poor;
• Urban catchment management;
• Water demand;
• Water education in schools and communities; and
• Advocacy, awareness-raising and information exchange.
  

A strategic partnership arrangement is being pursued with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to bring loan finance for investments in water and sanitation in those cities where the Programme is running and where the Asian Development Bank has water and sanitation operations in the pipeline, as well as to collaborate on normative activities. Joint missions have been undertaken with the AfDB to Cameroon, Ethiopia and Mozambique, to identify those areas that the WAC II programme could bring added value to investment programmes that they are financing in the urban water and sanitation sector. As a result of these joint missions, programme proposals are being prepared in Cameroun (Douala, Yaounde and Edea), and Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Harar), for the identified focal areas so that on the ground implementation activities could begin. For Mozambique, a joint assessment study is to be conducted to facilitate the identification of the areas of focus for the programme, in synergy with the AfDB-financed Maputo Water Supply Rehabilitation Project. Individual country proposals for Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Mali have been formulated and additionally, the normative activities have also begun with a proposed joint gender mainstreaming workshop planned for 2005.

The Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative (LVRWSI) on Meeting the MDGs in Water and Sanitation in Secondary Urban Centres in the Lake Victoria Region is a concrete step taken to operationalize the WAC II Programme in the Lake Victoria sub-region, involving about 15 to 30 small urban centres bordering the Lake in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

There has been a long-felt need for the improvement of water and sanitation facilities in the secondary urban centres in the Lake Victoria basin and this was brought to the notice of UN-HABITAT by the three East African ministers responsible for water. The objective of the initiative is to address the rehabilitation needs of water and sanitation infrastructure in the secondary urban centres around the lake in order to extend coverage to those currently unserved and in doing so meet the Millennium Development Target for water and sanitation. These secondary urban centres have in the past, often been neglected in national / regional development plans and have received little benefit from the ongoing sector reforms. This initiative presents a real opportunity to improve the situation on the ground by combining physical investments in infrastructure provision with targeted capacity-building, while at the same time protecting the lake environment on which the region depends for survival. The spirit of regional cooperation is under-pinned by the initiative and opportunities for region-wide capacity-building will further enrich the region's ability to manage it. A strategic partnership with some bilateral agencies is being pursued.

• WAC II Framework for collaboration has been developed with Mozambique and Uganda. The framework for Ethiopia is in its final stages.
• WAC Training Programme - Training of middle, senior and top-level water utility managers in water demand management, environmental pollution control and public awareness.
• The Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative - a rapid assessment of investment and capacity-building needs for rehabilitation and extension of water and sanitation infrastructure to extend coverage to communities currently unserved has been carried out. The initiative was launched by Ministers of Water from the three East African countries in November 2004.
• Political linkages with the African Ministerial Council on Water have been established.
• The second phase of the value-based water and sanitation education has commenced in 9 countries.
• When completed, the Lake Victoria Region Initiative will have improved water and sanitation coverage for approximately one million people who currently lack adequate access to water and sanitation.