EOI: Conference Coordinator for the 10th Africa Water Week Conference and 8th AfricaSan

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI): CONFERENCE COORDINATOR FOR THE 10TH AFRICA WATER WEEK AND 8TH AFRICASAN

Date: 9 October 2026

Assignment: Conference Coordinator to deliver the 10th Africa Water Week Conference, Republic of Senegal – 1–5 February 2027, and 8th AfricaSan, Republic of Ghana – 15–19 November 2027.

About the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW)

The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) is an intergovernmental institution formed in 2002 in Abuja, Nigeria. AMCOW’s structure and organs serve as the working group on water and sanitation for the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARWE) of the African Union (AU).

Our mission is to provide political leadership, policy direction, and advocacy in the provision, use and management of water resources for sustainable social and economic development and maintenance of African ecosystems.

For more information, visit https://amcow-online.org/.

Background Information

Africa Water Week and AfricaSan conferences are AMCOW’s flagship and path-breaker initiatives and serve as Africa’s major gathering on water and sanitation. The conferences provide a platform to review progress and set the agenda for action at various levels towards the attainment of water and sanitation goals on the continent.

Following successful convenings over the years, the conferences have independently transitioned into global events, attracting thousands of participants across over one hundred countries globally.

The Africa Water Week and AfricaSan conferences are organised jointly with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), Member States and partners. They bring together stakeholders, including political leaders, government technocrats, development partners, the private sector, civil society, academic and learning institutions, non-governmental organisations, and the media, to take stock of progress and collectively deliberate on actionable solutions that will drive successful outcomes.

Africa Water Week and AfricaSan Conferences

The Africa Water Week and AfricaSan conferences will be organised in 2027 independently and under separate arrangements as follows.

1. 10th Africa Water Week (AWW-10)

AWW-10 will be convened from 1–5 February 2027 and hosted by the Government of the Republic of Senegal through the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation.

The 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly endorsed the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy, marking a new continental compact for water security, resilience and safe sanitation. The Vision articulates the aspiration of a “Water Secure and Resilient Africa with Safe Sanitation for All” and positions water not as a stand-alone sector, but as a strategic catalyst for Agenda 2063: poverty eradication, food and nutrition security, industrialisation, energy security, public health, gender equality, environmental sustainability, climate resilience, peace and regional integration.

The 10th Africa Water Week is therefore a landmark edition, as it is the first Africa Water Week to take place following the adoption of the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy. AWW-10 will provide the first continent-wide opportunity to build collective understanding, ownership and momentum around the Vision, while shifting attention decisively from adoption to implementation.

It provides an enabling platform for Africa’s water community and its political leadership to agree on what effective implementation will require in practice, who must act, how progress will be measured and how commitments will be sustained over time.

The conference will serve as the platform to launch and validate the First Implementation Plan and to establish the foundation for an enduring accountability culture around its delivery. Discussions will focus not only on the actions required during the first implementation period, but also on mechanisms for protecting water’s place in national development plans, public budgets, infrastructure pipelines, climate strategies, regional integration processes and high-level political dialogues.

Theme: Assuring a water secure and resilient Africa with safe sanitation for all.

The associated subthemes will mirror the four pillars of the Vision as outlined below:

• Economy and society.
• Diplomacy, peace and security.
• Sustainability and resilience.
• Innovation, capacity and information.

Conference Objectives

The overarching objective of the 10th Africa Water Week is to build continent-wide understanding, ownership and commitment to the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy as Africa’s long-term framework for water security and safe sanitation.

The specific objectives are as follows:

1. Validate and launch the First Implementation Plan (2026–2033), including priority actions, institutional roles, implementation arrangements and baseline requirements.
2. Mobilise high-level political commitments to position water and sanitation as cross-cutting enablers of Agenda 2063, national development strategies and regional integration.
3. Identify practical measures for sustaining water’s visibility and priority in national planning, public budgets, infrastructure investment, climate action, food systems, health, energy and industrialisation agenda.
4. Mobilise partnerships and financial resources from governments, regional institutions, development partners, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders for implementation of the Vision and Policy.
5. Facilitate knowledge exchange on scalable solutions, innovations, investments and institutional reforms across the four pillars of the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy.
6. Agree on an accountability framework, follow-up mechanism and periodic review process for tracking implementation of the First Implementation Plan and maintaining momentum beyond AWW-10.

Expected Results

1. Enhanced understanding and broad ownership of the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy and its First Implementation Plan (2026–2033).
2. Formal launch and validation of the First Vision Implementation Plan, with clear shared understanding of implementation priorities, responsibilities and baseline requirements.
3. Renewed high-level political commitment to maintain water and sanitation as strategic priorities within Agenda 2063 implementation, national development planning and regional cooperation frameworks.
4. Practical recommendations for integrating water and sanitation into national budgets, public-investment programmes, climate strategies, food systems, energy plans, health priorities and industrialisation initiatives.
5. Increased mobilisation of partnerships, financing opportunities, innovation and technical support for delivery of the Vision and Policy.
6. Agreement on an accountability and follow-up mechanism to monitor progress, report results and sustain attention to water and sanitation between Africa Water Week editions.
7. Strengthened Africa Water Week role as the continent’s recurring agenda-setting, implementation-review and accountability platform for the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy.

2. 8th AfricaSan Conference (AfricaSan8)

The AfricaSan8 conference will be convened from 15–19 November 2027 and hosted by the Government of the Republic of Ghana through the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.

The AfricaSan conference provides a platform for technical and political dialogue with governments and stakeholders, with the aim of exchanging knowledge capable of enhancing sustainable sanitation outcomes in Africa. The event also seeks to identify solutions to addressing persistent sanitation and hygiene challenges in Africa. Organised biennially since 2019, the conference promotes high-level political prioritisation of sanitation and hygiene issues on the continent.

As the first AfricaSan conference to be convened following the endorsement of the Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy and its associated First Implementation Plan (2026–2033), AfricaSan8 presents a strategic opportunity to translate the continental vision into tangible action.

The conference will therefore focus on mobilising political and technical support for the implementation of the First Implementation Plan, providing a platform for Africa’s sanitation community and political leadership to build consensus on the pathways for effectively implementing the sanitation priorities of the Vision and Policy.

Central to these discussions will be a shared understanding of the opportunities, challenges and practical requirements for implementation at continental, regional, national and subnational levels. This will be critical to building consensus on the institutional arrangements, partnerships, investments and actions needed to accelerate implementation, while ensuring alignment with existing continental and global commitments, including the Ngor Commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

AfricaSan8 Theme and Subthemes

Theme: Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy: Transforming sanitation and hygiene in Africa.

Associated subthemes are as follows:

• Water and sanitation governance, regulation and service delivery.
• Climate-resilient sanitation infrastructure and technologies.
• Financing and investments for sustainable sanitation service delivery.
• Circular sanitation economy: resource recovery, reuse and industrialisation.
• Sanitation monitoring, accountability and evidence-based decision-making.
• Gender-inclusive sanitation and hygiene service for all.

AfricaSan8 Objectives

The overarching objective of the conference is to galvanise multistakeholder support for action towards the implementation of the first implementation plan of the Africa Water Vision and Policy, ultimately driving action for achieving the AfricaSan Ngor Declaration on Sanitation and Hygiene and SDG 6.

The specific objectives are to:

• Raise awareness about the Africa Water Vision and Policy in conjunction with the First Implementation Plan, and stimulate action towards a continental sanitation transformation agenda, emphasising the critical role of sanitation in achieving sustainable development.
• Streamline approaches and means of implementation of the Africa Water Vision and Policy, advocating for resources, policies and strategies that sustain sanitation as a political priority for development.
• Strengthen monitoring and accountability mechanisms and foster multistakeholder collaboration in the implementation of the sanitation Vision and Policy, ensuring transparent and effective delivery of sanitation services across Africa.

4.0. Africa Water Week and AfricaSan Conference Structure

The conferences will comprise various sections, including registration, opening and closing plenary sessions, thematic sessions and technical plenaries, the ministerial segment and exhibitions.

5.0. Participants

Each conference is expected to attract over 1,000 participants from Africa and around the world, including Ministers and high-level decision-makers, government officials, sector specialists, civil society organisations and delegates from development partners and international agencies, the public or private sectors, civil society, academia and the media.

6.0. Languages

The conferences will be facilitated in English and French, with simultaneous interpretation.

7.0. Consultant Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work closely with the AMCOW Secretariat and the Event Management Consultant in planning and organising AWW-10 and AfricaSan8 to achieve the objectives.

The consultant is expected to perform the following tasks:

1. Work with the AMCOW Secretariat to finalise criteria for selecting papers/abstracts for subtheme lead conveners and session conveners.
2. Provide support to the Communication and Visibility Manager in advertising and promoting AWW-10 and AfricaSan8.
3. Work with the Events Managers to ensure all preparations related to registration of participants and venues are in place.
4. Design the conference preparation schedules and programmes with details of sessions and seminars, and support the solicitation of conference sponsors.
5. Plan and finalise arrangements with co-convenors, technical and session leads, and identify chairs, presenters, facilitators and rapporteurs.
6. Provide framework content for the conferences for updating the conference websites and collate participant feedback through the portals.
7. Maintain communication and coordinate planning arrangements with the Organising Committee (OC) to ensure technical sessions are well coordinated, especially the opening and closing plenaries.
8. Make arrangements for the compilation of all session reports and develop both the 10th Africa Water Week and AfricaSan8 conference reports.
9. In collaboration with the Knowledge Management Officer and the Director of Programmes, work with partners to synthesise policy briefs and other knowledge products from the conference.
10. Work closely with the Communications and Visibility Manager to develop/refine and deliver an elaborate communications plan for the conference.

8.0. Expected Outputs of the Assignment

The following outputs are expected from the assignment:

1. The 10th Africa Water Week and AfricaSan8 conferences are successfully organised.
2. Programme plans for the conferences detailing the time, duration and methodology of all plenary sessions, thematic sessions and synthesis sessions.
3. Conference communiqués and ministerial statements and/or multistakeholder conference statements.
4. Conference report with recommendations for organising self-sustaining conferences.

9.0. Required Profile, Qualifications and Experience

Professional Experience

Interested firms/individuals should provide a brief profile of their work and complete the table below for each of the relevant assignments completed in the period from 1 January 2018 to date.

Relevant Assignment Information

• Name of event:
• Approximate value of the contract:
• Countries:
• Duration of the event:
• Name of client:
• Total number of staff-input time for the event:
• Address of client and contact details:
• Approximate value of the services provided by your firm/you under the contract:
• Start date:
• Completion date:
• URL of the website created for the event:
• Name of associated service providers, if any:
• Name of the senior professional involved and functions performed, for example:
  • XXXX YYYYY, Team Leader, Marketing, PR.
  • ZZZZ AAAA, IT, Communications.
  • BBBB CCCCC, Mobiliser – Sponsorship.
• Narrative description of the event: Please provide summaries of the background, approach and methods used, and outputs/recommendations.
• Description of actual services provided by the firm to promote and manage the event:

Your Team

Detailed CVs should be submitted for the Team Leader and key members of the team, including, but not limited to, the functions of communications and visibility, marketing and sponsorship, and public relations.

Key Evaluation Criteria

• At least 10 years of relevant working experience in event management planning and exhibition.
• Experience coordinating events with high-level government and non-government participants from different sociocultural backgrounds.
• Proven track record organising events with participants from multiple time zones and speaking multiple languages.
• Track record of delivering high-level conferences of international standards involving government and sanitation and hygiene sector actors.
• Inside knowledge of the events coordination and sponsorship environment.
• A history of organising events in the area of Water Management, Sanitation and Hygiene will be an advantage.
• Experience delivering high-level continental events is an advantage.
• Proficiency of key members of the team in English and/or French will be an added advantage.

10.0. Consulting Fees and Contract Duration

The AMCOW Secretariat shall pay the consultant a negotiated sum based on the specificities of the service and the coordination role.

11.0. Submission

Interested firms and/or individuals should submit EOIs in English addressed to the Executive Secretary, African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), via email:

Email: [email protected]

Deadline: 23 October 2026.

Enquiries

Please direct all enquiries relevant to the preparation of your EOI to:

Email: [email protected]

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