AfricaSan III Session Report

Africa is the most rapidly urbanising continent. By 2010, four in ten of Africa's one billion people lived in urban areas. Six in ten of those live in slums, where water supply and sanitation are severely inadequate.
However, the majority of future growth is not forecast to be in the mega-cities – it is expected to take place in the small and medium-sized towns of today. This is both a problem and an opportunity. While smaller towns have less capacity to deliver services and often little sanitation infrastructure, their small size and lower density provides significant opportunity for action. This can forestall the problems we now see in the slums of large cities.
“Winning the race” will require local governments and their allies to be proactive in preparing for this urban growth. This interactive session in Kigali, Rwanda on 20 July 2011, supported by AusAID, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, WSP, UCLGA, PDM and AusAID, discussed how we can understand the challenges ahead and practical and pragmatic ways to seize the window of opportunity in rapidly growing towns.
The session was attended by at least 60 (52 recorded) participants, the majority of whom were from the public sector (national government). The session was chaired by Water for People, Rwanda.

Sanitation in rapidly growing small towns session note.pdf (469.6 kB)