ICLEI Africa Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the International Centre for Water Management Services (cewas)

2011/05/18

The role of local governments and key stakeholders at the local level at the cutting edge of the sustainable management of sanitation and water has been further strengthened by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between cewas: the International Centre for Water Management Services and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability – Africa. The MOU was signed during the inauguration ceremony of cewas in Willisau, Switzerland on 18 May 2011.

cewas is a Swiss-based international centre of competence in the field of sustainable sanitation and water resources management and was established as an association based on Swiss-law in 2010. cewas is organised into four business domains (a Start-Up Centre, a Think-Tank, a Training Centre and a Business Platform).

cewas aims to strengthen the implementation skills in the sustainable sanitation and water management (SSWM) sector on an international level. It builds up Start-Ups and SMEs in a unique programme combining coaching and advanced education and coaching by high-level experts (provided by the cewas Training Centre and Think Tank, respectively), based in Willisau (Lucerne, Switzerland), it is supported by Switzerland’s New Regional Policy (NRP) from the regional development programme.

This MOU aims to strengthen cooperation in the following areas:

• The initiation, development, implementation and communication of activities and projects in the field of sustainable sanitation and water management with a specific focus on sustainable urban development.

• The promotion of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability – Africa’s projects and programmes pertaining to urban water and sanitation management, including linkages to climate change and ecosystem management (www.iclei.org/africa).

• The promotion and utilisation of cewas (www.cewas.org) as a platform for capacity and business development.

• The promotion and development of the Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management Toolbox (www.sswm.info).

The MOU was signed by Ms Lucinda Fairhurst, adaptation to climate change coordinator, on behalf of Ms Kobie Brand, the Regional Director of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability – Africa. Prior to signing, Lucinda demonstrated ‘ICLEI – Africa’s excitement about becoming part of this pioneering initiative towards sustainable water and sanitation, coming from the African perspective where water is seen as a scarce commodity that needs to be sustainably managed for African humanity’. The president of cewas, Mr. Roland Schertenleib announced that he was very ‘glad to have ICLEI Africa agree to partner on this important initiative as the sustainable management of water and sanitation is integral within urban environments and requires strong political will and buy-in’. This was further supported by Dr, Johannes Heeb, the Chief Executive Officer of cewas and seecon international gnbh, who stated that ‘we are already engaging on the mentorship of a masters student in South Africa in this field and are hopeful towards expanding these initiatives throughout the SADC region and the rest of Africa over time’.

For more information on the progress and vision of this exciting initiative, visit: www.cewas.org.