7th Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) Forum in Abidjan

Management of the 7th RWSN Forum entitled Water for Everyone, a bilingual (English/French) five-day event in in Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire.

Country:

Switzerland

Project Period:

2015 – 2017 (Event in 2016)

Services Provided:

Knowledge Sharing, Networking, Training &  Capacity Building

  • Forum management, fundraising & financial management, liaison and coordination of partners, call for papers/posters/films and management of review process, development of programme, event publicity, participant registration, coordination of event security measures and oversight of event venue services, exhibition and field trip.

Name of Staff involved and functions performed:

Project Manager: Kerstin Danert

Project Staff: Sean Furey, Meleesa Naughton, Matthias Saladin, Martin Laeng and Violeta Zivanovic

Name of Client(s)

African Development Bank (AFDB), Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), UNICEF, WaterAid, World Bank Group, ICEX, USAID/Walis Programme, Ajay Industrial Cooperation Ltd, Aqua for All, Caritas Switzerland, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, IRC, UPGro, Water4 and Ministry for Economic Infrastructure and Government of Cote d’Ivoire

Description of the Project:

The 7th RWSN Forum brought together 467 rural water sector professionals from 64 countries in Africa, Asia, Americas and Europe. The participants work for over 300 different organisations. The five day event comprised 38 thematic sessions, ten sponsored seminars, an exhibition with 22 exhibitors and an optional one-day field trip. The forum examined how to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, i.e. Water for everyone as well as collaboration and the RWSN themes (Equality, Non-discrimination and Inclusion, Sustainable Groundwater Development, Management and Support, Water Point Mapping and Self-supply).

The emphasis of the forum was on learning and sharing rather than showcasing and had a practical rather than a political focus. The philosophy of the forum was:

  • Inclusion of different perspectives
  • Strengthen capacity by raising the submission quality
  • Sharing of knowledge and experience among equals
  • Shedding light on field realities
  • Vibrant South-South exchange and networking
  • Accessible to both French and English speakers

Forum website: https://rwsn7.net/ Forum report: English, Français.

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