Background note for the Africa Water and Sanitation Systems Leadership Symposium 2026

Across Africa, water and sanitation systems are approaching a point of no return. Despite de cades of efforts, millions of citizens still lack safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services. The gap is widening as populations grow, cities expand, and climate risks intensify. The symptoms are visible everywhere: overloaded utilities, fragmented governance, chronic underfunding, and institutions struggling to perform essential public-service functions. 

In 2026, Africa has a unique political opportunity to change this trajectory. The African Union has declared the year’s continental theme as “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.” At the same time, a new Africa Wa ter Vision and Policy framework has been endorsed by the African Union General Assembly in February 2026. 

The Africa Water and Sanitation Systems Leadership Symposium 2026, hosted by the Govern ment of Rwanda and convened by the African Union and AMCOW, arrives at a critical moment. Facilitated by IRC Africa, the symposium will bring together about 1,000 leaders to focus on how to implement transformation at scale.

What makes Kigali distinct is its focus on execution. The symposium aims to position African institutions as credible, investable, and accountable—capable of attracting long-term public and private financing. Its outcomes will shape Africa’s collective contribution to the United Na tions Water Conference (December 2026), providing an important continental demonstration of real progress in the AU Year of Water