1st African WASH in Schools International Learning Exchange

We are pleased to announce the first ever African WASH in Schools (WinS) International Learning Exchange (ILE) 2023, an event co-organized by GIZ, the WinS Network and UNICEF. The event will follow the format of the ILE in Asia, an annual event since 2012, which has provided a great platform for learning, exchange, and innovations in the field of WASH in Schools and has triggered action in implementing WASH in Schools through governments at scale. 

The ILE Africa will take place from 13th to 17th of March 2023 in Cote d’ Ivoire, Abidjan and will be an opportunity to bring together Ministries of Education and their key WASH in Schools partners (Other relevant Ministries, Development partners, NGOs and INGOS) from the two regions of East and Southern Africa and West and Central Africa with invited global partners from Asia, Europe, North America and the Pacific.

It is a truly intersectoral event, bringing together stakeholders and experts working in Education, WASH, Health and other relevant fields. This will strengthen the regional network of ministries of education, health and water and WinS practitioners and harmonize and coordinate collaboration towards better access to WASH in Schools in the region.  The overall goal is to establish a platform for learning exchange on WASH in Schools between countries in Africa in order to accelerate progress on WinS implementation.

The event aims to;

• Facilitate learning among country delegations led by representatives of Ministries of Education and relevant line government agencies and their respective development partners who are working on national level to develop policies and guidelines to support schools in the implementation of WinS in order to reach SDG 4a.
• Generate momentum and political commitment towards accelerating progress on WASH in Schools using frameworks for reporting such as the EE or Enabling Environment Matrix.
• Strengthen the regional network of of ministries of education, health and water and WinS practitioners.

For more information on the agenda, a draft agenda can be downloaded below.