3rd African WinS International Learning Exchange

We are pleased to announce the third African WASH in Schools (WinS) International Learning Exchange (ILE) 2025! 

It will take place from 11th–14th November 2025 in Gqeberha, South Africa, hosted by the National Department of Basic Education, and it will be an opportunity to bring together WASH in Schools actors across the two regions of East and Southern Africa and West and Central Africa, with invited global partners. 

Ideally, international learning exchanges comprise country delegations made up of ministries of Education, Health, line WASH ministries, and national experts. Delegations exchange with one another, as well as with technical experts and resource persons from various organizations and fields. 

The overall goal is to explore how WASH in Schools can be further enhanced for scale and sustainability in the coming years, building on the results and recommendations from the previous African WinS ILEs. 

The Event Aims To: 

• Facilitate learning among country delegations made up of Ministries of Education, WASH line ministries, and development partners on WASH in Schools among countries in Africa towards reaching SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 4. 
• Generate momentum and political commitment towards accelerating progress on WASH in Schools using frameworks for reporting such as the Enabling Environment Matrix, and monitoring progress from the previous ILEs in 2023 and 2024. 
• Strengthen the regional network of ministries of education, health, and water, and WinS practitioners. 

Over Four Days, Participants Will Be Able To: 

• Exchange experiences, including institutional benchmarking, plans, and challenges related to WASH in Schools. 
• Reflect and create learning opportunities on specific thematic areas of WASH in Schools (such as Climate-resilience, Finance, Hand Hygiene, Health, and Wellbeing). 
• Identify further capacity-building needs, resources, and technical support required to incorporate novel approaches to WASH in Schools programming in participants’ respective countries. 

The Planned Conference Schedule Is: 

• Day 0: Arrival of the participants 
• Day 1: Full-day sessions with presentations, small group work, videos showcasing country examples, and discussions 
• Day 2: Full-day field visit with clear assignments and tasks 
• Day 3: Full-day debriefing and group work 
• Day 4: Half-day plenary discussion, conclusions, and way forward