The 2023 World Water Day was celebrated in the meeting hall of the Ministry of Water and Energy with the theme of “Accelerating Change to Solve Water and Sanitation Crisis” in the presence of COWASH IV and other WASH partners.

His Excellency Ambassador Asfaw Dingamo, the State Minister of Water and Sanitation Sector in the Ministry of Water and Energy, opened the meeting with an official speech stating that when we celebrate World Water Day, we should think about the citizens who are having problems with water and sanitation both in the world and in our country, and focus on strategic issues that can solve our problems and looking for solutions.

His Excellency Ambassador Asfaw added that Ethiopia is conducting encouraging work to solve the problem of water and sanitation for its citizens, but the sector’s high investment demand, high population growth, urbanization, climate change, and are obstacles to achieving the desired level.

Governmental and non-governmental organizations including UNICEF, Water Aid, Japan International Cooperation Agency, IRC WASH, Ethiopian Water Technology institute and others involved in the water and sanitation sector participated in the forum. Senior professionals representing a variey of organizations made presentations titled Water Resource Management Implementation in Ethiopia, Accelerating Water Supply and Sanitation in Ethiopia, Filling the Capacity Gap in Water Sector to Accelerate the Change and Accelerating Change through Partnership to meet SDG 6 which were widely discussed by the participants.

World Water Day has been celebrated since 1993 based on the decision of the United Nations to create global awareness on water and sanitation.