During the 2nd Africa Water Week, Johannesburg, 9-13/11/2009, CEDARE joined the list of organizations and individuals working towards the promotion of more attention and investment in sanitation services for Africa. It is known that Sanitation coverage in 38 countries in Africa is less than 50%.
Only 6 countries in Africa are on track to meet the Sanitation MDG Target.
To meet the sanitation MDG target in Africa, over 400 million people need to gain access to improved sanitation services during the period 2006-2015.
Currently urban sanitation coverage in Africa is 53% and only 29% in rural Africa. Improved sanitation services not recognizes and respects human rights and dignity, but also improves school attendance for children, improves health and environment conditions, and increases work force and job efficiency.
During the 2nd Africa Water Week, held in Johannesburg, 9-13 November 2009, Dr. Khaled AbuZeid, CEDARE Senior Regional Water Program Manager, delivered a presentation on possible climate change impacts on the water sector in North African countries. He presented a list of flood events that hit Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco in the last 3 years. He showed drought trends and reduced precipitation in selected countries. He also emphasized the exacerbation effect of human activities and land use planning on flood-related climate change impacts in North African countries. For more information on the 2nd Africa Water Week, visit 
In a seminar organized by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Dr. Khaled AbuZeid, CEDARE Senior Regional Water Program Manager, delivered a presentation on Water Challenges in Egypt and CSR Opportunities. The seminar also hosted a presentation by Proctor & Gamble representative who presented the company’s product “PUR” which is intended to provide a low cost mechanism to purify raw water for use in rural areas where treatment plants and household connections are not yet in place. CEDARE is currently exploring opportunities and potential for using such products in rural areas that are not covered by drinking water services. Link to K. AbuZeid presentation on AmCham site www.amcham.org.eg. Link to PuR product, P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water program (www.cdsw.org).
CEDARE participated at the Fifth Global Forum of water held in Istanbul from 16 to 22 March, which is the largest forum on the problems of water and its future. Scientists and experts from all over the world attended the Forum, in addition to the heads of international organizations and ministers from more than 130 countries and leaders of State and Governments of 25 countries.