World Water Day in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 22 Mar 07

Some 1,200 people gathered in the Ministry of Water Resources of Ethiopia to celebrate World Water Day. This year’s theme was “Coping with Water Scarcity”. There were key note speeches of the Minister Ato Asfaw Dingamo, UN, donor and civil society representatives. The RiPPLE programme in which IRC participates together with ODI, WaterAid Ethiopia and IDR of Addis Ababa University had prepared a documentary film with the challenging title ”Money into Water, Water into Money”. The film showed examples of people and projects which due to increased access to water had been able to improve their livelihoods. The celebrations took all morning and were concluded by a choir of children. World Water Day in Ethiopia was a good occasion to memorise the huge task that rests on the shoulders of sector agencies to increase access to water and sanitation services.

Contact: Ton Schouten