Cooperation Project on Condominium Sanitation in Angola Holds First Meeting

The action is part of an initiative that aims to improve sanitation, hygiene, water quality and waste management capabilities in Angola, through a pilot initiative in the city of Viana, in the metropolitan area of ​​Luanda.

The first meeting of the Management Committee of the Trilateral South-South Cooperation Project “Simplified Condominium Sanitation in the Municipality of Viana” took place on 05/23, during a visit by a Brazilian delegation to the capital of Angola, Luanda. The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Angolan Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment (MCTA).

The project, financed by the India, Brazil South Africa Fund (IBAS Fund), is coordinated by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), and implemented under the Partnership Program maintained between Brazil and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with the Government of Angola, with the aim of improving sanitation, hygiene, water quality (known as  WASH ) and waste management capacities in Angola, through pilot initiative in the city of Viana.

To share Brazilian knowledge on the subject, the initiative counts on the participation of the Secretary of Cities of the Government of the State of Ceará (Cidades-CE); the Ceará State Water and Sewage Company (CAGECE); and the National Health Foundation (FUNASA), of the Ministry of Health.

The Brazilian delegation has representatives from all the partner institutions of the project and will stay in Angola between the 23rd and 27th of May to get to know the reality of Viana, provincial region of Luanda, where a physical structure for condominium sanitation will be built, in pilot character, based on good practices developed in Brazil, particularly in Ceará. The pilot experience is intended to serve as a model for the construction of other similar structures by the Angolan government in other regions of that country. In addition, as provided for under the Brazil-UNICEF Partnership Program, it may also serve as a parameter for replicating the initiative in other African countries.

During the management committee meeting, the Angolan Minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Filipe Zau, thanked ABC and MRE for their goodwill in carrying out technical cooperation projects in partnership with the Angolan Government. Zau also praised the State of Ceará for its innovations in the sector and stated that sanitation is one of the priority areas for investment by the current government. “This is a project that includes sanitation and environmental education, two important axes for Angolan society,  ” he said. “Through South-South cooperation, it is much easier for us to carry out this work, which represents a closer relationship between Brazil and Angola” , he added.

The UNICEF representative in Angola, Ivan Yerovi, thanked the partnership with the Brazilian Government for the implementation of the condominium sanitation system in the municipality of Viana. “The Government of Angola has the capacity and human resources to carry out a successful project here” , he said. Yerovi recalled that the spirit is the union of all the actors involved in this initiative. “We are together, all in search of producing an effective result for Angola” , he said.

The Ambassador of Brazil in Luanda, Rafael Vidal, recalled the importance of international cooperation for Brazil’s foreign policy, especially at this time of resumption of activities after the interruption of some work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Cooperation reflects the country’s sense of international responsibility, because it is guided by the principle that Brazil can only develop if our surroundings are also developed” , he said.

Cecília Malaguti, responsible for trilateral South-South cooperation with international organizations in the ABC region, reiterated that this project in Angola has the potential to become a pilot project for the region. “We can make this project a model for Angola and other African countries, based on the achievements and advances that we have achieved here” , she said.

In the coming days, field visits will be carried out to assess the conditions in the municipality of Viana and validate, in partnership with UNICEF and the government of Angola, the training plan that should take place in the coming months. It is expected that, at the end of the Brazilian mission, on 05/27, the planning of virtual and/or face-to-face seminars will be defined, which should still take place in 2022, followed by other face-to-face training in the next years of implementation of the initiative.

Condominium Sanitation

The Condominium System is a cheaper alternative for sanitation, which involves an alternative collection system that treats the urban block as a condominium and that connects sewage boxes of properties on the same street or section to the main collector. In this system, community participation is also important for the collective solution of local sanitation problems that involve not only aspects of sanitary sewage, but also the quality of the water used by the inhabitants of the area.

WASH

WASH ( Improvement of Sanitation, Hygiene, Water and Waste Management ) is an integrated service model promoted by UNICEF, which includes improved sanitation, solid waste management, hygiene promotion, and the quality of water provided, in addition to other aspects of sanitation, with greater participation of the community involved”.