Rwanda has been named as the host of the third African Sanitation and Hygiene conference (AfricaSan 3), which will mainly focus on achieving the Millennium Development Goal of sanitation and hygiene.

According to James Sano, the coordinator of water supply and sanitation in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Rwanda was nominated because of its performance in offering proper sanitation and ensuring hygiene for its citizens.
 
"AfricaSan 3 is part of a movement towards achieving the MDGs; Rwanda was chosen to host the conference because it is among the four countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are on track to meet the MDG,” Sano said.

The other countries are Angola, Botswana, and South Africa.
The three-day conference is slated to kick off on July 19; and will be preceded by a preparatory meeting for local organisers that starts today.

"We are expecting about 45 countries to be represented at the meeting and about 800 delegates. African ministers in charge of sanitation will also attend,” said Sano.
 
He added that the meeting will be a peer-to-peer learning and that Rwanda will use the opportunity to showcase its achievement, strategies and also learn from other countries’ best experiences.

"In Rwanda, 98 percent of households have latrines while 58 percent have access to clean sanitation facilities and 80 percent have access to clean water,” said Sano.

The first two sessions of AfricaSan were held in South Africa in 2002 and 2008 respectively. 

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