WATSAM Seminar "Walking with Ethiopia: Four seeds for development"

In the framework of the European Project WATSAM, Hydroaid organized the Seminar "Walking with Ethiopia: Four seeds for development" as an occasion for encouraging the open dialogue among local, national and international organizations and institutions on the proposals for achieving sustainable development in the field of water supply and sanitation by promoting training on the most basic element: water,food and energy. The Seminar was also aimed at presenting the results achieved so far by the Project, which reached 2/3 of its implementation period, and the perspectives for future cooperation and partnership development between Italy and Ethiopia.The event was hosted by the Politecnico di Torino and organized in collaboration with the Center for African Studies. The institutional session was introduced by Mr. M.Gilli, Rector of the Politecnico, and representatives from the Municipality of Arba Minch, thePiedmont Region and the Province of Turin. Among the speakers who shared key messages were delegates from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, as well as from the EU Delegation to Ethiopia,Compagnia di San Paolo and the Center for African Studies. One of the most important accomplishments of the WATSAM Seminar was the signature of an agreement of understanding between the Politecnico di Torino and the Arba Minch University aimed at launching a program of bilateral exchanges and research activities. The event proceeded with three focus groups on water supply and sanitation topics with the participation of Italian and Ethiopian experts and the WATSAM Partners.