AfricaSan 2008 Conference Receives Videomessage Welcome from The Prince of Orange

The Prince of Orange delivered the keynote address via videomessage to the delegates of AfricaSan 2008 Conference yesterday. The 2nd African conference on sanitation and hygiene is meeting in Durban, South Africa from February 18th to February 20th.

Below is some text from Prince Willem-Alexander’s videomessage welcome to the delegates of the AfricaSan 2008 Conference.

“WE’VE GOT IT!!!! We have a dedicated AU Water and Sanitation Summit involving the Heads of States and Government of this beautiful continent. It will take place in Egypt this July, at the next General Assembly of the African Union in Sharm el Sheikh. I would like to thank everybody who helped achieve that and as chair of UNSGAB, co-host of this conference, I would have loved to celebrate it with you in Durban.”

“In my days as a pilot for AMREF/Flying Doctors I learnt firsthand that medical NGO’s were longing to shift from expensive curative healthcare to an affordable preventive system and Sanitation just happens to be the best answer in the market.”

“This AfricaSan is a cornerstone meeting in the runup to the Summit. It provides a framework for identifying key political messages and designing roadmaps so that presidents, prime ministers and finance ministers can get Africa back on track to achieve the water and sanitation MDG. And, in its slipstream, six other MDGs aimed at eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating waterborne diseases.”

“Of course, all these MDGs cannot be achieved just by providing sustainable access to clean water and sanitation. But it is crucial to their achievement.”

The full text from the Prince of Orange’s videomessage welcome to the delegates of the AfricaSan 2008 Conference can be read here.