From October 12 – 18, 2026, the Our Water Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC), a pan-African network of civil society organisations, community groups, activists, and trade unions defending the right to clean, affordable public water across the continent, will convene the sixth Africa Week of Action Against Water Privatisation.
Holding under the theme: ‘Reclaiming Africa’s Water Future: Public Water for All’, the 2026 campaign will spotlight the challenges confronting public water systems across Africa, including corporate water grabs and exploitation, inadequate public investment, deteriorating water utility services, rapid urbanisation, population growth, intensifying climate pressures and the expansion of water privatisation.
Every year, the campaign week coincides with the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, which, this year, launched an initiative to “improve water security for 1 billion people by 2030.” This timing brings African communities’ demands into the global policy debate, creating a platform to challenge the role of these institutions and other actors in advancing water privatisation across Africa, while pressing for publicly funded, democratically accountable water services.
A key highlight of this year’s campaign will be the unveiling of OWORAC’s position paper, “Implementing the Africa Water Vision 2063: An OWORAC Coalition Position on Water Justice, Public Financing and Democratic Water Governance.” The paper examines the opportunities and gaps in implementing the Africa Water Vision 2063 and proposes measures to ensure that the continent’s water future is grounded in human rights, public accountability, adequate public financing and democratic water governance.
OWORAC brings together activists and pro-public water advocates from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and South Africa.
Key activities outlined for the Week of Action include:
• International hybrid press conference: Monday, October 12, 2026, at 11:00 AM WAT (see registration details below)
• Media engagements: Activities with media partners in participating African countries.
• International webinar: Wednesday, October 14, 2026, focusing on prepaid water meters, their expansion, and implications for human rights and universal access to water. The discussion will also link country-level experiences to the broader struggle for accountable, universal access to water.
• Community parliaments and strategic engagements: Dialogues with policymakers and water authorities across the region
• Public awareness campaigns: Social media engagements and in-person dialogues highlighting concerns about water privatisation, and the importance of accessible public water services.
KEY SPEAKERS
Speakers at the hybrid press conference will include Anne Maina, National Coordinator, Biodiversity & Biosafety Association of Kenya; Oumar Ba, General Secretary of the Autonomous Union of Water Workers of Senegal; Geoffrey Kabutey Ocansey of Revenue Mobilisation Africa (Ghana), Neil Gupta, Research Director, Corporate Accountability; Joseph Rahall, Executive Director, Green Scenery (Sierra Leone); Akinbode Oluwafemi of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (Nigeria), Fatou Diouf, Senegalese Water Justice Network; Comrade Rufus Olusesan, National President, Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association; Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto, Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign, and Holiness Segun-Olufemi, Programme Officer (Water Campaign), CAPPA, among others.