{"id":23970,"date":"2026-02-19T11:04:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/former-tanzanian-president-hails-aus-water-sanitation-drive\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:34:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:34:43","slug":"former-tanzanian-president-hails-aus-water-sanitation-drive","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/former-tanzanian-president-hails-aus-water-sanitation-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Tanzanian President hails AU\u2019s water, sanitation drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has applauded the African Union\u2019s (AU) new water and sanitation initiative, calling it a crucial effort to tackle the continent\u2019s mounting water challenges.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the importance of the programme, Kikwete said it could play a key role in advancing sustainable development and improving access to safe water and sanitation for millions of people across Africa. He highlighted that addressing water and sanitation needs is central to promoting economic growth, public health, and climate resilience in the region.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The initiative forms part of the AU\u2019s 2026 Theme of the Year, which focuses on sustainable water availability and safe sanitation systems, reinforcing the agenda of Africa\u2019s Agenda 2063. Kikwete highlighted that comprehensive, people-centred approaches such as this are essential for achieving long-term development goals.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23971,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-23970","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has applauded the African Union\u2019s new water and sanitation initiative","published_date":"2026-02-19 13:03:27","news_description":"Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has applauded the African Union\u2019s new water and sanitation initiative","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26789,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23970\/revisions\/26789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}