Second Meeting of Blue French-Africa

On July 22 2026, the Blue Community in French-speaking Africa held its second online meeting. Here their report or download the original PDF (French).

Summary.

The session brought members together to restructure the vision and governance of the Blue Community Network in French-speaking Africa. Framing the vision participants redefined the group’s identity by focusing exclusively on French-speaking Africa. This decision ensures strategic coherence for future partnerships.

Review of the pillars

The group has harmonized the 5 operational pillars and integrated artificial intelligence as a priority area. Sanitation and Hydro-Diplomacy have been added to increase the impact of the objectives.

Structuring and governance

The meeting validated a light organizational chart and a restricted coordination committee to finalize the documents. The emphasis was on facilitation rather than direct financing.

Details

• Opening of the session and greetings: Souleymane Guindo and Willy Kwizera opened the meeting, noting some delays due to connection problems. They defined the objective of the meeting, which is to discuss working documents relating to the blue community.
• Presentation of the reflection document: Souleymane Guindo shared on screen a document entitled “Proposal for a perspective version to launch reflections” concerning a youth action group. This document was initially proposed by Mr Sassou from TOGO.
• Assignment of roles and reading of the vision: For the revision of the document, Moussa Thiam was designated to lead the session, while N. Eric COULIBALY was responsible for noting the reports. The group began by reading the paragraph on the vision of the “Youth Action Group for the Blue Community of Africa”.
• Discussion on structuring: Moussa Thiam raised the question of structuring the community, suggesting that it is necessary to balance the presence of young people with that of adults, noting that young people often benefit from more funding for their projects.
• Debate on the name: N. Eric COULIBALY proposed renaming the group to “Action Network”, arguing that this term has more impact with financial partners. Moussa Thiam suggested the term “Platform”, while others discussed the value of the terms used.
• Emphasis on action: Mr Sassou recalled that the initial emphasis of the term of reference was on the action itself, going beyond the classic concept of network. Souleymane Guindo and the others agreed that, whatever the name (group, network, platform), the main thing is the realization of actions.
• Amendment on sanitation: When rereading the second paragraph, N. Eric COULIBALY suggested explicitly adding sanitation alongside the right to water and the protection of ecosystems. This proposal was accepted by the participants.
• Revision of the pillars and harmonization of terminology: The discussion focused on the five pillars proposed by Mr Sassou. Participants discussed the need to harmonize the terms used (action, platform, network) throughout the document to ensure consistency.
• Realism and geographic scope: Moussa Thiam expressed concerns that the proposals were too broad, advocating realism to ensure feasibility. Mr Sassou stressed the need to adjust the scope of action, initially planned for Africa, to focus on French-speaking Africa.
• Focus on French-speaking Africa: It was confirmed that actions will focus on French-speaking countries in Africa, in line with Roland’s suggestions, to facilitate south-south cooperation.
• Pillar 2: Knowledge Sharing: The group reviewed the second pillar focused on knowledge sharing and continental mobilization, reiterating the need to adapt it to the context of Francophone Africa.
• Pillar 3: Territorial deployment and governance: The third pillar concerning the decentralization of actions and the creation of local Blue Communities was addressed, aiming to empower communities and prevent the fight from remaining centered on an elite.
• Procedures for modifying the document: Mr Willy proposed adding elements to the first pillar concerning advocacy with States for access to drinking water. Souleymane Guindo and Moussa Thiam invited members to note directly their amendments on the shared document using yellow highlights, or communicate the proposals via WhatsApp.
• Documentary review process: Moussa THIAM defines the working method for reviewing the document, inviting participants to make annotations directly on the file and send their contributions by e-mail to Souleymane Guindo to centralize the observations.
• Naming of the forum (Pillar 3): N. Eric COULIBALY proposes adjusting the name of the “Annual African Forum” to “African Francophone Forum” to better reflect the identity of the linguistic space concerned, which is validated by the group.
• Integration of artificial intelligence (Pillar 4): During the discussion on Pillar 4 (Innovation and incubation), Mr Eric COULIBALY suggests adding artificial intelligence (AI) among the priority areas to modernize the approach, a proposal favorably received.
• Review of Pillar 5 (IAMDES-TOGO): Discussion on Pillar 5 (Resource Mobilization). Mr Sassou underlines that the mention of “IAMADES” is too specific to the context of the Togolese association. It was agreed to delete this reference to extend the pillar to the French-speaking group.
• Role of the Blue Community (Pillar 5): The group debates the role of the Blue Community in Pillar 5. Moussa THIAM specifies that the community should not position itself as a direct financier, but as a facilitator and a networking network to help members access external financing.
• Elimination of redundancies: Mr Sassou draws attention to the repetitions within the different pillars of the document. Tièdiè Togola suggests reviewing the objectives to make them more concise and effective, which is approved by the participants.
• Inclusive work methodology: Moussa THIAM and Souleymane Guindo recall that the work must be inclusive and collaborative, progressing in stages to guarantee the sustainability and relevance of the final document to partners.
• Name of the network: Mr. Eric COULIBALY suggests clarifying the name of the network by adding “French-speaking Africa” in order to clearly delimit its field of action in relation to the English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking areas. This proposal is adopted.
• Harmonization of the second document: A review of the structure and governance document is carried out. Mr Sassou notes the need to harmonize the terms from “West Africa” ​​to “French-speaking Africa” ​​to ensure consistency with the main document.
• Definition of the slogan: After discussion, the project slogan is simplified to gain impact: “Cooperate, innovate, act together for water and sanitation”, abandoning the overly long mentions of ecosystems and resilience.
• Focus on sanitation and hydrodiplomacy: Moussa THIAM underlines the importance of explicitly including sanitation and hydrodiplomacy in the objectives, in order to attract partners and manage conflict issues linked to surface water resources.
• Governance terminology: Tièdiè Togola proposes the term “sustainable management” for the title of the governance section, but Mr Sassou and Moussa THIAM clarify that “current management” is more appropriate to designate the daily operations of the association.
• Secretariat structure: The group discusses the establishment of a permanent secretariat. Moussa THIAM advises avoiding a structure that is too heavy from the start and favoring a light coordination committee until funding allows institutional strengthening.
• Adoption of the organization chart: Tièdiè Togola welcomes the quality of the development of the proposed organization chart, and the group validates the internal management structure presented.
• Appointment of the editorial committee: Souleymane Guindo forms a select committee composed of Souleymane Guindo, Moussa THIAM and Mr. Eric COULIBALY to finalize the document within approximately ten days.
• Reform of Pillar 5: Mr. Sassou agrees to take charge of the complete reformulation of Pillar 5 to bring it into line with the group’s new orientation.
• Roadmap: Concerning the action plan, Moussa THIAM recommends waiting for the basic document to be finalized before defining a detailed roadmap, in order to ensure the consistency of actions with the established objectives.
• International communication: Souleymane Guindo announces the community’s participation in the World Social Forum in Benin in August 2026 and provides information on engagement within the new World Council of the Blue Community.
• Experience sharing: Mr. Eric COULIBALY shares information on a digital awareness campaign named “Zero deaths during the rainy season” carried out in Ivory Coast, promising to share the final report.
• Closing of the meeting: Moussa THIAM and Souleymane Guindo thank the participants for their commitment and perseverance, emphasizing that this collective work is crucial to improve access to water and sanitation in Africa.

Focal point and responsibility

Mr. Eric COULIBALY is responsible for writing the report: Note the key points for the report of the session.

Moussa THIAM noted the amendments: Record the amendments discussed directly in the document and is responsible for harmonizing terminologies such as action group and platform throughout the text. Integrate the notion of sanitation and completely reformulate pillar five to adapt it to the French-speaking context.

Other observations and comments will be sent by email to Souleymane after re-reading the shared document.
It was dedicated to reformulating the content of the pillars by removing perceptions and redundancies in order to ensure consistency.

Rephrase the conclusion of the document to ensure its conformity with the decisions taken.

Update slogan: Integrate the new slogan Cooperate, innovate, act together for water and sanitation.

Integrate governance documents: Merge governance and management documents into the main document.

Refine objectives: Reexamine the pillar objectives to reduce them and gain efficiency.

Share the final version of the document with participants by email or WhatsApp.

Mr Éric Coulibaly, Moussa THIAM, Souleymane Guindo are responsible for finalizing the project in less than 10 days.

Mr Souleymane Guind is responsible for creating a working group and planning a follow-up meeting after a week.

Mr Sassou is also working on pillar 5 to facilitate the structuring of the document.