The sun was barely up when our team stepped into the buzzing streets of Addis Ababa. Taxi horns, morning laughter, and a week full of plans ahead. We came to connect, train, and build together with our Ethiopian partners in three programmes and with one new Memorandum of Understanding. Below you find a short look behind the scenes, from the Abbay Basin to Adama, and a national step forward with the Ethiopian Urban Water and Sanitation Federation.
Blue Deal Abbay, continuing with a new Partnership Manager
We welcomed our new Blue Deal Abbay Partnership Manager, Stefan de Wildt from Water board Amstel, Gooi and Vecht (AGV). Together with David Koenders from water board Holland Noorderkwartier (HHNK) and the Abbay Basin Administration Office (ABAO), the team reviewed the 2026 annual plan, aligned on monitoring and data needs, and prepared next steps for a realistic upscaling plan for the coming years. The week included joint planning between the Ethiopian and the Dutch technical teams and focused sessions on stakeholder engagement. The atmosphere was open, practical, and focused on results.
Blue Deal Wastewater in Adama, improving wetland performance
In Adama, Richard Oudhuis stepped in the wastewater partnership. Together with Adama, Shashemene en Hawassa Water Utility, we ran a joint workshop on performance, then visited the constructed wetland for wastewater. On site, we stood with utility staff and community leaders by the broken pipeline that should spread inflow across the wetland. We agreed on the repair steps and the plan to monitor results before any expansion to new housing blocks together with the BBBC our local partner. It’s important to keep the orange Canna lilies wet for continuous growth. A functioning wetland reduces health risks, improves local water quality, and gives the utility a cost-effective tool to treat wastewater.
BRIGHT project, connecting knowledge with the Water and Land Resource Center
At the same time, Joy Pengel and Maarten Wensing met with partners in the BRIGHT project, including the Water and Land Resource Center (WLRC). The talks explored how better data, practical tools, and local expertise can support future monitoring systems, and how BRIGHT can link with Blue Deal where useful. These conversations help both teams test what works best in the Ethiopian context. Better data and clear roles support safer decisions during storms, faster reporting, and a stronger link between research and daily utility operations.
Communication training, stories that speed up collaboration
Our Corporate Communications colleague, Mir Verkaaik, gave a hands-on training on strong and consistent communication. The session began with the basics of identity, showing how knowing who you are as an organisation shapes how you act and how others see you. The team also explored how to adapt messages for different audiences and why this helps create real impact. After this, the group moved into practice. From planning, writing scripts, filming, acting to editing. The Abbay team was up for it!
A new step forward, signing the MoU with the Urban Water & Sanitation Federation (EUWSF)
The week ended at the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE), where World Waternet and the Ethiopian Urban Water and Sanitation Federation signed a new Memorandum of Understanding. The MoU is a result of the Blue Deal partnership Ethiopia Wastewater Management and focuses on peer learning, capacity building, and technical support for urban utilities throughout Ethiopia. The new collaboration involves scaling up the knowledge exchange platform with wastewater treatment utilities so that more utilities can join. In this way, we are contributing to the national strengthening of the Ethiopian water sector, in line with our social mission. The collaboration provides an opportunity to share expertise from Amsterdam more widely and to learn from challenges in faster, more complex environments.
A new office in Addis Ababa
During the visit, the team also stopped by the new World Waternet office hosted within MoWE, a promising base for closer day to day collaboration. The space is still being set up, but it already strengthens our presence in Ethiopia and makes coordination with national partners faster and more direct. Two computer screens donated by the Amstel, Gooi and Vecht Water Authority were brought from Amsterdam and handed over to our local colleagues, Semachew and Joy, who will use the office to support both the Blue Deal Wastewater programme and the BRIGHT project.
Looking ahead
New faces joined, new plans took shape, and new connections were built. In the coming months we will keep working with our Ethiopian partners to improve monitoring, pilot nature-based solutions, strengthen utilities, and share stories that show the impact of this work. If you want to follow our progress or share ideas, reach out to our team or follow our updates. We are always happy to connect.
