Sanitation Updates

OUAGADOUGOU, 28 March 2008 (IRIN) - Donors announced in March that they will invest US $1.2 billion into Burkina Faso’s water sector, to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving the number of people in the world who lack access to safe drinking water by 2015. (…) Ambitious infrastructures The new funds, which mostly come from the African Development Bank, World Bank and bilateral donors, will be used to boost access to sanitation for more than half of the country’s 14 million people and increase access to clean water for 4.2 million, or 30 percent of the population. (…)

Read more: IRIN, 28 March 2008

The proclamation of 2008 as International Year of Sanitation (IYS) has handed the sanitation sector a great advocacy tool. However, big advocacy drives can also disrupt daily life on the ground, where projects need to be implemented and people connected to basic services. Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) Coordinators from Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan and Burkina Faso were asked about their thoughts regarding the IYS, and its impact on the ground.

Read more: Source Bulletin, Feb 2008

Thousands of girls in Burkina Faso who would normally never have the chance to go to school are receiving an education thanks to an innovative programme led by Plan.The BRIGHT project – Burkinabé Response to Improve Girls Chances to Succeed – achieves high levels of school enrolment and graduation rates for girls by creating supportive learning environments in 132 communities across 10 provinces.

Girls’ plight

73% of girls in Burkina Faso never finish primary school.

Many of them are forced to stay at home and look after their younger siblings and collect firewood and water while their parents work in the fields. Others drop out of school because it has no private latrines for girls.

Read More - ReliefWeb

23 Jan 2008, Source Weekly.

With the installation of proper toilet facilities at several local markets in Ouagadougou, the sanitation situation has improved, especially during the rainy season when pit latrines get full of water. Fees of about five cents are collected from those who use the facilities. It is hoped that this will encourage people to also build and use a toilet at home. According to the National Office of Water and Sanitation (ONEA), only 10 per cent of residents of Burkina Faso have toilets of acceptable quality. Outside of Ouagadougou and Bobodioulasso, the two main cities, the rate is about two per cent.

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