Initiative to monitor water, sanitation and hygiene services in Burkina Faso

Published on: 09/12/2013

The Global Annual Assessment for Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) is a UN-WATER initiative to monitor water, sanitation and hygiene services. Coordinated by the WHO, the initiative is implemented in Burkina Faso by the NGO Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA).

GLAAS is an instrument for assessing countries' efforts to provide water, sanitation and hygiene services. The tool was presented at an information workshop organised by the Ministry for Water, Hydraulic Infrastructure and Sanitation and the NGO WSA on Monday 17 September 2013 in Ouagadougou. The objective of this meeting was to inform the entire sector about this initiative.

GLAAS highlights the level of transparency in the financial management of the sector and gives a realistic account of the gap. It is intended to be a realistic planning tool. GLAAS focuses on four major aspects of the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector:

• Institutional, financial and human resource capacity development
• The impact of government policy
• The volume and contribution of overseas aid
• The coordination and harmonisation of WASH sector stakeholders to achieve the MDG for water and sanitation services.

The GLAAS analysis is based on data gathered and validated by Government institutions. This is the second time Burkina has participated in this evaluation. The first analysis, also coordinated by WSA, was carried out in 2011. It was concluded by a report published by the WHO. The current process was launched in August under the auspices of the Ministry for Health.

This information workshop was also intended to select public service focal points responsible for monitoring water, sanitation and hygiene services. A total of eight focal points shall collect information using a questionnaire. The data will be sent to the WHO by the WSA. The WHO will analyse and rank the data received from the thirty or so countries involved in the process.

For Ali Traoré, the Secretary General of the Ministry for Water, Hydraulic Infrastructure and Sanitation who chaired the opening ceremony, GLAAS is of capital importance. "The GLAAS process is important for all governments as the assessment and analysis it provides constitute a valuable tool for decision making", he stated. "I encourage the focal points to fill out the questionnaires carefully. I also invite all stakeholders to help them in their task as the results are of capital importance for the whole sector", he concluded.