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Published on: 22/07/2020

On Tuesday 7 July 2020, the Commune of Banfora, with the support of IRC Burkina, organised a joint mid-term review workshop of its projects and programmes on drinking water and sanitation. The Mayor of the city, Aboubakar Hema, presided over the meeting in the presence of the Technical Advisor to the Governorate of the Cascades Region, Issouf Coulibaly, who was representing the Governor.

From left to right, Aboubakar Hema, Mayor of Banfora, Issouf Coulibaly, representative of the Governor, Richard Bassono of IRC (Ph. N-R. ZOHOUN)

Praising the efforts of everyone

This activity made it possible to evaluate the implementation of the Annual Budget Work Plan 2020 for the development of public drinking water, hygiene and sanitation services in the municipality for the first half of 2020. New directives were set based on the level of implementation and priorities. The Mayor of the municipality, Aboubakar Hema, praised the efforts of all the actors implementing the Municipal Strategic WASH Plan and noted with enthusiasm that this is the first time a plan is followed so closely. The representative of the Governor said that the Municipal Strategic WASH Plan is perfectly in line with the Government of Burkina Faso’s commitments on access to water and sanitation.

The municipality seized the opportunity of this workshop to introduce the members of the recently established Department for Water, Sanitation and Public Hygiene that will take charge of coordinating the implementation of the Municipal Strategic WASH Plan. All this contributes to the Mayor of Banfora’s commitment to achieving his vision so that “Banfora will become the benchmark in terms of access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services for everyone forever at the national level and beyond" by 2030.

The participants at the workshop (Ph. N-R. ZOHOUN)

The results

The implementation rate of the Annual Budget Work Plan 2020 is estimated at 10.66% according to the figures presented during the meeting. A total of 8 partners, including the municipality, contributed to the achievement of these results, resulting in the rehabilitation of the existing drinking water treatment system with a production capacity of at least 2*100 m³/h of drinking water, the construction of a new DN 350 mm pipe, the construction of two treatment lines for a production capacity of at least 2* 200 m3/h of drinking water, the start of the rehabilitation of 38 community handpumps and the completion of 3 boreholes. However, several other activities, although planned, could not start due to the coronavirus pandemic that has plagued Burkina Faso, as elsewhere in the world, over the past few months. The different partners have all made efforts to fight this public enemy through radio broadcast sensitisations, placement of handwashing devices and producing awareness posters for the benefit of health centres and schools.

Capacity building

IRC has also contributed to this initiative by strengthening the capacities of community technical officers in andragogical techniques. They will also support the development of a communication strategy enabling the municipality to mobilise partners and funds for the implementation of its Municipal Strategic WASH Plan. Support that already begins to bear fruit. During the meeting, the NGO OXFAM made an announcement that they have donated FCFA 36 million (Euro 54 000) to the municipality of Banfora for the implementation of its WASH plan. This is about 2% of the financial implementation rate of the Annual Budget Work Plan 2020. This is low, but the partners are aware that efforts have to be made in monitoring of achievements, forecasting and also public awareness raising.

What still needs to be done

In the second half of 2020, there are plans for the construction and rehabilitation of access to drinking water and sanitation facilities, the implementation of coronavirus response plans and technical assistance to municipal authorities and technicians in the management of drinking water supply and sanitation services.

At the end of this workshop, the actors and communal authorities present were able to list the shortcomings and made commitments to achieve at least 75% of implementation next semester. The First Deputy Mayor of Banfora, Fulgence Koné committed to this by saying: “Only with many will we be able to achieve this ambitious plan. A single finger cannot pick up flour. Our goals will only be met if recipients are satisfied with the achievements”.  He hopes that within two years, “we will already see the end of the tunnel so that in 2030 we can drink champagne together”.

Actors present at the workshop

All the implementing partners of the Municipal Strategic WASH Plan were present at this workshop. Religious and traditional leaders, decentralised state services, human rights organisations, civil society, the Territorial Administration, local media, active leaders of the commune, technical and financial partners including the Catholic Organisation for Development and Solidarity (OCADES), IRC, Catholic Relief Services, OXFAM, the project AEPA-4R, the Regional Water and Sanitation Directorate of the Cascades (DREA), the National Office of Water and Sanitation (ONEA) and ’Espace Culturel Gambidi’. They all took part in the discussions and helped decide on the way forward.

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