The national campaign for hygiene and safely managed sanitation in Burkina Faso (SMS) was officially launched on Thursday, October 24, 2024, in Soubga, in the province of Kourittenga, Center-East region.
The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Sanitation is convinced that the development of human beings necessarily involves the satisfaction of their primary needs, particularly those related to sanitation.
To this end, the department officially launched the national campaign for hygiene and safely managed sanitation in Burkina Faso, on Thursday, October 24, 2024, in Soubga, in the province of Kourittenga, Center-East region.
The event took place during a ceremony sponsored by the Prime Minister, Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem of Tambela.
According to the representative of the head of government, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, Minister of State, Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism, universal access to sustainable sanitation of wastewater and excreta is a crucial issue for public health,
economic development and the preservation of the environment.
For him, the combined efforts of the government and its partners for access to sanitation have made it possible to improve the national access rate, which rose from 18% in 2015 to 28% in 2023.
Minister Ouédraogo also indicated that this national campaign, called “Safely Managed Sanitation”, will enable all stakeholders to take further action to improve access to sanitation for populations and thus support the resettlement and recovery of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in their localities of origin.
According to the Prime Minister’s representative, this campaign will result in targeted actions on the ground in terms of the construction of sanitation works, organization and management of the wastewater and excreta sanitation sector, but also through the implementation of innovative approaches for social and behavioral change in this area.
According to the Minister of State, this campaign will contribute to increasing the rate of access to sa
nitation from 28% in 2023 to 80% in 2030 thanks to the implementation of several major measures.
He cited, among others, the construction of 15 additional faecal sludge treatment plants, increasing their number from 5 to 20, the establishment of a mechanism for the management, treatment, recovery and use of faecal sludge, the equipping of 100% of institutional and public places, such as schools, health centers, administration, markets and stations, with sanitation facilities, the construction of infrastructure to meet 100% of the sanitation needs of IDPs and people resettled in their areas of origin, as well as the strengthening of the capacities of 500 associations and 6,000 professionals (masons, plumbers, latrine managers and drainers) in order to professionalize them in the field of sanitation.
For the Minister of the Environment, Water and Sanitation, Roger Barro, this campaign will help raise awareness among stakeholders, particularly in the private sector.
“Each commercial infrastructure set up will
at least be equipped with a sanitation service with latrines. The same will apply to schools, CSPS and homes,” he said.
He added that at the national level, the State will take charge of the issue of sewage sludge treatment plants. “We will meet on the ground to monitor the work and give directions to speed up,” Mr. Barro reassured.
For the leader of the Technical and Financial Partners (TFP), Alain Joseph Tokam Mambou, by adopting the safe sanitation approach, Burkina Faso aims for considerable benefits such as improving the health of populations thanks to a healthy environment, job creation, particularly for young people, through the development of the private sector and public-private partnership, as well as meeting energy and agricultural fertilizer needs.
The representative of the ceremony’s patron, Aïchata Oubda, recalled that access to water and quality sanitation is a fundamental right, an essential pillar of human development and a crucial vector for public health. She thus invited private sector
actors to reflect on their collective responsibility towards sanitation.
Source: Burkina Information Agency