The latest news from the project
Since May 2021, Groupe URD has been contributing to the Nex’Eau project in northern Burkina Faso. The project is being run by a consortium, with Solidarités International, the lead agency, and the Gret. The main objective of this two-year project is to reinforce the resilience of public water services in the urban centres and communes hosting IDPs within Burkina Faso.
Groupe URD has just completed the first piece of operational research: ‘How should IDPs be taken into account in water service plans in Burkina Faso? The case of Ouahigouya and Kongoussi’. It involved looking at the different social representations that Stakeholders have of IDPs, identifying the impact of their presence and providing contextually adapted solutions when planning clean water services in the areas where the project is being implemented.
The most vulnerable IDPs, who live in the temporary shelter sites, can be seen as a threat and are sometimes the object of discrimination and even attacks. They are the main beneficiaries of international aid, but they also try to organise themselves. The host population are also faced with significant economic hardship, but they have nevertheless been remarkably hospitable. The public water services were unprepared for the demographic upheavals caused by the displacement. There is not enough water to cover needs, which is causing more and more tension within the population. Water users and managers have adopted individual strategies to meet needs, but, in certain areas, water resources are running out. This threat should push the water services and the authorities to rethink territorial planning in general and the capacity of territories to take in IDPs […]
This initial piece of research also highlighted growing concern about the financial models of public water services. How can we ensure that there is efficient, fair and sustainable cost recovery for public water services given the context of increasing poverty and humanitarian crisis? This is the issue currently being explored in the second piece of research.
Despite a difficult context, activities are continuing
Despite the political and security crises (a second coup d’état took place at the end of September 2022, eight months after the first, while armed groups control over 40% of the country), the Nex’Eau project is continuing. Several infrastructure projects are underway to increase water production in areas hosting IDPs and to make the water networks more autonomous in relation to energy. In addition, capacity reinforcement plans have been developed for the communes where operations are taking place and for the National Water and Sanitation Organisation (ONEA). Concerted emergency master plans are also being drawn up, which will allow communes to improve water management within the current crisis context.
As underlined in the second iterative evaluation (EIMS 2), due to its nexus approach and its links with water stakeholders and policies in Burkina Faso, the project has shown itself to be relevant and coherent.