BURKINA FASO UNITE- PROGRES - JUSTICE

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1 BURKINA FASO UNITE- PROGRES - JUSTICE STATEMENT TO THE SECOND HIGH-LEVEL MEETING SANITATION AND WATER FOR ALL: A GLOBAL ACTION FRAMEWORK Introduction Access to adequate sanitation and clean water forms one of the major strategic themes identified by Burkina Faso in its Accelerated Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy (SCADD). This strategy, which is in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), recognises the essential role of clean water, hygiene and sanitation in improving the health and well-being of the population and reducing poverty. Burkina Faso s reference document for achieving the objective of access to water and sanitation, which is closely linked to the SCADD, is the National Programme for the Supply of Clean Water and Sanitation 2015 (PN-AEPA 2015). This programme, which has been underway since 2007, is beginning to show some encouraging results. In fact, the most recent evaluations conducted in 2011 show that 58.5% of the rural population now has access to clean water, as opposed to 52% in 2007, and 70% of the urban population, as opposed to 74% in Disparities do remain, however, between the country s regions, provinces and communes (around 114 communes have an access rate of below 50%). The situation with regard to sanitation is fairly critical in terms of the slow rate of progress recorded since A national survey on household access to family sanitation facilities was conducted by the government in 2011: it shows that only 3.1% of Burkina Faso s population has access to improved sanitation. 62.8% of the population practice open defecation, leading to a high risk of disease, particularly faecally-transmitted disease. To tackle this issue, in June 2010 the President of Burkina Faso launched a mass national campaign of civic advocacy and mobilisation to speed up the provision of family latrines for the local population. 1. Water and sanitation: a political priority in Burkina Faso The President s personal commitment to promoting hygiene and sanitation reflects the importance and interest given to clean water and sanitation by our country s highest authorities. Improved access to basic

2 water and sanitation is a strategic focus of both the President s programme, Building an emerging Burkina Faso together and the SCADD. In order to make these commitments a reality, in 2012 the government is devoting FCFA 9,2016 billion of its own resources to water and sanitation, a 75% increase on the last 5 years. In terms of investments over the period, thanks to sustained advocacy and efforts that have been acknowledged by the technical and financial partners (TFPs), in February 2012, for example, the government received a grant of EUR 25 million from the European Union for sanitation projects to run until The MDG acceleration strategy for sanitation will be based on empowering local authorities and ensuring the involvement and commitment of local actors (leaders, small private operators, NGOs and associations). 2. Fulfilment of commitments made at the 2010 high-level meeting Burkina Faso has by and large kept all of the commitments it made during the high-level meeting in Washington in Global commitments Burkina Faso has joined the Sanitation and Water for All Initiative and signed its guiding principles. A Water and Sanitation partnership framework was established in 2010 under the government s leadership. This is the framework for dialogue and consultation between the government and the technical and financial partners (TFPs). This framework was expanded over 2011 to include civil society organisations. It functions efficiently and has enabled improvements in the way the National Programme for the Supply of Clean Water (PN-AEPA) is managed, particularly in terms of budgetary planning (sector budget support, joint fund, project support), monitoring and review of objectives, and harmonisation of approaches and practices. Burkina Faso will participate in the high-level meeting in Specific commitments In 2010, Burkina Faso conducted a national survey on the baseline situation with regard to wastewater and sewage disposal. The results of this survey enabled the actors to review the National Programme's objectives and intervention approaches. The mid-term evaluation of the National Programme is underway: it offers an opportunity to adjust the national-level water and sanitation indicators and bring the data from the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) into line with the GLASS surveys. Other PN-AEPA implementation commitments Actions aimed at overcoming the main obstacles to achieving the Water and Sanitation MDG in Burkina Faso over the period consisted of: Mobilising additional funding to promote family sanitation in rural areas and to provide clean water supply systems;

3 Allocating a sum of FCFA 1,300 billion out of the government s own funds each year since 2010 to promote rural sanitation. Implementing the PN-AEPA by encouraging the commune-level authorities to take responsibility for water and sanitation services. A dialogue has been commenced with these communes and this has enabled the State to transfer resources aimed at funding some of the clean water and sanitation components of the commune-level plans. Providing the State s decentralised departments with the means to ensure greater sustainability of investments and to support the communes in implementing a reform of the management system for rural and semi-urban clean water supply systems. Stimulating demand for improved sanitation in rural areas through the launch of a mass campaign under the impetus and leadership of His Excellency the President of Burkina Faso. 3. Challenges to be overcome Despite the progress noted and the good implementation of the commitments made at the 2010 meeting, the water and sanitation sector is still facing challenges on several levels: Endogenous financing of the sector, particularly sanitation, remains very low in terms of the need and challenges. Enormous disparities exist between the regions, provinces and communes. Some areas within the communes have little access to clean water. This particularly affects informal (unplanned) neighbourhoods and villages attached to urban communes, where breaks in service or tariffs that are beyond the means of very poor households are common. The practice of open defecation is widespread throughout the country, particularly in rural areas. This has harmful consequences for people's health.. Much of the equipment and many of the facilities (hand pumps, boreholes, mini-water supply systems) are constantly out of order or not in service, sometimes because of the actual quality of the equipment but often for lack of maintenance. In fact, the 2010 assessment report noted that more than 6,500 hand pump wells were out of action (1 in 5). It was the same case for almost 200 simplified clean water systems (1 in 3). The management structures are not always in place and those that are do not operate as well as they could. The communes sense of responsibility and involvement remains insufficient to ensure effective ownership of the water and sanitation services. There is no vision document for the water and sanitation sector beyond 2015, the MDG horizon. To face up to these challenges, the Government of Burkina Faso has drawn up the following list of commitments, the implementation of which will draw heavily on its own resources, whilst also calling on the support of the international community.

4 4. Burkina Faso s global commitments 4.1 Improved access to clean water services By 2015, the government undertakes to have provided drinking water to 4,500,000 additional people (1.8 million in urban areas and 2.7 million in rural areas). 4.2 Improved access to an adequate sanitation service By 2015, the government undertakes to have put an end to open defecation in Burkina Faso, and to have improved the access of 3,000,000 additional people to adequate sanitation (1,470,000 people in urban areas and 1,530,000 in rural areas). 5. Burkina Faso s specific commitments 5.1 Improved financing of the water and sanitation sector The government undertakes to allocate at least 17.5 billion (USD 35 million) annually to financing the water and sanitation sector. 5.2 Improved equity in access to clean water services An analysis of clean water access rates shows disparities between the regions, provinces and communes. There is a need to target priority investments on badly-served communes and neighbourhoods (where access is below 50%) in order to reduce this disparity. The government undertakes to increase the rate of access to clean water in all of the country s communes to at least 65%. 5.3 Strengthening the role of the communes in managing the PN-AEPA Against a backdrop of decentralisation, the government undertakes to strengthen the role of the communes in managing the national water and sanitation programme. To do this, it will be essential to build the capacity of the communes so that they are able to provide good coordination, and effective and efficient implementation, of the programme at local level. Further human resources need to be made available to the communes, particularly in rural areas. The government will encourage a pooling of resources between the communes in order to ensure good management of the water and sanitation services. Gradually, in the long term, each commune should have a competent technical department capable of taking responsibility for water and sanitation issues in its area. The government undertakes to support the communes in creating minimum services with a view to enabling them to exercise their responsibility and ownership of the water and sanitation services. 5.4 Mobilising communities and leaders to promote hygiene and sanitation The government s sanitation efforts will be focused on eradicating open defecation throughout the country. To do this, it will be essential to mobilise local leaders so that they personally commit to eradicating practices that do not conform to personal and environmental hygiene standards. This approach to development, promoted by the people themselves with the support of their sons and daughters throughout the country, will enable the different rural communities not only to take responsibility for the situation

5 themselves but also to ensure a positive trend in the rate of access to an adequate sanitation service. It will contribute to putting an end to the custom of open defecation, will considerably improve environmental hygiene and will reduce the prevalence of faecally-transmitted diseases. With the support of the technical and financial partners, the State could devote the resources mobilised to capacity building at commune level and to constructing collective, public and community facilities. With the support of the partners, the Government undertakes to promote sanitation through innovative approaches implemented by the communities and leaders themselves in all regions of Burkina Faso in order to put an end to open defecation. 5.5 Developing a vision beyond that of the MDGs The government organised a national water and sanitation forum in December One of the main recommendations to emerge from the forum was the importance of producing a 2025 Vision Document for water and sanitation in Burkina Faso. This vision will be based on the investment opportunities offered by the MDGs and a service-based approach. Over the coming years, the government undertakes to produce, together with all sector actors, a post-2015 vision document. 6. Strengthening Multi-Actor Dialogue The partnership framework needs to be strengthened in order to encourage good coordination of actions and substantial mobilisation of financial resources for the water and sanitation sector. This framework will be expanded to include new actors such as the municipalities and the private sector. The specific monitoring role of the CSOs and media will be strengthened to ensure accountability and good governance in the context of implementing the PN-AEPA. The government will conduct consultations with Parliament with a view to obtaining the better involvement of parliamentary members in the sectoral dialogue. SIGNED ON: 30 MARCH 2012 The Minister for Agriculture and Water: The Minister for the Economy and Finances: