POUL DUE JENSEN FOUNDATION WATER Healthy children, healthy communities In Togo, 48% of the rural population has no access to safe water, and only 13% has access to improved sanitation*. In 2017, we initiated phase II of our project with BØRNEfonden to con tinue the measures to improve the health and well-being of children and their families in the rural areas of Togo, West Africa. WASH infrastructure needed Not having access to safe water and improved sanitation poses serious consequences for health. Therefore, it has been crucial for the partnership to integrate all elements of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) to ensure the sustainable implementation of infrastructure. In phase I of our project, water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure were constructed, and the focus now is to work in close partnership with the population on the sustainable maintenance and use of this infrastructure. This includes health education as well as training in the technical aspects of maintenance and repairs. Contributing to water related costs The implemented water systems in the two villages Baya-Cope and Haïto are managed by members of the community who are organised in local water committees. Their role is to collect fees for water, which are then paid into saving accounts that will pay for maintenance and repairs. These local water committees are in line with Togolese national policy on water management. The set-up is function- * https://washdata.org/data#!/tgo ing well, and savings are growing. In the third village Guèdèglèlè, the set-up is the same, but the project has faced some challenges: The Project Manager in BØRNEfonden Togo, Abdoul Baki Labodja, explains: “In Baya-Cope and Haïto the local community leader and the Village Development Committee regularly monitor the management of the water committees. But that is not the case in Guèdèglèlè. Here, surveillance and follow-up are lacking. BØRNEfonden simply needs to ensure that the monitoring of the water committee is transparent and properly managed. We want to strengthen the capacities of the Village Development Committee, and at the same time set up strong supervisory mechanisms. And everything must be followed up on a regular basis.” In general, the Togolese water committee management system is effective. And simply paying extra attention to the village of Guèdèglèlè to support them in their daily mana gement of the water system seems to have improved the situation. It is In Togo 48% of the rural population has no access to safe water clear that these processes sometimes take longer than expected, and that is why it is important to stay committed. The phase II project period runs from October 2017 to May 2019. 17
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