WASHCost country selection rationale: Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso has been selected as one of the countries in which the WASHCost project will be implemented. The choice has been based on a number of criteria.

Diversity of WASH services

Burkina Faso is characterised by a wider mix of systems drawing on both ground and surface water resources. These range from single point sources to small piped networks in small towns. Due to the active role of different NGOs and a relatively weak central government there are also a wider range of different management models in use in the country.

Governmental support

The Direction Générale des Ressources en Eau (DGRE – water resources directorate) is very committed to improving the dramatic situation of the WASH sector and it is keen on supporting studies that will provide useful details to plan and monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and beyond. The donor community is backing the government in these endeavours. Governmental support was explicitly expressed in a discussion held on 30 January 2008 and particularly as CREPA is involved in the project.

Innovation

The most innovative side of the WASH sector in Burkina Faso is the very ambitious legislation and the donor co-ordination mechanism which is very advanced and now developing into thematic groups. These groups could form a very useful basis for the learning alliance that WASHCost aims at creating.

The organisation involved

IRC already has an existing partnership with CREPA that we are working hard to strengthen and deepen it and CREPA is well resourced, and well connected and regarded at all levels and with all stakeholders in the country.