Access to drinking water and sanitation for schools and health facilities in rural communities

State: Completed | Number of beneficiaries: 49,612 people

Duration: 2015-2016

Location: Paoskoto and Taïba Niassène, Nioro du Rip Department, Kaolack Region, Senegal.

Local partner

RADI (African Network for Integral Development) is a pan-African NGO created in 1985 by a group of African executives who wanted to share their experiences and know-how. Its mission is to fight against poverty, injustice and ignorance. It has set itself the objectives of training and organizing populations in a participatory and popular way to encourage their initiatives for their promotion and autonomy.

The problem

The rural community of Paoskoto includes 132 villages and has 42,591 inhabitants, that of Taïba Niassène 22 villages and 25,075 inhabitants. In Paoskoto, of the eleven schools built in the area, only six have access to drinking water and only five have sanitary blocks. In Taïba Niassène, out of eighteen schools, fifteen have access to drinking water and twelve have sanitary blocks. Deprived of access to water and / or basic sanitation facilities, children practice open defecation. This situation involves a lot of risks related to waterborne diseases. With regard to health infrastructures, the record is also mixed. In Paoskoto, neither his health post nor his two maternity wards have washhouses. In Taïba Niassène, among the three health posts and the maternity ward, only one health post has laundries. Thus, wastewater is poured around, causing risks to the health of populations and adverse consequences on the environment. Finally, among the six health huts of Paoskoto, five health huts are still deprived of latrines, while the six health huts of Taiba Niassene are still empty. This situation further accentuates health and environmental risks.

Objectives / Activities

The overall objective of the project was to improve sanitation and education conditions in the rural communities of Paoskoto and Taiba Niassene.

Activities carried out

  • Construction of water supply networks and connections to the water distribution network
  • Construction of sanitary blocks, latrines and latrines
  • Awareness of user hygiene with the integration of women in this activity
  • Professional training in masonry

Beneficiaries

  • Direct beneficiaries: 49,612 persons: pupils and teachers of schools, persons going to health facilities, 10 latrine masons.
  • Indirect Beneficiaries: 23,229