On the 2nd of December 2016, the Burkina Faso Water Partnership (PNE-BF), with GWP and the Burkinabe Ministry of Water and Sanitation, organized the first edition of the national Water and Sanitation Trophies. The awards highlighted achievements in Burkina Faso’s water sector and gave visibility to notable drinking water actors.
WIN was distinguished for its role in supporting water integrity promotion in Burkina Faso out of 100 candidates competing for 10 different awards for contributions in IWRM, water governance, WASH promotion, research and innovation.
WIN is honoured by the distinction. The award is an encouraging recognition of the work of WIN’s country partners, who have been pushing for more recognition of integrity issues and the need for good water governance in the Burkinabe water sector since 2010.
In 2015, water sector stakeholders created a new integrity coalition in Burkina Faso: the National Coalition for Integrity Promotion and Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue in the Water and Sanitation Sector in Burkina Faso (Coalition Nationale pour la Promotion de L’IntĂ©gritĂ© et du Dialogue Inter-acteurs dans le Secteur Eau et Assainissement au Burkina Faso, or CNPIDE-BF). Members of the integrity coalition include GWP-PNE Burkina Faso, Water aid, Plan International Burkina Faso, the Anti-Corruption Coalition REN-LAC, Secretariat Permanent des ONGs du Burkina Faso, Centre d’Information de Formation et d’Etude sur le Budget, Water Utility ONEA, the Ministry of water Affairs (Directorate of Water Resources Management & Directorate of Sanitation), the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and Oceane Consulting International Burkina Faso.
This coalition and WIN’s partners have succeeded in putting integrity on the national agenda and ensuring the implementation of capacity development activities for water sector stakeholders, the media, and young professionals studying water management and engineering. The specific efforts of Burkinabe partners in managing integrity in the development of the large infrastructure, as was the case for the construction of the Ziga dam from 2012, are recognized as good practice across West Africa.
According to the president of the organization committee of the trophies, Dibi Millogo, “water management is not only engineers’ business, it’s everyone’s business”. Our Burkinabe water integrity partners are exemplifying this by reaching out to different sector stakeholders and sharing their experiences in the region.
WIN’s Water Trophy © JĂ©rĂ©mie Bambara