UEMOA: Experts in conclave to improve people’s access to drinking water

Ouagadougou: Experts in charge of water resources management and sanitation from the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) met on Tuesday in Ouagadougou, with a view to boosting drinking water and sanitation indicators.Considering that the growth in the rate of access to drinking water for the populations of its member countries is slow, i.e. less than 1.00% per year since 2016, UEMOA summoned its experts to a meeting on Tuesday to jointly identify the constraints that hinder the achievement of objectives.According to the chief of staff of Commissioner Jonas Gbian, Ms. Zourata Lompo/Ouédraogo, the rate of growth in the rate of access to drinking water for populations is slow and if nothing is done, no Member State will achieve the Objectives sustainable development in its water and sanitation component in 2030.This meeting, which should prepare for that of ministers scheduled for July 12, 2024, will have to make relevant recommendations whose implementation will make it possible to increase t he efforts of Member States and accelerate the pace of achieving the objectives, indicated the chief of staff.The opening ceremony of the meeting was chaired by the Minister in charge of Water of Burkina, represented by his Secretary General, Boureima Kouanda.He invited the participants to deepen their thinking to meet the challenges in terms of water and sanitation, which have become crucial in a context of climate change.According to the cabinet director, referring to the results of a study adopted in 2023, a few years before the set deadline, 87.3% of the urban population, compared to 65.6% in rural areas in the UEMOA area, has access to drinking water.In Burkina Faso, the national access rate to drinking water (combining levels, safely managed and basic) in 2023 is 78.3%, informed Mr. Kouanda.Source: Burkina Information Agency