Water and life (“Eau et Vie”) – Ivory Coast project
An inspiring project aiming to improve living conditions for families and poorer districts by putting into place essential services.
Overview of the project
Eau et Vie considers that access to water, sanitation and waste management is a fundamental pilar on which access to other essential services rely on, such as:
- food
- health
- education
- women empowerment
- economic development
Having access to these services is without a doubt the main condition needed in order to guarantee inclusive, human sustainable development.
The Local association Eau et Vie Ivory Coast and the social enterprise Dji Ni Sii, were were launched in 2015 and the project is currently taking form in Abidjan in the district of Gbamnan Djidan 1.
Firstly, DNS will launch the construction of the water network aiming to start up the economic activity surrounding water in the district. DNS will be in charge of collecting the necessary payments and maintaining the network. Frequent tests will be carried on the quality of the distributed water.
Concerning sanitation and waste, Eau et Vie Ivory Coast will continue to study the needs and solutions notably thanks to external actors’ help such as Artelia. Also, activities that enhance community spirit and raise awareness on hygiene will continue developing thanks to the rise in partnerships with schools that have been put into place.
To improve inhabitants living conditions in urban areas thanks to a sustainable access to essential services such as water, sanitation and waste management.
Pilote operation, experimentation
In the countries Eau et Vie is active in (Philippines and Bangladesh), there have already been 27 000 people who have gained sustainable access to clean water at home.
People from poorer districts are taken into account in municipalities’s planning, ressources are preserved and the districts are becoming more and more clean.
Foundations.
organisation
Eau et Vie has elaborated a innovative, sustainable and applicable model. In every country the country intervenes in, Eau et Vie creates two local structures with complementary missions:
- a social entreprise which acts as a proximity operator firstly for water management and secondly for other essential services
This entreprise builds a network that enables good quality water to be distributed in the slums exactly where local operators don’t usually want to invest. All associated services such as billing, collecting payments, network maintenance, waste management, sanitation are all included in one common bill.
- a local association which is in charge of strengthening the community and raising awareness on water, hygiene, environment and fire prevention all thanks to various campaigns that are led by the association itself
When a project launches in a country, the association plays a fundamental role. It’s in charge of conducting survey studies, identifying the intervention areas, engaging in advocacy for public authorities and community mobilisation all for the purpose of including the poorer districts in the urban network.