Two videos from Sanitation and Water For All explain why civil society organisations working on water and sanitation should make climate resilience a policy priority.
Roukiattou Ouédraogo, who works as SWA’s civil society focal point in Burkina Faso, says that the country’s water resources are “highly threatened” by climate change: “This manifests itself at two extremes: drought and floods. In times of drought, our water resources are greatly reduced, which prevents us from delivering water resources properly. In flood situations, we also have the pollution of existing resources. Most of the country uses water from boreholes or autonomous water points and when there are flood disasters, it is complicated to access these water points.”
Ouédraogo says civil society organisations in Burkina Faso are pushing the government to introduce climate adaption plans where water and sanitation are central elements.
Like Burkina Faso, Senegal is suffering from increasingly frequent extreme weather. Mame Tacko Diallo, Advocacy and Mobilisation Manager at Eau Vive, said: “we have seen recently that there has been an increase in flooding in cities like Dakar, Thiès, Kaffrine. This creates serious problems such as sewer splits mixing with drinking water, leading to health problems such as diarrhoea.”
Diallo said Eau Vive have made the government aware of the need to respect their commitments, pushing them to implement a climate action plan that includes “concrete projects and adapted infrastructures”.