Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

On February 5, 2004, a BUS demonstration project was launched by the Municipality of Bobo-Dioulasso (www.mairie-bobo.bf) in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

The project aims to show that an efficient and effective provision of sustainable basic urban services can be delegated by the municipality to motivated small community-based enterprises. These services comprise primary solid waste collection, water supply from kiosks, cleaning of storm water drains and promotion of household sanitation. Apart from better services, the approach is expected to generate jobs and improved livelihoods from the sales of reliable services and from the value of waste, thus contributing to the reduction of poverty.

Partners

On the national level the project is supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Housing (MITH) and the Ministry of Environment. CREPA (www.reseaucrepa.org) , the Regional Centre for Water Supply and Sanitation in Ouagadougou, will provide technical and institutional support as national anchoring institution. Local partners are ACDIL, an NGO supporting grass root youth and women organisations, and ONEA, the State Company responsible for water supply and sanitation.

Identification

In the three months preceding the official launching , the project was identified and formulated jointly with UN-Habitat and IRC, as laid down in the Initiating Brief . In January 2004, a presentation was given to a group of potential financers to raise interest for the city-wide up-scaling and national replication of the project at a later stage. The municipal project team has now entered the phase of situation analysis and consultation with the stakeholders and actors. By June 2004, a municipal strategy for improved BUS delivery, an action plan and a document for the actual demo project are expected to be ready.