A campaign for dignity, health and life

There were hundreds of participants to the forum.

Credit: WaterAid in Burkina Faso

27 November 2008

From 17 - 23 November End Water Poverty and WASH, along with their civil society partners, celebrated sanitation through the campaign "My Dignity, My Health, My Life".

The campaign coincided with both World Toilet Day and the International Year of Sanitation and included a national forum on sanitation and a 'clean city day'.

The national forum on sanitation was held on 20 November, chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, Laurent Sedogo, the forum's participants included the Minister of Territorial Administration, representatives of several regional and international institutions and civil society organisations. Six presentations were given by experts on sanitation subjects leading to fruitful discussions around ways to accelerate people's access to sustainable sanitation services.

A televised debate was also broadcast on "the impact of poor sanitation and hygiene on health". The Director of Cleanness of Ouagadougou Municipality, who is also a nutritionist, and the Director of Sanitation for the Ministry of Environment discussed health issues related to poor sanitation.

The launch of the 'Clean city day.'

Credit: WaterAid in Burkina Faso

The forum concluded with recommendations to the government, civil society and financial partners on how to ensure a wider access to sanitation. The Minister of Agriculture and Water resources pledged to support an annual forum on the topic.

On 22 November, the Minister of Environment, Salifou Sawadogo, officially launched "Clean city day", in a market in Ouagadougou. The city's men, women, and children came armed with sweeps, rakes and forks to clean their surroundings relaying the message "keeping our living area clean is a case of all".

The campaign was supported with a hymn to sanitation, sketches, posters and a documentary film produced especially for the occasion. Next Year's event has already been scheduled with hopes of even greater success.