The Issue
Burkina Faso and Mali are two resource constrained countries in the Central Sahel, ranked 186th and 188th respectively by the United Nations human development index. For more than a decade, the two countries have been going through a multidimensional crisis marked by institutional instability and the expansion of violent extremism.
Both Mali and Burkina Faso are facing the adverse effects of climate change, which are intensifying competition over the control and management of diminishing natural resources, thus multiplying intercommunal conflicts, especially in communities across the borders.
Livelihoods and access to basic social services, particularly water, hygiene, and sanitation, have been affected by both the conflicts and the impact of climate change. Intercommunal tensions have eroded trust among local populations, and local conflict prevention and management mechanisms lack sufficient capacity to effectively prevent and manage these conflicts.
The Project
To help address these challenges, DCA and its partners created a project focusing on strengthening social cohesion, promoting peaceful coexistence among communities in the border areas between Mali and Burkina Faso. Activities included building/rehabilitating water points and latrines; built waste containers; support women’s cooperatives to support income-generating activities.
The project further focused on training communities on climate change adaptation techniques and establishment of local peace committees to promote non-violent communication and peaceful resolution of conflict and discrimination.
The Change
The project provided access to drinking water and sanitation infrastructure such as waste containers in the targeted communities. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation helped improve public health by reducing the risk of waterborne diseases and condicitons related to environmental pollution. Management committees were trained to be able to maintain the waterpumps and established infrastructure enhancing sustainability of these initiatives.
Empowering local community response to crisis and adversity
In addition, local peacebuilding structures now facilitate conflict prevention and non-violent management of communal differences and assets. Women’s cooperatives have been formed and supported in doing climate-friendly income-generating activities. This have strengthened their economic empowerment.
An environmental and social impact assessment carried out at the beginning of the project allowed to identify risks. This helped to take appropriate mitigation measures to ensure that the infrastructure that was developed wouldn’t exacerbate existing social and environmental vulnerability of communities in the future.
Results
- The percentage of the population using climate-sustainably managed drinking water services increased from 29% to 68.4%
- 71.7% of households felt that access to and management of natural resources had improved in an equitable and peaceful manner
- 66.3% of beneficiaries reported improved social cohesion and conflict resolution, attributing this to the project’s activities
Our partners
TASSAGHT in Mali and SOLIDEV in Burkina Faso implemented the project in partnership with DCA. These organizations have a strong knowledge of the context of, and presence in the project area. During the project implementation, DCA also provided these partners with supplemental capacity strengthening support.
In addition, government technical services participated in the project’s implementation through needs assessments, beneficiary targeting, capacity building, and monitoring and quality assurance of activities. This involvement contributes to the sustainability of the project’s interventions.
