Improvement of drinking water and sanitary installations

The project is carried out in collaboration with primary and secondary schools in the municipalities of N’Dali, Tchaourou and Parakou in Benin.

The construction of this infrastructure is an integral part of a multi-year plan in which all 51 schools supported by the Foundation will be provided with potable water and good sanitary facilities (separate toilets and urinals). Vegetable gardens are created and maintained in the schools, partly by the students themselves and under the supervision of the two agricultural technicians of the Foundation.

Koning Boudewijn Stichting

Co-financed by the King Baudouin Foundation, through the Elisabeth and Amélie Fund, the Foundation provides five wells and two new blocks for toilets and seven new urinal constructions in 19 schools spread over 10 villages in the municipalities of N’Dali, Tchaourou and Parakou. The village and school communities are involved in the cooperative management and maintenance of the infrastructure. This project will greatly improve the living conditions of 6,000 pupils and their families.

After all, the five villages where the wells are located have a total of about 1,900 families and 13,000 inhabitants. They too will be able to benefit from this project through the cooperative management of the new wells.

The construction of five new wells will in a first phase (school year 2019-2020) give an additional 2,800 pupils access to potable water and will increase the availability of potable water from 49.6% to 71.6% of the total school population in the 50 schools!

Healthy and balanced nutrition for children is essential in the fight against malnutrition and a good water supply is a prerequisite for this. Absenteeism due to illness and school absenteeism decreases because children (often the girls !) no longer spend hours a day fetching water for the family. It also improves the quality of the vegetables grown by the pupils in the school gardens. Good quality water is a driving force in tackling malnutrition !

This project is part of a multi-year plan in which all 50 schools supported by the Foundation will be provided with potable water and good sanitary facilities. Through other funds, vegetable gardens will also be created in the schools, which will be maintained by the students.

The Foundation wants to promote healthy and balanced food in a hygienic environment as efficiently as possible. For this reason, a multi-sectoral approach (health care, education and agriculture) has been chosen. The ultimate goal is to significantly reduce malnutrition in this region – more than 35%.

Amount: 39,760 euros