In the suburbs of Dakar, flooding has become more frequent over the last thirty years and has now become an issue on the agenda of public authorities in Senegal. Although adequate projects are being implemented in the capital, very few projects are being conducted in informal neighbourhoods. And measures to support the improvement of individual housing are rare.
This is the context in which the Guediawaye North Irregular Pikine project – Integrated management of flood risks (Ping-Giri), funded by Agence française pour le développement, was launched. It aims to improve resilience to risks of flooding in the areas targeted – poor neighbourhoods with a high level of exposure to flood risks. The project also plans to develop small-scale public facilities, designed thanks to a fund for urban renovation to adapt housing to flood risks, and constructed using so-called “soft” techniques as an alternative to using solely pipes.
Inhabitants, public project owners and the local private sector (artisans, contractors) are those mainly concerned by the implementation of this project, which will be conducted by a group made up of GRET-urbaMonde-urbaSen-Senegalese federation of inhabitants (FSH). FSH, made up mainly of women, is at the heart of this intervention: it ensures the link between inhabitants, choice of beneficiaries, mobilisation of savings and awareness-raising actions. It is supported by Senegalese NGO urbaSen for field activities, in particular via training of artisans, monitoring of work sites, land regularisation and monitoring of the fund. The urbaMonde association will be in charge of producing mapping using drones, developing innovations in information and communication technologies (ICT), and will inform the innovation and capitalisation process. GRET, the project leader, will ensure overall coordination and coordinate the capitalisation process.
This three-year project will also enable testing and capitalising of a range of innovations that will inform reflections on flood management and the role of inhabitants in large African cities.
