Under the ownership of the Directorate of sanitation in Mauritania, the NGO consortium made up of GRET, Adig and Amami has been implementing the sanitation component of the Aftout Echargui project since 2018 in the wilaya (region) of Assaba. This project, funded by Agence française de développement (AFD) and the European Union, promotes the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach and hygiene in schools in the province of Barkeol.
Within this province, 288 villages and 70 schools were targeted in eight communes. The total population affected by activities promoting hygiene and sanitation is made up of 72,132 people in 7,080 households. In addition, the project enabled 288 village hygiene committees and 204 bricklayers to be trained and equipped.
At the start of 2018, only 903 households had latrines, i.e. 13 %. At the end of 2019, this approach had generated interest among the population and achieved significant results. 5,731 new latrines were built by households without external subsidies; among these, 88 % are improved latrines (durable infrastructure protecting privacy and minimising circulation of flies and smells). The percentage of households with latrines, which now stands at 94 %, and improvement of hygiene practices enabled the incidence of diarrhoeal illnesses to be reduced.
Measures to support and train stakeholders were also put in place. These made it possible to train 64 school hygiene clubs, 92 teachers equipped with awareness-raising resources and 90 managers equipped with a hygiene kit to facilitate use and cleaning of latrines.
The NGOs’ support and monitoring activities finished at the end of 2019. The village hygiene committees and the communes are now responsible for maintaining this hygiene and sanitation dynamic.
