As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Network of Professional Women involved in Water, Environment and Sanitation sector of Burkina Faso (RFPEEA-BF), to pay tribute to the resilience and fighting spirit of women throughout the world in general and particularly in Africa and to call for greater action and investment on their behalf.

Water is the source of life; it is also source of happiness and fulfilment for mothers, daughters, women and society as a whole.

We can therefore assert that investing in mobilizing and treating water resources and promoting/implementing sanitation facilities for a healthy environment is an investment in the development of women and the well-being of society.

Many of these women are already fully committed to keeping their families in balance: not only do they fetch water, but they don’t hesitate to use their small earnings in a variety of activities where they thrive. These activities should therefore be supported with much more investment to turn them into income-generating activities that can potentially be transformed into development projects.

Burkina Faso is currently experiencing a marked deterioration in security conditions in several areas, leading to massive internal migrations, mostly of women and children. This has led to disorientation, disarray, insecurity, poverty and so on.

In this difficult context, almost all development sectors are under high pressure, including particularly the water, environment and sanitation sector.

In 2024, in addition to our regular awareness-raising and advocacy activities to promote women’s access to water and sanitation services, we, professional women involved in the water, environment and sanitation sector in Burkina Faso, resolved to support women in difficult situations by implementing a project aimed at creating a market garden to promote organic market gardening on a plot of one (01) hectare that could be extended.

This fledgling project, with an initial budget of CFAF five million (5,000,000), aims to improve the living conditions of the population, notably for fifty (50) women and girls directly. It will contribute to the employment of women, to the development of their skills and to supporting them in a process of empowerment so that they can provide for their own needs and those of their families.

This initiative is the result of the provision of land and a water point by the National Water and Sanitation Board (ONEA) and financial support from the AfWASA covering training, the purchase of equipment and seeds, etc.

Convinced that initiatives, large and small, that contribute to the empowerment of women make all the difference, we, the women of RFPEEA-BF, are launching this heartfelt appeal: let’s prioritize investing in women, because “investing in women is building a better future for all!”