Accès à l’eau et enjeux socio-sanitaires à Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso

In terms of water access, African cities are the worst endowed in the world with less than half of their urban populations supplied by a clean water source. In view of the expected growth in urban populations, there is concern that the gap between the supply of and demand for clean water will widen. At first sight, Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, portrays a counter example since 97% of the residents report having access to a source of clean water. In this city, an unusual and pragmatic approach called “shared water management” has been developed. Yet, by going beyond only the statistical measure of supply, more precisely providing for the means of water access, that is to say the distance or the time taken to collect water as well as the inherent costs in the purchase of water, inequality factors are then clearly visible