New EKN fund to improve access to water and sanitation in Benin

We are pleased to announce that the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) in Benin recently pledged €14,750,000 to country-wide projects in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The OMI DELTA fund will run from 1 December 2016 to 30 June 2021.

Currently, the country’s water sector faces great challenges. Only 46.5% of the population have adequate access to modern water points and less than 50% have access to toilets. Open defecation in rural areas amounts to 75%. Moreover, water resource management is rather weak, resulting in ineffective use of water resources and floods.

The fund programme aims to:

• Improve access to safe drinking water in rural and (peri-)urban areas.

• Enhance sanitation and wastewater management in rural and (peri-)urban areas.

• Boost entrepreneurship, and implicitly job creation, through initiatives that address basic WASH services and the sustainable use of water resources.

To achieve these goals, the following steps will be taken:

• Improve the governance of the country’s water and sanitation sector with a focus on accountability.

• Assist local councils and state structures in making the management of public water services more efficient.

• Professionalise the country’s water services by engaging both private and public sectors (public-private partnerships).

• Assist civil society in advocating for improved water and sanitation services.

• Promote basic sanitation and hygiene in rural and (peri-)urban areas.

• Develop improvement plans for the Ouémé delta and the Nokoue lagoon delta.

• Improve the water management structures of the basins.

OMI DELTA will ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation in Benin and will implement projects that contribute to SDG 6.3: “By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and increasing recycling and safe reuse globally”.

SNV will be fund manager of the project and will oversee all implementation stages in order to ensure value for money. Among others, our responsibilities include selecting the most capable implementing agencies, evaluating and steering the implementation process as well as providing administrative and financial advice when needed.