“With civic-mindedness, let’s win the bet of a clean Ivory Coast”. It is through this theme that the tone of the 7th National Cleanliness Week (SNP) was set in the 201 councils of this West African country. In the capital Yamoussoukro, the initiative launched on 6 August 2022 was chaired by the Ivorian Prime Minister, Patrick Achi. According to the Ivorian authority, “a clean street, a clean city, a clean country, is everyone’s business! Each inhabitant must work to maintain a healthy environment in order to allow the various development projects to take place under the best conditions and within the planned timeframe”.
For its 2022 edition, this sanitation operation, which combines the cleaning of gutters and the collection of household waste in the streets, has rewarded several public figures as “ambassadors of cleanliness” in the country of elephants. These include the Ivorian ministers Bouaké Fofana, in charge of water, sanitation and health; Myss Belmonde Dogo, in charge of solidarity and the fight against poverty; and Mamadou Touré, the deputy spokesperson of the Ivorian government.
In the West African country, the initiative launched in 2016 is in full swing as the Ivorian state has just started the implementation of the Abidjan District Sanitation and Living Environment Improvement Project (PAACA). The new facilities will benefit 3.5 million people in the autonomous district of Abidjan, notably in the communes of Adjamé, Attécoubé, Abobo, Cocody, Bingerville, Marcory, Koumassi and Anyama, as well as in the villages of Songon-Kassemblé, Songon-Dagbé, Songon-Té, Songon-Agban and Songon Mbraté.
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The PAACA works, financed to the tune of 40.96 billion CFA francs (about 62.45 million euros) by a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB), will enable the installation of rainwater evacuation facilities to combat flooding in Abidjan, through the construction of lifting stations and the installation of 429 new latrines.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi