Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa UN-HABITAT Award
4th Session World Urban Forum, Nanking China 3rd to 6th November 2008
The inaugural winners “The Green brigade” Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Burkina
Faso, is one of the poorest countries in the
world with a GDP per capita income of US$1,300. pa. Lack of employment
causes a high rate of emigration: for example, three million people
from Burkina Faso live and work in Côte d'Ivoire. The “Green brigade”
initiative aims at improving the city environment of Ouagadougou by
providing for secure employment to a group of 1200 women, most of
whom are the main family providers, cleaning the streets and public
spaces. Some of these women used to collect firewood by cutting down
trees from the few “green zones” of the city and selling to households
to make a living. Others were involved in harvesting sand and gravel
from the city’s rivers and selling to building contractors. These
precarious and casual activities did not guarantee a daily meal for
their families, furthermore they contributed to environmental
degradation.
The 1995-2000 plan of action of the Municipal Council puts great emphasis on issues related to waste management, improvement of the living condition for the city residents and, protection of vulnerable groups. In the implementation of this action plan, a visionary city Mayor decided to stop the degradation of the limited green spaces of this Sahelian city by providing an alternative and secure employment to the women who used to make a living out of it. Several consultative meetings were organized between the Mayor and the women involved, to convince them to stop the degradation of the city environment in exchange for secure and remunerative employment. The outcome of these meetings was the establishment of the Green Brigade, recruiting 1,200 women as cleaners of streets and public spaces.
The Green Brigade initiative has three main objectives. The first one is to reduce poverty through jobs creation. From 1995 to 2005, over 1,500 direct permanent jobs were created, including opportunities for 1,200 women as cleaners of streets and public spaces. In 2007, from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, five hundred additional women were enrolled for the initiative, increasing the number to 1,700 job opportunities in 2008. The second objective is to improve the image and cleanliness of public spaces as well as urban streets. In this regard, 120 km of street and 3,000,000 sq metres of the city are cleaned every Monday and Thursday. This practice allows the removal of all litter and all sorts of waste from the streets. The final objective is to provide support to vulnerable social groups, mainly women and children. The Green Brigade is made up of ninety eight percent women who are distributed in all the different sectors of the municipality of Ouagadougou. It is estimated that over 6,500 children have directly benefited from this programme, taking into account that on average each woman has to cater for the needs of five children, mainly: school fees, health care, and family nutrition.
In order to improve the welfare of the women workers, the Ouagadougou City Council has put in place a money saving scheme. Limited basic healthcare is also provided to the women. This initiative has also contributed to the protection and preservation of the city’s green spaces. The beginning of the initiative was not easy since women were very reluctant to work as street cleaners and be seen by other women as doing so. This constraint has been overcome with sensitization campaigns and civic education to give value to the job of street cleaners. Women were provided with appropriate equipment and uniforms. A municipal budget allocation was also made to pay the women.
The cleanness of the city’s streets has brought changes in hygiene practices among citizens. Waste is now disposed in appropriate bins. This initiative has also resulted in the protection of the city’s environment. It is estimated that since the inception of this programme in 1995, over US$ 2 million in tax payer money has been redistributed to over 1,000 women, enabling them to send 800 children, including 300 girls, to school. This initiative stands out because:
a) The great personal commitment of the Mayor to supporting the women’s work, and
b) The fact that the city is actually paying for a job that womens' groups often undertake
for free in many cities of the developing world.
Replication of the project has started in other Burkina Faso cities, such
as Bobodiolasso, Koudougou, Ouahiguoya, Gourcy, Banfora, Kaya, Dano,
and Diebougou. Because of its social, economic and environmental
sustainability, this project has been visited by several mayors from
neighbouring countries with a view of replicating it in their own
cities. For example, replication initiatives have taken place in Bamako
(Mali), Conakry (Guinea), and Cotonou (Benin).
©unhabitat
http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/5786_39610_Burkinabebackgrounder.pdf
