COVID-19: UDUMA rolls out a free “hygiene” facility, complementing its drinking water service for more than 200,000 users in Burkina Faso

Photo caption: Balkissa OUEDRAOGO, inhabitant of Rouko (Centre Nord region), washing her hands with clean water and soap before using the UDUMA drinking water service provided by her standpipe operator Etienne SAWADOGO.   

Hand washing stations, equipped with clean water and soap, at 301 community standpipes and 43 piped water supply sites

UDUMA is doing its part to stop the spread of COVID-19 by adding “hygiene” stations to complement the drinking water service it provides for more than 200,000 users and 400 employees in Burkina Faso. Drinking water prices will not be increased. “Foot-operated hand washing station, equipped with clean water and soap, have been provided free of charge for all our users and employees at the 301 community standpipes and the 43 piped water supply sites we manage,” confirms Mikael DUPUIS, Deputy Managing Director of UDUMA. The company is committed to ensuring the continuity of this operation, called “Clean Hands against COVID-19”, for the next 6 months.

Specifically, UDUMA has installed 301 hand washing stations and distributed 2,500 fabric masks to its employees, including administration staff, operational managers, network managers, treasurers and standpipe caretakers. The private operator is committed to providing a daily supply of clean water and soap at these hand washing stations, as well as running regular COVID-19 awareness spots on community radio, in French and seven local languages. “Our 31 partner communes, who have entrusted us with their public drinking water service, are at the heart of our campaign. Each hand washing station is officially received by municipal staff before being installed next to a standpipe or piped water supply site. We also provide hand washing stations for each of our partner communes and they place them where they think best,” explains Jean-Christophe KI, Managing Director of UDUMA in Burkina Faso.

An 100% Made in Burkina campaign

This campaign is 100% Made in Burkina. The hand washing stations are produced by the Ouagadougou-based company EPGF, the masks are made by ANGE CONFECTION using traditional Burkina Faso woven cotton cloth known as Faso Dan Fani, and the soap is produced by the company SN CITEC, which donated 30 kg of soap and optimized its commercial distribution for this project. “We are particularly committed to supporting the national economy at the moment, given how much it has been affected by the health crisis,” says Lucie KABORE, UDUMA Operations Manager in Burkina Faso.