Improving educational and living conditions in school infrastructure and orphanages in the commune of Aplahoué, Benin

The commune of Aplahoué, in the Couffo department, lies in south-west Benin. The communes of Aplahoué and Ramonville Saint-Agne, linked by decentralised cooperation since 2017, have worked with HAMAP-Humanitaire from the start of their partnership on a project partly supported by the Adour-Garonne Water Agency. Through this project, the head of the commune's technical services, who is also the cooperation's focal point on the Beninese side, completed a two-year master's degree in hydraulic engineering at the University of Cotonou, which already allows the town hall to monitor the works more closely.

As noted in the decentralised cooperation agreement, the conditions in which students and children in the commune's orphanages are accommodated do not provide lasting access to education and safety. The infrastructure, often dilapidated, affects access to water, sanitation and hygiene in particular, leading children to gradually drop out of school, especially in the most rural villages, and impoverishing the poorest sections of society. One consequence of the lack of access to good-quality sanitary facilities is the high rate of waterborne diseases among children, which reportedly accounts for more than half of medical visits, when these take place.