In May this year we held our first Local Stakeholder Consultation in Togo, for our new Safe Water Project. This project has been given the name ‘Wezou Lim’ meaning ‘Water is Life’ in Ewe, a local language widely spoken across Togo.
By the end of 2023 we hope to have rehabilitated around 520 safe water points within this project, with the capacity to supply safe water to over 150,000 people living in rural areas.
The meeting was held in Kévé, a town 50km north of Togo’s capital Lomé, and was attended by 64 stakeholders who provided feedback on the projects design and goals.
Stakeholders were invited through various methods including email, posters, hand delivered invitations and word of mouth, with anyone who wished to, able to attend and share their views and suggestions for the project.
Attendees included representatives of the National Ministry of Water, the Red Cross and Plan International, local people who will be involved in the project, members of local women’s groups, village chiefs and the President of Avé, one of the prefectures we will be working in.
The meeting began with a presentation explaining the project and welcoming any questions, then went into an exercise where stakeholders formed 4 groups and discussed aspects of the projects contribution to safeguarding and the sustainable development goals.
The meeting was very successful with large amounts of engagement from stakeholders and useful topics brought up and discussed amongst the group. Each attendee also filled out an evaluation form at the end of the meeting and comments have been included and addressed in our Stakeholder Consultation Report. This report will soon be available for review on our website as part of the 60-day Stakeholder Feedback Round, with any comments welcome.
The National Togolese press were also invited to attend, with the meeting being documented for the national newspaper and a short news report was aired, including an interview with Christian, our CO2balance staff Megan and Amie, and Vashti our project partner from Deki.
