Former colleagues mayors and parliamentarians, GWP WA Executive Secretary, General Director of Eau were among the panelists who tried to show how concrete an elected official can be on the field and impact the lives of his citizens. With Hama Arba Diallo the Municipality of Dori and surrounding ones went from the bottom (12% in access to water to 100% in the city and more than 60% in rural areas and from 4% for sanitation to almost 47% in a decade) to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Dori is among the rare if not the only commune in Burkina to achieve the MDGs and this was done since 2011, four years before target deadlines of 2015. Dori is also the only municipality in Burkina even ahead of Ouagadougou, the capital city, to have a management site for excreta with the construction of a faecal sludge treatment plant. «This is the only thing I have not been able to achieve as he did here" says former Mayor of Ouagadougou, Simon Compaoré during the panel discussions. He said that Hama Arba was a champion and he invited others to follow his example in order to be considered successful in their mission as mayors. « Your action as a mayor cannot be successful if you have not been able to address with efficiency people's needs in water and sanitation », M. Compaoré concluded.
The initiative was saluted by GWP WA's Executive Secretary Dam MOGBANTE who reminded how committed Ambassador DIALLO was to his home city with real anecdotes from discussions he took part in during international meetings. Mr. DIALLO with his ground experience used to challenge intellectuals, scientists and all high level people during the international conferences by saying "how are our talks here going to change the life for the best of the people of my village?" just to question the added value and the tangible impact of high level meetings on the daily life of the poor people in the African villages. "It is a duty for us, not only to honor his memory but especially to salute his efforts and successes in achieving the access to water and sanitation for the commune" says Jean Bosco Bazié, Director of Eau Vive.
Eau Vive initiated a leadership prize called Hama Arba Diallo leadership price for access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation. The first price was symbolically given to the municipal team of Dori this year. The Diallo family was present during all activities.
GWP West Africa, Eau Vive (a French NGO), IRC, the municipality of Dori in Burkina Faso and other partners celebrated the World Water Day in Dori (northern part of Burkina) by paying a tribute to GWP WA’s former Chair Honorable Hama Arba Diallo who passed away on 31 October 2014. A series of activities were done starting with a panel discussion on the topic « Leadership for the access to water and sanitation, the role and place of local officials : Example of Hama Arba Diallo ». Former colleagues mayors and parliamentarians, GWP WA Executive Secretary, General Director of Eau were among the panelists who tried to show how concrete an elected official can be on the field and impact the lives of his citizens. With Hama Arba Diallo the Municipality of Dori and surrounding ones went from the bottom (12% in access to water to 100% in the city and more than 60% in rural areas and from 4% for sanitation to almost 47% in a decade) to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Dori is among the rare if not the only commune in Burkina to achieve the MDGs and this was done since 2011, four years before target deadlines of 2015. Dori is also the only municipality in Burkina even ahead of Ouagadougou, the capital city, to have a management site for excreta with the construction of a faecal sludge treatment plant. «This is the only thing I have not been able to achieve as he did here" says former Mayor of Ouagadougou, Simon Compaoré during the panel discussions. He said that Hama Arba was a champion and he invited others to follow his example in order to be considered successful in their mission as mayors. « Your action as a mayor cannot be successful if you have not been able to address with efficiency people’s needs in water and sanitation », M. Compaoré concluded.
The initiative was saluted by GWP WA’s Executive Secretary Dam MOGBANTE who reminded how committed Ambassador DIALLO was to his home city with real anecdotes from discussions he took part in during international meetings. Mr. DIALLO with his ground experience used to challenge intellectuals, scientists and all high level people during the international conferences by saying “how are our talks here going to change the life for the best of the people of my village?” just to question the added value and the tangible impact of high level meetings on the daily life of the poor people in the African villages. "It is a duty for us, not only to honor his memory but especially to salute his efforts and successes in achieving the access to water and sanitation for the commune" says Jean Bosco Bazié, Director of Eau Vive.
Eau Vive initiated a leadership prize called Hama Arba Diallo leadership price for access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation. The first price was symbolically given to the municipal team of Dori this year.