In consortium with the Institute of Population Sciences (ISSP) at the University of Ouagadougou, Initiative: Eau is currently engaged to assess the links between knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) in WASH and water quality in the East and Central West regions of Burkina Faso. Under the consortium, ISSP is responsible for the KAP component and Initiative: Eau for the water quality and risk assessment component. We have surveyed and collected samples from 246 water points and 832 households in 40 villages. We analyzed the water quality of collected samples for 10 parameters to assess potability. We compared and correlated water quality results with KAP results obtained by ISSP to identify key behaviors or practices influencing water quality. Based on this analysis, we made a series of recommendations to promote safe water at the household level.

Initiative: Eau was engaged to conduct an assessment of the capacity of drinking water services in the commune of Arbinda, in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso.  Throughout 2019, Arbinda was one of the least secure areas in Burkina; in March, a notable attack that captured international media attention resulted in 62 deaths.  Late in the year, Arbinda was home to over 16 000 internally displaced persons who have fled other communes in the north.  Safe drinking water wass scarce, and security concerns prevented the drilling of new hand-pumps as necessary heavy machinery can't be driven into the commune.  Based on our findings, we made concrete actionable recommendations for programmatic interventions to increase safe water access in Arbinda. Our recommendation made use principally of materials and infrastructure already on-site to increase safe drinking water access from within the community itself.