10/7/2024
Freetown City Council (FCC) in partnership with UNCDF, ILO, ILRAJ, WANEP and FEDURP has been implementing the Women for Water and Peace Project (W4WP) with funding from the UN Peacebuilding Fund. This involves the construction of 25 solar powered boreholes (part of the ongoing installation of 65 boreholes across Freetown) in communities in Aberdeen, Dworkaz, Lumley, Mayenkineh and Rokupar. These communities were identified as hotspots for conflicts over water resources, including incidents of sexual and gender-based violence.
A key feature of W4WP is the empowerment of women to operate and manage the boreholes which are: (i) co-located with a kiosk to facilitate the safe sale of the water; (ii) fitted with water filters to produce clean drinking water; (iii) fenced and equipped with solar lights to increase the security of the women operators as well as the women who come to buy water.
Yesterday I visited one of the boreholes sites in Mayenkineh with the Ambassador of Germany HE Jens Kraus-Massé. Germany is the largest donor to the UN Peacebuilding Fund so it was a chance for the Ambassador to see and hear first-hand the impact the project is having on women in water-deprived communities. German Embassy Freetown, Sierra Leone I was last at that site a few weeks and I was thrilled to see the process made in respect of the physical construction of the borehole and kiosk. But definitely the most inspiring aspect of thevisit was our interaction with the 8 women who have been trained as the water management committee and water kiosk operators. I had attended their training graduation ceremony and I was thrilled to now see them in their community confidently explaining their plans for operations and maintenance to myself, the German Ambassador, FCC Councillors and staff and the other project partners. It was also an opportunity for Aminata, one of the water management committee members, to share with us how she had used the knowledge she gained from the project to ensure that the rape of a 14-year-old girl in her community was reported and the perpetrator charged.
This intervention of 25 boreholes has created 200 direct jobs for women and has equipped them with entrepreneurship training. It has built their self-confidence and given them knowledge about their human and legal rights. During our community engagement sessions for the development of the Transform Freetown-Transforming Lives Development Agenda, access to water was identified as the number one priority of Freetonians. Significantly the 25 boreholes will provide access to clean water to circa 75,000 residents of Freetown. We continue the journey.
