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Context
People living in makeshift housing, like squats, slums or camps, and who do not have access to domestic drinking water and sanitary facilities, face daily challenges to meet their most basic and vital needs. Limited access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) severely affects their health and hinders their efforts to integrate into society (by attending school, looking for a job, etc.), undermining their progress through life. It also delays efforts to reduce precarious housing sites.
Universal access to drinking water is central to social and climate issues. This right was reinforced in 2023 by French Ordinance No. 2022-1611 of 22 December 2022 and Decree No. 2022-1721 of 29 December 2022, which implemented EU Directive 2020/2184.
- 68.4 million inhabitants
- 28th out of 191 on the Human Development Index
Our action
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Mission
opened in 2020 (re-opening) - Team 22 national staff
- Budget 1.89M€
SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s teams conduct local and national advocacy, based on the positive outcomes of our projects, which have been commended by national and regional authorities in France.
We are thus contributing to effective cooperation between governmental bodies, networks of specialists and partner organisations, to improve access to water for everyone, and especially for the most vulnerable. This includes supporting positive changes in water access standards.
In 2023, our teams also responded very quickly to critical situations in French overseas territories, like the major water crisis in Mayotte.
Institutional and private funding partners DIHAL, Abbé Pierre Foundation, Nantes Metropole, City of Nantes, Chapelle-sur‑Erdre Municipality, DDETS 44, DDETS 49, DREETS Pays de Loire, Aix Marseille Provence Metropole, City of Marseille, DDETS 13, Veolia Foundation, DDETS 31, City of Toulouse, DREETS Occitania, Agnes B. Endowment Fund, ARS Mayotte, ARS IDF, DDETS 91, DDETS 78, DHRIL 94, DHRIL 93, Artelia Foundation, Veolia Eau d’Île-de-France, DDETS 59, Fonto de vivo, Vinci pour la Cité Corporate Foundation
Operating partners Médecins du Monde, Coalition Eau, Romeurope, Trajectoires, Quatorze, ACINA, Collectif bidonvilles 93, Secours catholique, PSM, Vents Contraires, CFC, Roots, French Red Cross, Santé Sud, M’lezi Maoré, Horizon, Apprentis d’Auteuil Mayotte, La Cimade, Aquassistance, JUST, Rencontre Tsiganes, ADDAP 13, Utopia 56, Espoir, Plateforme Solidarité et Santé, UFUT, ASBL, les Forges médiation, Equalis, Coallia, ACF, Règles Elémentaires
Our impact
Emergency response to water needs for affected people
- Design, installation and maintenance of decent, safe WASH facilities
- Mobilisation and capacity building to help affected people take action
- Contribution to the smooth implementation of slum reduction plans
Research and development
- Pilot projects to promote access to electricity and prevent fires
- Facilitation of household waste collection
- Legal analysis of fundamental WASH rights and their effective application in France
Technical influence
- Review of the current WASH situation in France: assessments and observatories
- Advocacy to promote the development of robust public policy to achieve universal access to water and sanitation in France
- Capitalisation, publication and circulation of WASH solutions for highly vulnerable people
- Active participation in networks of WASH professionals
Should you have any questions, please contact Philippe Bonnet
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