In December 2006 the government of Benin signed three agreements with the Netherlands to finance between 2007 and 2011 the multiannual program to support the water and sanitation sector (WSS = PPEA/Programme Pluriannuel d’appui au secteur de l’Eau et de l’Assainissement). This support program started in 2007.

The program's overall objective is to contribute to a significant improvement in access to safe drinking water and sanitation in ways that reinforce the program approach, the sector budget support, the decentralization and deconcentration, transverse aspects (particularly AIDS/HIV, good governance, environment, climate change), the reduction of poverty and the integrated management of water resources. This overall objective is broken down into four specific objectives, each one being the subject of a particular component.

The titles of the components and the corresponding objectives are:

• Component 1: Strengthen the conditions of the WSS sector budget support
  • Objective 1: Improve the public finance management in support of deconcentration, decentralization and achieving of the MDGs for drinking water and sanitation.
• Component 2: Transfer of skills and literacy development of communal works.
  • Objective 2: Support the skills and resources transfer and the capacity building of communal project management in WSS, with a better consideration of the transverse qualitative aspects.
• Component 3: Development of WSS infrastructures.
  • Objective 3: Contribute to increase equitable and sustainable access to water and sanitation, in line with national strategies in this area.
• Component 4: Support to the IWRM process.
  • Objective 4: Contribute to ensuring the availability of enough water quality and quantity to meet all requirements within a framework of integrated water resources management.

The consultant has established a Senior Technical Advisor installed in the DNSP. She operates within components 2 and 3. She is available to all participants of the sub-sector of hygiene and sanitation (including those involved in the program PPEA), particularly the Minister Office of the Health Ministry (HM), the DNSP and the non-governmental structures that can request her advice and counsel, as well as her participation in any action of the sector justifying the use of her skills.

Services Provided

The intervention of the Senior Technical Advisor (CTP/Conseillère technique principale) has the following main tasks:

• Continuous technical support to policy development and sectoral strategies, in particular those concerning hygiene and basic sanitation (Promotion of Hygiene and Sanitation (PHS), Rule-Police-Sanction (RPS), Monitoring and Coordination) and actively participate in political dialogue at the sector level of hygiene and sanitation among national actors and technical and financial partners;
• Contribution to the animation of the Water and Sanitation Sector (GSEA/Groupe Sectoriel Eau et Assainissement) to strengthen the dialogue and coordination between stakeholders, the Government and donors;

Supporting the DNSP in the:

• development and implementation of the hygiene and sanitation basis sub-sector program budget in the budget program for health
• realization of the decentralization policy applied to the sub-sector of hygiene and basic sanitation, and ensure synergies with the MDGLAAT;
• Overall development of the sector by assessing the impact of interventions and identifying lines of business requiring geographic and financial strengthening;
• Identification of new study and infrastructure equipment programs and associated external funding;
• Identification of funding sources, preparation of external and specific expertise recruitment when needed and consultants supervision;
• Support for institutional strengthening at all levels (national, departmental, municipal, private sector), taking into account cross-cutting issues;
• Implementation of institutional measures needed to plan, manage and evaluate activities in the subsector;
• Identification and development of human resources sector at different levels of intervention;
• Proofreading the document about the National Sanitation Policy in Benin, and secondly developing the draft law concerning the public health code in Benin to revoke the public health code dating from 1987;
• Development of new technologies in the field and communication plan design to change the hygiene and sanitation behaviour.