Eau et Vie (Bangladesh / Philippines)
Created in 2008, Eau et Vie is a French NGO which aims to sustainably improve the health and living conditions of the urban poor, tackling the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) challenges that more and more developing cities are facing. Rapid urbanisation often leads to insufficient infrastructure and an increase in poverty and tensions. Eau et Vie thus focuses its work on access to in-home piped water, hygiene awareness and civil security.
In 2020/2021, the Eurofins Foundation supported two projects of the organisation in:
Bangladesh, where 19% of the population has no access to a source of safe drinking water, with the situation worsening due to the emergence of more slums as a result of a massive rural exodus. This situation not only puts the communities at high risk of contracting diseases, but also represents a substantial obstacle to education and local development.
The project thus aims to improve the living conditions of families in the slums of Dhaka and Chattogram (the two biggest cities in Bangladesh), starting with guaranteed access to safe water so people can live with dignity and maintain better health.
Support from the Eurofins Foundation helped Eau et Vie to continue to deploy its resources in Bangladesh, despite the complex and challenging working environment it faced this year.
The Eurofins Foundation’s donation contributed to giving additional families access to safe running water at home and to building a water network in a new operating area, CNB Colony in Chattogram, in order to reach more beneficiaries. Since the beginning of the project, 48 households (210 beneficiaries) have been connected to the water network in the slums of Bhashantek in Dhaka and 9 Number Bridge in Chattogram, where Eau et Vie was already working.
Eurofins’ contribution also helped to update and develop new tools and organise dissemination activities, reaching over 6,500 people in Dhaka and Chattogram.
The Philippines, to address the significant need for drinking water access in the slums of Cavite. 30% of families’ budgets in this slum of Manilla goes to water supply. The water access issue remains critical, as the local water operator Maynilad does not extend its activities to the area for profitability reasons. The inhabitants are left with only one solution to this problem: getting water through unsafe, expensive and often illegal sources. To provide access to water in the slums, a hybrid model has been created between the NGO and a water social enterprise to ensure the durability of the project.
In 2020/2021, support from the Eurofins Foundation helped Eau et Vie to continue to deploy its resources in their Cavite branch in the Philippines, despite the health restrictions and COVID-19 lockdowns.
The Eurofins Foundation's grant contributed to giving additional families access to safe running water at home and to building a water network in a new operating area in Cavite.
It also contributed to updating and developing new tools and organising awareness-raising sessions which reached over 2,400 people in 9 slums. These interventions took the form of door-to-door sessions at families' homes or over the telephone during lockdown periods.
Both projects contribute to improving the health of families, thanks to access to clean water and hygiene awareness, and empowering them long-term. Having access to safely managed drinking water services, like the "main city's inhabitants", improves the self-esteem of those living in slums by showing them that they can benefit from such services. Thanks to clean water, women and girls are healthier, which allows them to dedicate more time to other activities and reduce their absences at work and in school.
These projects also contribute to gradually pacifying these dense areas by reducing the conflict between inhabitants, who sometimes compete for water, and bringing together the community.
In 2021/2022, the Eurofins Foundation renewed its support for both projects, helping Eau et Vie reach even more people in need of clean water in Bangladesh and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, the project allowed 185 families to benefit from a permanent access to water directly in their homes in the precarious district of Tabing Dagat. This represents 875 people who now have access to clean water in their homes. The support of the Eurofins Foundation also contributed to the construction of two hand washing stations in the Tangke district.
In Bangladesh, support from the Eurofins Foundation helped Eau et Vie to support and protect its beneficiaries and staff during the critical period of Covid-19:
- Water access component: the Eurofins Foundation’s grant contributed to maintaining the access to safe running water at home to the families and to improve the water treatment equipment on the networks (automatic dosing pumps for chlorination, pressure logger...). Thanks to that, 10,000 people (2,270 households client to E&V's water service) could have access to safe running water directly at their house, crucial in case of lockdowns and pandemic threat.
- Protection of local staff component: the Eurofins Foundation contributed to the protection and preservation of the local staff's health. PPE equipment were distributed and at the disposal of the 60 local staff members all year around. The Covid-19 testing fees for all the 60 local staff members were also systematically financed by E&V.
- Hygiene awareness component: the Eurofins Foundation contributed to updating and developing new tools adapted to the pandemic context, and to organising awareness-raising sessions reaching over 9,000 people in Dhaka and Chattogram.
In 2022/2023, the Eurofins Foundation renewed its support to Eau et Vie, focusing on bringing safe water at home for the inhabitants of Isla Noah, Manille, the Philippines.
Construction work on this new network began in the last quarter of 2022. On the 26th of January, 2023, the teams, the community, local government representatives, and partners, celebrated the inauguration of the new water network. 173 meters, were installed by the team during the project. This represents 197 families equivalent to 709 people who now have access to clean water at home 24/7 in Isla Noah.
More than 100 families were connected to safe water at home thanks to this grant. It is a new reality and offers valuable assistance for these disadvantaged urban communities, especially for the empowerment of girls and women. In the second quarter of 2023, the team worked on enhancing the complaints management process. Visual tools were developed, and training sessions were conducted for field teams after developing an improved process.
The average water loss rate has been maintained below 8%, while the payment collection rate exceeds 99.7% across the Cavite branch during the reporting period. This means that residents are able to pay for this service, and the model works well for them.
These projects contribute to the following United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
