Under the patronage of the Minister of the Interior and the Secretary of State for Social Affairs, the ADDS, in partnership with the municipality of Balbala, organized on Monday 15 May in the city hall an information workshop on The project for solid waste management in Balbala, involving awareness-raising on the construction and management of 8 regrouping points in the city hall in Balbala. The event was attended by Secretary of State for Social Affairs Mouna Osman Aden, AFD Director Philippe Collignon, President of Balbala Commune Waberi Nour Eleyeh, Director of Social Development, ADDS, Dirieh Farah Souldan, the mouthpieces of various associations in the municipality of Balbala, the local elected representatives, the heads of the districts of the municipality of Balbala, and a parterre of guests.

Our capital city, like every major capital of the world, faces multiform challenges, resulting 17in unrestrained population growth and rapid expansion of urban and peri-urban areas. This urban perspective requires a rapid and effective response from the public authorities and in particular institutions in charge of urban management.

The objective of this workshop is to improve the health and environmental situation of the Balbala neighborhoods, improve the living environment of the Balbala population through the management of regroupment points and create jobs through the restructuring of the informal pre- Waste collection.

This workshop is a turning point in the life of the project, so that the public and civil parties of the municipality appropriate both the location and the operation of the regrouping points (a dumping ramp framed by two dumps that will be carried by trucks Of the OVD).

A team of facilitators orchestrated by the ADDS has been working in this direction for 2 months to make the project known in the neighborhoods and among the pre-collectors.

In her speech on the spot, State Secretary of Social Affairs Ms Mouna Ahmed Osman « recalled that the efforts of the Government have intensified in recent years to frame and accompany the changes that our capital faces in particular with regard to the » Thorny problem of solid waste management « .

The Secretary of State for Social Affairs Ms Mouna Ahmed Osman stressed that « the project, object of popularization, is an operational response to this problem. It aims to fight poverty and improve the lives of our fellow citizens.

This program, however, will have the expected effects only with an awareness and strong support from all households. The authorities as well as the civil society also have their share of responsibility « .

The minister urged « prefectural and communal authorities, local elected representatives, neighborhood councils, neighborhood leaders and civil society structures to be fully involved in raising the awareness of users of these regrouping points as to their impact On the living environment and on their added value in terms of public health « .