Congo/ Brazzaville sanitation: launch of the "Zero waste" campaign in public spaces

Following the workshop with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and public authorities on January 29, the NGO Protection environnement association (PEA) organized another with associations and other civil society organizations on January 31, at the Centre interdiocésain des œuvres, on the theme "Mobilizing civil society organizations for the cause of sustainable household waste management advocacy in Brazzaville".

While the aim of the January 29 workshop was to obtain the opinion of public authorities on the subject of public policies for household waste management in the Congo, that of January 31 was to obtain the support of civil society organizations, to exchange views and to find the best strategies for the cause of this advocacy, that of "Zero Waste" in the city of Brazzaville.to gain the support of civil society organizations, to exchange ideas and find the best strategies for the cause of this advocacy, that of "Zero waste" in the city of Brazzaville. To this end, participants got down to work, listing problems (reasons for the petition) and solutions (requests to decision-makers).

Destin Picko Kaya, a member of the NGO PEA, highlighted the problems identified and the solutions found. These problems include communication, dysfunction in the waste management chain, opacity in public procurement and lack of stakeholder involvement.

As for the solutions envisaged, they include the reinforcement of information, education and communication; compliance with the rules of transparency in the awarding of public contracts; and, finally, the inclusive involvement of stakeholders.Indeed, the ultimate goal for these civil society organizations was to find strategic means of mobilization, becauseAt the end of the day, it's all about launching the "Zero Waste" campaign and signing the petitions of the civil society members present.

At the end of the workshop, some twenty petitions were signed to mark the start of the "Zero waste" campaign in Brazzaville's publiC area. The petitions are addressed to the government to sign a contract with a specialized agency to replace Averda, so that there will be no more piles of waste in Brazzaville's public spaces.

Signing a contract with a specialized agency is essential

"Today was the launch of the petition campaign. We're asking anyone who can join us to come and sign this petition, because if we get a lot of people to sign it, it'll have more impact than just complaining in your own corner. It's like a son who has a need, he has to express it to his father, otherwise his father won't know. So, we have to ask our government to resolve this situation of waste piling up in Brazzaville's public spaces. We have to tell them that piling up garbage in public spaces causes illness and also has an impact on the environment. So we're asking him to sign a contract with a specialized agency to put an end to this," said Serge Patrick Mvouama, General Manager of the NGO PEA.

The civil society organizations hoped that this would be operational by the end of March, because the more time passes, the greater the impact on health and the environment. "At the end of this workshop, we can say that we are satisfied. First we had to work, and that's what we did with the representatives of civil society, because this is not a petition from the NGO PEA, but rather a petition that was written today.tition which was written today by members of civil society and which will be addressed to the government", explained Serge Patrick Mvouama.

The workshop, organized by the NGO PEA, was part of the "Advocacy for sustainable household waste management in Brazzaville" project, financed by the European Union through Precap-Ccod. The project was initiated in response to the situation Brazzavillois are experiencing, notably the accumulation of garbage in public spaces.

Source: www.adiac-congo.com