Plan Togo Annual Progress Report 2009

A YEAR IN

TOGO ALGERIA

SUMMARY REPORT

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09

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GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Togo

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A classroom in Est-Mono

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• More than a quarter of children under five are either moderately or severely underweight

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• 74% of rural people don’t have access to clean drinking water

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• 25% of primary-age girls do not go to school NIGER

BURKINA FASO

Our priorities in Togo

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B • Protecting children’s rights and encouraging children to take part in decisions affecting them, their communities and wider society

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• Improving the quality of education for toddlers, children in school and giving those who do not attend the opportunity to learn

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• Promoting the health of children and young people

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NIGERIA

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TOGO Country Office Programme Unit

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Community members make use of a new

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Language: French (official) Climate: The climate is generally tropical with average temperatures ranging from 27°C on the coast to about 30°C in the northernmost regions, with a dry climate and characteristics of a tropical savanna. To the south there are two seasons

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Population: 6.4 million

EQUATORIAL

of rain, the first between with occasional regional GUINEA April and July and the second supply difficulties. In the between October and industrial sector, phosphate SAO TOME & PRINCIPE November.Economy: Togo’s mining is no longer the most small sub-Saharan economy important activity, as cement is heavily dependent on both and clinker (cement) export commercial and subsistence to neighboring countries have agriculture, which provides taken over. It has suffered employment for 65% of from the collapse of world the labor force. Cotton, phosphate prices, increased coffee, and cocoa together foreign competition and generate about 30% of financial problems. Togo’s GNI export earnings. Togo is selfper capita is US$380 (World sufficient in basic food goods Bank, 2005). when harvests are normal,

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Capital: Lomé

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TOGO FACTS

“The past year Nhas goko been successful, with tangible results and learning opportunities for us at Plan Togo, families and communities, as well as partner organisations and the Togolese government” – Bell’Aube Houinato GABON

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A YEAR IN

TOGO SUMMARY REPORT

09

FOCUS ON: PROMOTING HEALTH Plan trains community health workers to teach families the best ways of keeping mothers and children healthy.

We also ensure communities have the information and skills to seek quality healthcare and the opportunity to form health insurance associations to meet its cost.

We support health professionals to give mothers advice on nutrition, nursery care and issues like HIV/AIDS. We are also improving communities’ access to clean water and decent sanitation to boost health.

Clean communities, healthy children The Girl’s Friendly School project in Togo

The Bigger Picture

Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Togo faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Protected children’s health by training 8,200 people including 5,068 pupils and 310 community health workers on controlling parasitic infections at school • Improved the quality of schooling for children by supporting construction or repairs in schools and education centres • Helped to increase family incomes by supporting 89 village savings and loans associations in Atakpamé, the capital of Togo’s Plateaux Region.

Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!

“We sometimes make unexpected visits at home to make sure they use clean water and wash their utensils before cooking” To learn more about Plan’s work in Togo visit plan.org.au/ourwork/westafrica/togo

Produced for Togo by the Australian National Office.

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henever the children want a snack from the food vendors at Kamina-Agbogo primary school, in Est-Mono, eastern Togo, they know exactly what to avoid.

The project gives families access to clean water, sanitary facilities and information about simple hygiene rules to keep children safe from disease and improve their quality of life.

The reason is simple: the school’s health committee checks the way the food is prepared and served. If it’s unhygienic, it’s marked with a red flag as unsafe to eat.

It brings together a number of elements. We’re educating communities – particularly mothers and children – on the dangers of their current environment and why cleanliness is so important.

We’re supporting families to install latrines and villagers to put water and sanitation infrastructure in place in their communities, schools and health centres. We’re also training local people on how to manage these projects and keep them maintained.

The committee aren’t men with clipboards but school pupils like Eric, who explains: “We sometimes make unexpected visits at home to make sure they use clean water and wash their utensils before cooking.”

Child health committees like the one in KaminaAgbobo are just one part of Plan’s child health project in the region. The project aims to protect children from diseases caused by the lack of clean water, proper sanitation and understanding of basic hygiene practices.

Education for change The project is badly needed. Est-Mono is in the Plateaux Region of Togo, and is one of the poorest in the country. Only a third of people have clean, safe water to drink or bathe in, and less than eight percent have basic sanitation.

Families are often unaware that dirty water and poor hygiene are a potentially lethal combination for children, particularly those under the age of five. The biggest risk is diarrhoea, which may be a minor complaint in the UK but is responsible for more than 10% of childhood deaths in Togo.

Changing the habits of generations isn’t easy, but Plan, the Togolese government and other partner organisations have joined forces with communities in 30 villages across Est-Mono to work on a health project that is achieving exactly this.

The biggest risk is diarrhoea, which may be a minor complaint in the UK but is responsible for more than 10% of childhood deaths in Togo

Spreading knowledge Most importantly, we’re teaching children, mothers and families about hygiene and how measures like washing their hands before eating can prevent a host of problems. They in turn pass on these messages within the home, to their friends and neighbours, influencing them to change their behaviour.

Florence, a mother of two, says that before the construction of the borehole and awareness-raising on hygiene, diarrhoea and other diseases linked to water were very frequent in the village. “Now I know what their origins are,” she says. “I can explain to the other mothers and their children whom I visit every day, what to do to avoid them.”

So far, 42,900 people, about half of whom are children, now understand basic hygiene.

Encouragingly, the number of people who enjoy clean water has risen from 33% to more than 80% in the areas where Plan works.

Around 30% now have basic sanitation, up from just over seven percent before the project began.

Our goal is that in time, dying of diarrhoea will become a thing of the past.

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.

plan.org.au