The 40 UCD®s of Côte d'Ivoire: a national program to accelerate access to water based on UCD solutions 

Among the Group's solutions with a positive impact on health and quality of life, natural capital and the climate, the UCD® (Degremont Compact Units) are a response to the challenges of access to essential services for cities undergoing galloping urban growth, by isolated populations and in the event of natural disasters.

To cope with population growth (3 million inhabitants in 1955, 25 million in 2019), Ivory Coast’s 2016-2020 National Development Plan allowed for the rehabilitation of water infrastructure. It had started with the large cities, and is now focusing on medium-sized cities.

The Office National de l'Eau Potable (ONEP) has deployed several such units, and based on this initial experience, has developed a replicable model on a larger scale.

In 2019, the government, through ONEP, has renewed its trust in SUEZ to support it in the "Water for All" program. It consists of installing 40 compact units to accelerate the growth in the rate of access to water in 31 secondary towns in the country. As a result, more than one million Ivorians will have benefited from quality drinking water in just 24 months.