Access to drinking water in rural Cameroon: in search of an ethical and theological approach to development.

Summary Ethical development choices and practices are the main factors in the effective implementation of the right to drinking water in rural Cameroon. After setting out some benchmarks for the humanization of development in this sub-Saharan African country, this thesis highlights the challenges of access to drinking water through a socio-ethical analysis of the experiences of three water projects in the departments of Sanaga Maritime and Mbam Inoubou. It demonstrates that the rehabilitation of the dignity and capacities of local actors is the lever on which to act in order to institute a society of commonality and communion favorable to ethical development. Contrary to the "non-common" society that emerges from the analysis of field experiences, the common society would be able to respond to situations of precariousness without waiting for the assistance of guardians or trustees.