Wateraid in Mali

What is Wateraid?

Safe water pump technology transforms lives in Mali

Wateraid is an international NGO (non-governmental organisation) which works to promote and aid acces to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education in developing nations to help sustainable community development. Wateraid currently works in 26 countries and helps transform the lives of millions living in poverty.

What is the crisis in Mali?
Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, is one of the world's poorest nations. Political instability, violence, widespread poverty and irregular rainfall are contributing factors to Mali's water crisis which has lead to one third of its population lacking access to safe water and over 11 million without sanitation.
The water crisis in Mali has lead to widespread health problems including outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and typhoid due to people being forced to use unsafe water sources. It is estimated that one in five children die before the age of 5.
Access to education is also severely impacted by the water crisis, particularly for girls. After walking long distances to search for water each day, there is limited time to study to gain an education, limited the opportunities of many women and girls.
Despite these devastating issues, health, education and water and sanitation supply remain among the sectors recieving the lowest proportion of the national budget. This presents a huge challenge for Wateraid's work and may limit Mali's success in reaching its millenium development goal targets of 80% access to safe water by 2015.

What is Wateraid's approach in Mali?
During 2006-2010, Wateraid helped 360,000 people in Mali get access to safe water and sanitation services, which is an outstanding achievement. However, in its new country programme strategy which began in 2010 and is expected to complete in 2015, wateraid aims to tackle issues such as sustainability, learning rights of women, equality, and talent management (involving local people in desicion making and training), as well as continuing its work in safe water and sanitation in rural communities. With partner NGOs in Mali, 23 local governments, and health and education departments, Wateraid hope to help a further 415,000 people benefit from the scheme.

Community hygeine education as part of CLTS

Wateraid has been using the CLTS (community led total sanitation) approach, a scheme also used in countries such as Nigeria and Bangladesh. CLTS schemes help educate small communities about the importance of good hygiene, safe water and sanitation, and them helps them to build hygenic latrines, dispose of waste in safe ways and educate the wider community about good hygenic practices.
To ensure the sustainability of its legacy in Mali, Wateraid, members of the local communities are trained to maintain the technology used such as water pumps and latrines, and also to continue to train other communities about hygiene and safe water.

Further reading:
- There is a link to a publication on Wateraids strategy in Mali here. The page also contains links to information pages about the work Wateraid do in other countries.
- The bbc website provides an overview of Mali and some data about its development 
- A fantastic resource page about the effects of lack of safe water access on women by another water charity called the Voss Foundation is available here