The need

Water

In Mali, current national figures indicate that only 62% of the people have access to clean drinking water. The situation applies both to rural and urban settlements. Many people, especially women, spend much of their time searching for water, the time that they could use for other economic activities to make life easier for them.

Children also spend precious school hours looking for water at the expense of their education, leaving a big question mark on how their lives will look like in future.

WaterAid therefore believes that there is an urgent need to find the appropriate and most affordable means to help Mali's poorest people gain access to potable water.

Sanitation

According to national statistics only 4% of the population in Mali has access to adequate sanitation facilities.

Poor sanitation means bad health. Bacteria, viruses and parasites found in human waste are responsible for the transmission of cholera, typhoid and other infectious diseases that kill millions of people each year. The problem is huge in both urban and rural areas and it is clear a huge amount of effort by many actors is needed to ensure that these people are able to gain access to sanitation.

Hygiene promotion

WaterAid Mali is not only interested in the physical water and sanitation facilities that poor people get, instead it is interested in the health benefits that the users derive from these facilities. We believe that it is vital for hygiene promotion to be integrated with the provision of water and sanitation facilities so that the benefiting communities can gain the maximum benefits from their facilities.

Diseases

There are a number of water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery present in Mali. Many other diseases including guinea worm, trachoma and scabies are also related to water, sanitation and hygiene.

In Mali the 2003 national statistics indicate that 62,627 diarrhoea and cholera cases were recorded and there were 1774 trachoma cases nationwide. All of these can be prevented through the provision of clean drinking water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene education.