How we work

WaterAid Mali implements programmes through partnerships with local organisations. These local partners have a great deal of knowledge about the people, culture, traditions, values, languages and area that make them best-placed to understand the needs and challenges where they work.

We support these partners by providing technical, managerial, financial and logistical support. WaterAid Mali therefore operates through local NGOs and decentralized government departments to provide water, sanitation and hygiene services to Mali's poor and deprived populations.

So that the maximum health benefits are achieved our projects integrate water, sanitation and hygiene promotion. It is vital that these three key components go hand in hand - for example without safe hygiene practices, clean water may be contaminated before drinking, without a safe and clean place to go to the toilet, compounds and backyards may become filthy and pets and insects may contaminate the food that people eat and the water that they drink.

We work within the parameters of national policies and procedures and work closely with the appropriate state agencies in charge of the water and sanitation sector to share learning and develop sustainable solutions that benefit the poorest communities.

Advocacy

WaterAid Mali and its partners aim to help the poorest people gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education, but due to the scale of the problem are unable to reach everyone through their project work alone. Therefore we also carry out advocacy work as a means of seeking changes in government policies, attitudes, power relations, social relations, and institutional functioning.

We aim to influence the policies and practices of the main decision makers, donors and public to gain their commitment to the provision of these basic services.