Superstar Malian band Songhoy Blues announced as new WaterAid ambassadors
WaterAid today announces that popular Malian desert blues music group, Songhoy Blues, (new album ‘OPTIMISME’) have become ambassadors for the international charity.
The band, who formed in 2012 after being forced from their homes in northern Mali during civil conflict, have been supporters of the charity for many years, helping it raise money and awareness for its lifesaving work to bring clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene to communities in the world’s poorest places - including their home country.
The Songhoy Blues recently headlined WaterAid’s online music event, the Bathroom Sessions, which brought together stars from all over the world to perform from their privies to raise money for the Future on Tap appeal. This winter, WaterAid aims to raise £3 million to transform lives with clean water across the world. The UK government will match public donations before 4 February 2021, up to £2 million, making double the difference in climate-vulnerable communities.
Aliou Touré lead singer, Songhoy Blues said:
“We’ve supported WaterAid for years because clean water and decent toilets should be available for everyone. I grew up in the desert where I saw people walk many kilometres to find just a litre of water. It’s an injustice that millions are denied these essential basic human rights.
“What WaterAid does is so powerful for millions of people. That’s why we’re excited to become WaterAid ambassadors, working with the charity to raise awareness of how people’s health, lives, and education are affected when these rights are denied to them.
“Headlining WaterAid’s Bathroom Sessions was an opportunity we’re extremely proud of; we’ve always believed in the power of music to break down barriers, revealing our common humanity and creating positive change for people in Mali and all over the world.”
The Songhoy Blues, whose name represents their centuries-old traditional ethnic group, use their music as a voice for power and equality. Their album OPTIMISME comes in the wake of an insurgent summer and reflects their pride in Mali and belief that things can and will improve in Africa as they sing about issues such as gender equality the chance for young people to help drive change. You can find out more about the band’s music and mission on their website www.songhoyblues.com
They chose to perform their bathroom set for WaterAid in Mali’s capital city, Bambako by a river to highlight the fact that 1 in 4 people globally don’t have access to a decent toilet, with hundreds of millions having to use open spaces as bathrooms. In Mali, 11.3 million – that’s 3 in 5 people – don’t have a decent toilet, and over 4 million – 1 in 3 people - don’t have clean water. It is one of the hottest places of earth, and climate change could make it even harder for people to get water. More than 5,000 children under the age of five die every year from water-related diarrhoeal diseases.
The band members visited communities in their home nation with WaterAid, to hear from families about how the lack of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene impacts on their health and livelihoods. They also visited a range of projects where WaterAid has worked to see how rural communities can be transformed with the introduction of these basic human rights, helping children stay healthy and in school, giving women the opportunity to earn a living, and helping communities withstand the effects of extreme weather.
In celebration of the band’s Malian identity and pride in their rich culture, they worked with WaterAid on a series of portraits from the studio of the critically-acclaimed Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, whose famed black and white photos recorded the lives and vibrant culture in Mali’s capital city Bamako following the country’s independence from France in 1960. The photo shoot saw Songhoy Blues recreate some of Sidibé’s iconic images in the studio, now run by Sidibés sons.
Representing Mali’s people and culture through their music, just as Sidibé did through his unique style of photography, Aliou said:
“Malick Sidibe was one of the greatest photographers, part of Mali’s identity. His pictures captured the moment when Malians got their independence. He took the story from the street into his studio.”
Songhoy Blues – whose members are Garba Touré, Aliou Touré, Oumar Touré (all unrelated) and new drummer Drissa Koné – have released three albums. Their distinctive sound, a combination of traditional Malian sounds with western rock ‘n’ roll, has seen them perform at major music events and venues around the world including Glastonbury, the Royal Albert Hall, and Bonnaroo in America. The group has also appeared on the BBC’s “Later with Jools Holland”.
Proud to be supporting WaterAid’s appeal, Aliou said:
“Despite its challenges, we are passionate about Africa and its immense potential, that’s why raising money for Future on Tap is important to us. Through coming together to support WaterAid, we can help transform lives across the world for the better.”
Tim Wainwright, WaterAid Chief Executive Officer said:
"We are absolutely delighted to welcome Songhoy Blues as WaterAid ambassadors. Their passion for Mali and desire to see positive change in their country is inspirational, running through their music which conveys such optimism and hope.
“We look forward to working with them to raise awareness of how, for those millions living without, clean water, decent toilets, and hygiene is the key to unlocking a better future for individuals, communities and nations.”
Watch Songhoy Blues' Bathroom Sessions set
For more information, please contact:
Lisa Martin, Senior Media Officer, [email protected]. Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552 or email [email protected]
WaterAid
WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 26.4 million people with clean water and 26.3 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or find WaterAid UK on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.
- 785 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.[1]
- 2 billion people in the world – almost one in four – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]
- Around 310,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's almost 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]
- Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]
- Just £15 can provide one person with clean water.[5]
[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines
[2] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines
[3] Prüss-Ustün et al. (2014) and The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2018)
[4] World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage
[5] www.wateraid.org
UK Aid Match
UK Aid Match brings charities, the British public and the UK government together to collectively change the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. It is designed to provide opportunities for the UK public to engage with international development issues and to allow the British public to have a say in how UK aid is spent, whilst boosting the impact of the very best civil society projects to reach the poorest people in developing countries.
For every £1 donated to a UK Aid Match charity appeal by an individual living in the UK, the UK government will also contribute £1 of UK aid, up to £2 million, to help these projects go further in changing and saving lives.
Over the last six years, 111 organisations from across the UK have run UK Aid Match projects in 36 countries, helping around 25 million people*.
Match funding from the UK government will be used to bring sustainable water, toilet and hygiene facilities to climate-vulnerable communities where a lack of these basics is putting lives and livelihoods at risk. The project will include constructing flood-resistant community water points and accessible water and sanitation facilities in schools and health centres, as well as training communities to manage the facilities. This includes:
- Form and train community WASH committees
- Renovate the existing spring development with flood protection
- Construct flood resistant community water points
- Install a new solar pumping system
- Construct gender and disability responsive WASH facilities in 3 Health Posts and 5 Schools
- Provision of portable water quality test kits and training
