Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene | Page 30

Water Supply

the cave,” he says. “Everyone has to take off their shoes
before going into the cave, but that does not prevent
contamination when dirty jerrycans are dipped in the
well.”
Village mason Dogolu Djiguiba, 48, arrives bearing a
yellow plastic container. He is building a house from rocks
and banco, a type of plaster made from mud.

sites and the sinking of 10 new boreholes. Four Malian
communities will also benefit from water distribution
networks.
Samba has been listening to the adults’ conversations. She
gets it now. She asks to speak: “Some of my friends get
sick sometimes. At home we do not drink the water from
the cave. First we add bleach. It does not taste nice.”

MALI
Water and Sanitation Profile

© UNICEF Mali/2015
Village mason Dogolu Djiguiba cuts rocks for a house he is building. He will then
render it with mud plaster made with the same water that provides most of the
village’s drinking water.

“We use the same water for humans, bricks and our
animals. What I want is what the whole village wants. If
we have water, we will live in peace. We will no longer
have blood in our urine,” he says, describing one of the
symptoms of bilharzia, an infection caused by parasitic
worms.
Community development
Farmer Kai Djiguiba, 48, says the long distance to the cave
and to a canyon where he draws water for his livestock is
slowing the village’s development. “If we had safe water
in the village, we would save a lot of time. It would also
allow some of the women, perhaps, to start juice-making
businesses.”
UNICEF Mali WASH officer Soma Konaré confirms
that the arrival of a clean and reliable source of water in a
village often has a wide range of secondary benefits.
“We never just sink a hole, fit a pump and leave,” he says.
“We help the villagers to organize themselves to maintain
the pump and keep the area clean. Crucially, we will also
be able to help them improve their hygiene conditions
and their state of health. This is turn has an impact on the
education of children and the global development of these
communities.”
In UNICEF’s campaign, backed by Volvic, Japanese
consumers who support the “1litre for 10litres” drive
will contribute to the rehabilitation of 28 manual pump
28

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2015

Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 178 out
of 182 countries listed on the Human Development Index (HDI).
Located in West Africa, Mali is land-locked with 57 percent of its
area in the Sahara Desert. Access to clean water is difficult due to
the country’s uneven geographic distribution of water resources.
The climate is unpredictable, with variations between heavy rainfall
and extreme drought. Because 80 percent of the population works
in agriculture, this variability of precipitation makes subsistence
increasingly difficult. Annual per capita income, which ranks as one
of the lowest in the world, is $380. This extreme poverty has a direct
impact on the population’s sanitation and hygiene practices. Of
all deaths in Mali, over 20 percent can be attributed to inadequate water,
sanitation and hygiene.