Country background
- Mali is one of the least developed countries in the world, ranking in the Human Development Index (HDI) 178 out of 182 countries.
Policies and strategies
- The water and sanitation sector has been included as a priority sector under the Malian National Strategy for Poverty Reduction (Cadre Stratégique de Lutte contre la Pauvreté - CSLP) from 2002. The overall objective of the CSLP is to fulfil the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
- Apart from different elaborate policy components (among which a Water Code - Code de l’Eau, 2002), the central feature of the government's current water strategy is the National Plan for Access to Drinking Water (Plan National d'Accès à l'Eau Potable - PNAEP, 2004).
- In 2006, a National Water Policy (Politique Nationale de l'Eau) was approved.
- The National Water Policy is supported by the National Strategy for the Development of the Supply of Drinking Water and Sanitation in Rural and Semi-Urban Areas (Stratégie Nationale de Développement de l’Alimentation en Eau Potable et de l’Assainissement en Milieu Rural et Semi-Urbain - AEPA). AEPA was adopted in 2000 and constitutes the basic framework for all programmes and projects in the sector.
- The National Action Plan for the Integrated Management of Water Resources (Plan d'Action National de Gestion Intégrée des Ressources en Eau - PAGIRE, 2007) proposes concrete actions to ensure the implementation of the National Water Policy.
- The National Sanitation Policy (Politique Nationale de l’Assainissement - PNA; Note de présentation du document de la PNA) envisages the MDGs and beyond, and has therefore defined goals for sanitation coverage, hygiene, and liquid, solid and special waste management. For sanitation, the goal is to obtain coverage of 50% by 2015 and 80% by 2025, and to develop district sanitation plans countrywide.
Institutions
- The whole of the water sector is placed under the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy and Water (Ministère de l'Energie et de l'Eau - MEE), of which the operational structure is the National Water Directorate (Direction Nationale de l'Hydraulique - DNH). MEE is responsible for inter-ministerial coordination and all policies in the sector.
- For public drinking water service in rural and semi-urban areas, the DHN is the principal protagonist through its regional (DRHE) and sub-regional (SSRHE) water and energy branches. Regulation of drinking water supply in urban areas has been put in the hands of the Regulatory Commission for Electricity and Water (Commission de Régulation de l'Eau et l'Electricité - CREE). In certain large towns, the reference entity is Energie du Mali-SA (EDM-SA).
- At local level, the municipalities are responsible for public water and sanitation services, and they have the obligation to delegate the management of theses services to third parties.
- Sanitation is the joint responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment and Sanitation (Ministère de l'Environnement et de l'Assainissement - MEA), the Ministry of Health (Ministère de la Santé) and the DNH. In 1998, the National Directorate of Sanitation, Pollution and Nuisance Control (Direction Nationale de l’Assainissement et du Contrôle des Pollutions et des Nuisances - DNACPN) was created under the MEA.
- Coordination: The national WASH Coalition (Coalition Nationale de la Campagne Internationale pour l’Eau, l’Assainissement et l’Hygiène du Mali - CN-CIEPA Mali/WASH-Mali) aims to strengthen the capacity of its members to positively influence governmental policies and development partners with regard to water and sanitation.
