The Association of Young Water and Sanitation Professionals (AJPEA), with the collaboration and technical and financial support of WATERWORX, SOMAGEP-SA and SOMAPEP-SA of Mali, organized an awareness creation campaign on subsidized connections from 22nd to 23rd June 2019. It was a two-day awareness campaign in three targeted neighbourhoods namely Niamakoro, Sokorodji and Fitiribougouni all in the Eastern part of Bamako. In the form of caravans and discussion sessions with the local authorities of these three suburbs, Young Water and Sanitation Professionals conveyed messages in Bambara language on subsidized connections.

The objectives of this campaign were to raise awareness among the most disadvantaged people in these vulnerable neighbourhoods about the existence of subsidized potable water connections; to provide information on the steps to be taken to connect to the SOMAGEP-SA network, to raise awareness about the rights and responsibilities of citizens who have access to drinking water (right to drinking water, obligation to pay bills, security of meters, the need not to waste water and not pollute the environment, etc.)

The people reacted very positively to these days of campaign considering the very good reception that these young professionals received. They expressed their gratitude for this programme, and wished that the first batch of meters would be connected in a very short time as the need for potable water is really felt. "No more long distance water fetching for women and children," one of the neighbourhood leaders asserted. Some of them expressed their concerns about the unavailability of the distribution network in some parts in various suburbs of the city, and the lack of land titles for some families. The caravanners reassured them by explaining that as part of the structuring project for the supply of drinking water in Bamako, there is an ongoing works aimed at increasing distribution networks across the capital and its surrounding towns. On the issue of land titles, people were advised to contact the municipalities and urban planning departments that are expected to help them obtain all the administrative and land documents necessary for the application for subsidized connection. On their part, the young professionals expressed hope that the messages communicated will have a positive impact, that the people living in the targeted suburbs had understood that they have an opportunity to grab and above all that they must pay their bills and not waste water.

It should be noted that this first awareness campaign focused on subsidized water connections financed by the African Development Bank.