Mali

Rural Development and rural economies

In Mali, 67% of the population lives in rural areas and contributes to more than 35% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Against this backdrop, the SDC supports the creation of infrastructures allowing for an increase in agricultural productivity and in income, more specifically by means of :

• Hydro-agricultural facilities
• Protective dike installations on lake banks
• Installation of country roads between cities and rural areas

Projects of this kind can stimulate the economies of rural communities. They are complemented by decentralized sectoral budgetary support to enable a more equitable sharing of financial resources among the regions of the country.

Education and professional training
In Mali, the low level of qualification in the work force represents an obstacle to development. To alleviate this problem, the SDC supports the introduction of professional training courses adapted to the needs of the labour market. Such support makes it possible for young men and women to find jobs that are useful to their community. In the domain of basic education, the SDC focuses on enhancing the quality of teachers, on strengthening the involvement of local actors, and on supporting local schools. The SDC also seeks to include disadvantaged groups into the educational system. By jointly addressing the themes of education and training, the SDC targets a continuum running from access to school up to insertion in professional life.

Local public management
Participation, accountability, and inclusion are the principal themes upon which the SDC’s work in Mali is focused. An improvement in the management of local public affairs unfolds via the adoption of specific measures. Therefore, the SDC supports efforts aimed at strengthening the capacity of local public officials in terms of administration and financial management. It also supports citizenship-awareness programmes to enable the population to make its opinion heard on issues in which it is directly concerned.

Gender and governance
In particular, the SDC seeks to enhance the access of women to resources. The SDC also works to create spaces for dialogue characterized by a conflict-prevention approach in the domain of public-affairs administration.

Principal partners
Swiss cooperation works hand in hand not only with the Mali State, but also with civil society. More specifically, it conducts programmes in close cooperation with:

• the public authorities at central level (ministries) and at decentralized level (regional communities)
• associations and socio-professional organizations
• NGOs, local consulting offices, and Swiss institutions (Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and Swisscontact).