Mali

Background

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A food security crisis, resulting from major locust infestations and poor rainfalls, has contributed to a decline in the nutritional status of Malian children, prompting urgent action by the government and UNICEF. The International Monetary Fund cancelled debts incurred by Mali before January 2005, raising hopes that funding once slated for debt repayment can now be used for development.

Issues facing children in Mali

• Hundreds of cases of guinea worm are still reported annually.
• Very few young children have access to preschool programmes.
• Girls still lag far behind boys in school enrolment.
• High teacher-student ratios and overcrowded classrooms impact the quality of education. Primary school repetition and dropout rates are particularly high among girls and in rural communities.
• High illiteracy rates – higher among women than among men – perpetuate the cycle of poverty. 
• Female genital mutilation, which causes lifelong damage, is still commonplace. In the Timbuktu region, two thirds of girls have been mutilated; most of them were subjected to this practice before age 10.
• The Committee on the Rights of the Child noted in 2005 that Mali has failed to implement the Child Protection Act and a compulsory education law.

Activities and results for children

• Mali remains polio-free. Ninety-four per cent of women of childbearing age have been vaccinated against tetanus.
• In regions where UNICEF and its partners have concentrated special efforts, 76 per cent of young children now sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets, reducing their exposure to malaria.
• To ensure that children receive adequate nutrition, 30 schools have been equipped with new canteens. Mothers were mobilized to form management committees.
• Some 15,000 students learned how to protect themselves from the HIV/AIDS virus, thanks to a school-based awareness programme.
• Radio broadcasts were the centrepiece of a national communication campaign to promote education for girls.
• Attitudes toward female genital mutilation are beginning to change. Forty-two per cent of men and 58 per cent of women are now in favour of abandoning the practice.
• Mali has signed cooperation agreements with neighbouring nations to prevent the trafficking of children.
• In 2005, mayors and community leaders from the regions of Kayes, Ségou and Mopti attended workshops on the topic of preventing early marriages.
• UNICEF and the World Food Programme have agreed to work jointly to address nutrition, education and HIV/AIDS prevention and response.