The struggle of a family for survival.

Kadia, a determined mother, had to flee her home in Burkina Faso with her spouse and two children to seek safety in Mali due to escalating violence in their village. The journey was fraught with dangers and uncertainties, but they supported each other throughout.

Upon their arrival in Mali on October 2, 2023, they found temporary refuge in Boïdie, a village located 15 km from Barouéli, in the Ségou region, where her husband had previously worked. Her husband's former employer welcomed them warmly and offered them a chance for a new beginning. However, the scars of the past continued to haunt Kadia and her family, especially her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Mariam, who had witnessed the horrors of the conflict from a very young age.

"We left our village in the middle of the night, leaving behind parents, families, friends, and everything we owned. My husband's landlord and his family generously shared their home and their meager resources with us, but our arrival also worsened our situation and that of our host family," Kadia recounted. "I was unable to eat enough, which made it difficult to produce milk for breastfeeding my daughter Mariam." Mariam was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition by a member of the Nutrition Activities Support Group (NASG) during home visits and sessions promoting good nutrition practices at the Boïdie community health center.

Through the joint FAO-WFP-UNICEF project: "Support for resilience, food security and nutrition in Mali," supported by the Government of Canada, young Mariam was immediately taken care of. This project provided Kadia, a mother struggling far from her country and family, with a ray of hope.

Well-trained and equipped health workers, available nutrition inputs, and WASH infrastructure such as a new water point, an incinerator, and gender-separated toilets enabled little Mariam to benefit from a conducive environment for her care and, most importantly, to gradually regain her strength week after week. Implemented in the regions of Ségou and Mopti, the project enhanced access to healthcare for local populations, strengthened the technical and operational capacities of health workers, and achieved significant results through various programmatic interventions (Nutrition and WASH) at different levels (health centers, schools, and even at the community level). Its particular focus on women and children, and the emphasis on early detection of malnutrition cases and their referrals to health centers for proper care, was a beacon of hope for Kadia and her family. The recovery rate of children admitted for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in the project area remained above the SPHERE standard minimum threshold of 75 percent throughout the project's implementation. In places like Baroueli in the Ségou region or Bandiagara in the Bandiagara region, this rate was at least 95 percent between 2020 and 2023.

"We must strive to increase and strengthen the convergence of humanitarian interventions, as exemplified by this joint project. Thanks to this initiative, the Boïdie community health center, where I am based, has just been certified by the Ministry of Health and Social Development as meeting health and hygiene standards," said Dr. Alioune Samaké, Technical Director of the Boïdie Community Health Center. "We were also honored at a national ceremony organized by the ministry in Bamako. This reflects the dedication of all key players involved in promoting the well-being of our communities, especially children and women."