Mali

In particular, the hydro-agricultural development work covering 510 hectares in the West San plain (Ségou region) has progressed well, and the plots should be ready for commissioning in 2021. These works should make it possible to increase the available agricultural land of more than 1,900 farmers and facilitate access to food and nutritional security for nearly 9,500 beneficiaries.

With the support of Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation, 174 apprentices (of 180 in apprenticeships) were certified by the Regional Department of Gao and Kidal following training received from master craftsmen. Regional mechanisms in place provide for the training and equipping of these master craftsmen to develop their skills and increase the chances of success for the apprentices, who are also provided with a small amount of equipment in line with the various apprenticeship fields (electricity in construction, joinery, food processing, market gardening, animal fattening, fish farming and repairing motor pumps). In the Ségou region, the regional council has also delivered initial training courses providing qualifications to 1,060 learners and has completed the apprenticeship training of 2,991 apprentices (with a success rate of 94.56%) and has granted 590 loans to individuals to start their first business.

Through support from Luxembourg, it has also been possible to consolidate the achievements of the UN Women programme to improve women’s access to the means of production to build agriculture that is resilient to climate change. Among other things, in 2020 the programme provided access for 2,905 women to 87 hectares of land and boosted the sustainable agricultural practices skills of 10,764 beneficiaries.

In addition, nine Luxembourgish NGOs (Caritas, the Luxembourg Red Cross, ECPAT, Fondation Partage, Fondation Raoul Follereau, Handicap International, SOS Villages d’Enfants, SOS Faim and SOS Sahel) have run projects in 2020 in Mali in the sectors of health, water and sanitation, education and vocational training, rural and agricultural development, emergency aid and the elimination of violence against women.

Political developments, however, prevented the signing of the next ICP, which had been intended to cover the 2021-2025 period. To address these challenges, a development cooperation transition strategy with Mali has been drafted, to direct development cooperation relations during the transition phase.