Mali
USAID's Strategy in Mali
Mali stands out as a stable democracy in the midst of the
troubled West African region. The predominantly Muslim country
began a transition to democracy in 1992 and continued with a
peaceful change of power in 2002. For Mali to continue to play
a positive role in the region, strenuous efforts must be made
to achieve broad-based poverty reduction. Therefore, USAID programs
focus on health, education, democracy, economic growth, and
communications expansion.
IMPROVING HEALTH SERVICES
Malaria is the number one killer of children in Mali. USAID
promotes use of insecticide treated bednets, the most cost-effective
way to reduce malaria incidence, making more than 132,000 available
during 2004. USAID funding also expands access to HIV/AIDS prevention
and testing services, further consolidates HIV/AIDS surveillance
activities, reduces vitamin A and iron deficiency, increases
immunization coverage, prevents and treats diarrheal diseases,
and expands access to family planning, and reproductive health
services.
INCREASING THE QUALITY OF BASIC EDUCATION
Mali’s primary school enrollment rate has traditionally
been among the lowest in the world, particularly for girls.
To address this problem, USAID pioneered a program of community
owned and managed primary schools to increase access to primary
education in remote rural areas. Over a seven-year period USAID
built 1,740 community schools. As a result, enrollment grew
from 39 percent in 1995 to 71 percent in 2003, and 43 percent
of primary school students were girls in 2003. USAID’s
program now concentrates on improving the quality of basic education
through teacher training; improving the national primary school
curriculum; mobilizing communities to manage and advocate for
public, community, and Islamic schools; providing scholarships
for over 5,000 disadvantaged girls each year through President
Bush’s Africa Education Initiative; and increasing adult
literacy. Additionally, USAID has distributed over 30,000 books
in national languages, including Arabic, to schools during 2004
and 2005.
STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY
Successful municipal elections in May 2004 boosted Mali’s
credentials as a stable democracy, and for the first time in
Malian history, women were significantly represented on the
ballot. USAID’s democracy and governance program promotes
the participation of various groups in the democratic process;
provides local communities with the skills to administer their
own financial systems; develops policies that support the success
of decentralized government; and increases women’s role
in decision-making. As a result of USAID programs, there has
been a 274 percent increase in the number of female candidates,
and an 86 percent increase in the number of elected female councilors
from the 1999 to the 2004 local government elections in the
targeted 16 communities.
ACCELERATING ECONOMIC GROWTH
Mali's economy is based solely on agriculture (cotton, livestock,
and cereals) and mining (gold), but Mali’s commitment
to a market-based economy is widely acknowledged. USAID programs
strengthen agricultural sector growth by targeting commodities
for which Mali has a comparative advantage, such as rice, potato,
mango, and animal products. They work to reinforce the Malian
private sector by improving the management of agribusinesses
and strengthening microfinance institutions. In the north of
the country, installation of nine irrigation pumps in Mopti,
Timbuktu, and Gao will increase the current production of these
areas by approximately 50 percent, representing additional production
value of over $150,000 for approximately 1,500 farmers. USAID
also helped increase mango exports from 1,151 to more than 2,000
metric tons.
IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
Mali is one of the world’s most information-deprived
countries, with a largely illiterate population and only a nascent
information technology infrastructure. Yet, access to information
is critical to Mali’s development. The USAID communications
for development program improves the quality of information
available on development-related topics and reduces regulatory
and policy constraints on information access. The program reinforces
the impact of USAID’s activities in health, education,
agriculture, the environment, and democracy. USAID is using
Mali’s network of 148 private and eight public radio stations
(the largest number of any African nation) to produce and broadcast
over 250 radio programs. In addition, USAID supports 13 pilot
community learning and information centers, which offer access
to the Internet, email, CD-ROMs, video programming, and general
computer use to potentially over 450,000 Malians in local communities.
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