Equal opportunities for marginalised girls - A School for Mamabougou

It takes quite some time to reach the village Mamabougou on a rough trail, accessible only in the dry season. Mamambougou is situated about 25 km off the main road and the administrative site of Finkolo in the far South-East of Mali in the Cercle of Sikasso. The villagers themselves had joined hands and had built two sheds with clay walls and a thatched roof to serve their 100 children as a makeshift school. During the rainy season of 2018, parts of the „school“ collapsed due to the heavy rains; fortunately it happened in the middle of the night. The overall objective of the project „A school for Mamabougou“ was thus to help Mali to attain the SDG 4.1. and to guarantee that by 2030 all girls and boys will have access to a free and high quality primary education. The project aim was to improve the quality of primary education and to support access of girls to a newly constructed primary school. 165 children now enjoy a spacious school with 190m2, sanitary facilities and three classrooms all in brick construction and well furnished and equipped. Furthermore, a training for trainers programme organised together with the „Inspecteurs de l’Académie d’enseignement de Sikasso“ gave the teachers of Mamabougou access to new pedagogical tools and strengthen their creativity and quality in teaching.

Project Background: 

Mali continues to be affected by the long duration of the multi-dimensional Sahel crisis which began back in 2012 and whose consequences are dramatic for the rural and vulnerable populations of the country. This resulted in a political crisis, which has led to challenges for the central state authority in large parts of the country. The security situation is characterised by an increase in uncertainty as the population does not feel safe from jihadist attacks. Furthermore, due to these very difficult circumstances, large parts of the rural population have been displaced, and schools and health centres have been closed down. Additionally, climate change has accelerated the environmental crisis. It has led to a decline in agricultural production and worsened the food and nutrition insecurity for vulnerable populations.

These various crises have aggravated the economic and social situation of the populations of Mali as well as Burkina Faso. In Mali, the humanitarian situation is very worrying with 7.2 million people, or more than 35% of the country’s population, living in the areas affected by the crisis. Of these, 51% are women and 19% are children under 5 years of age. According to the UN- Humanitarian Response Plan from January to December 2019, food insecurity affects one in five Malians, or 20% of the entire population. To contribute to the resolution of this multidimensional crisis, HOPE’87 and its partners have implemented several projects to assist people in both countries to improve their living conditions. Priority is given to the most vulnerable households with children under 5 years, pregnant women and young mothers, vulnerable girls and boys from towns and rural areas with a strong need for education and vocational training as well as to unemployed young people.