Mali

• Productive agriculture and a dynamic private sector to combat poverty in rural areas and to develop employment for young people and women; and
• Vocational training and socio-economic integration for young people and women.

The extension of the ICP III has led to budget increases from Luxembourg of EUR 15 million, plus a commitment by the Malian state to finalise the hydro-agricultural development work covering 510 hectares in the West San plain (Ségou region). Long-standing investment by Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation on this plain should, in the long term, make it possible to increase the available agricultural land of more than 1,900 farmers and food and nutritional security for nearly 9,500 beneficiaries.

In the Gao region in the north of Mali, Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation has supported the market garden producers of Tacharane to develop a mini borehole equipped with a solar pump, a piping network and a storage and sale unit. Having subsequently benefited from vocational training courses, the producers’ association was able to significantly improve its yields and today provides apprenticeships to young market gardeners.

Thanks to Luxembourg’s financial support, in April 2019 UN Women launched a simple tailored platform to boost the marketing of agricultural products produced by rural women.

Furthermore, Luxembourg acted as coordinator of the technical and financial partners in the vocational training sector in Mali. In this context, Jean-Claude Sidibé, Mali’s Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, visited Luxembourg on 10 and 11 October to learn more about Luxembourg’s vocational training system and its entrepreneurship training for young people. He visited the Agence de Transfert de Technologie Financière/House of Training, the building sector training institute in Bettembourg, the Lycée Technique du Centre and the TalentHub at the Lycée Technique des Arts et Métiers. The establishment of public-private partnerships was also a focus of discussions during the visit.

In order to improve the employability of young people and their incomes and to promote the creation and management of micro and small enterprises in rural areas, in 2019 the International Labour Office (ILO), through financing from Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation, delivered capacity-building in entrepreneurship for 45 senior employees of national employment promotion agencies. 203 micro-entrepreneurs also strengthened their capacities in entrepreneurship and 1,281 young micro-entrepreneurs were supported by the GERME (‘Gérez Mieux Votre Entreprise’ - Manage Your Enterprise Better) network.

Finally, eight Luxembourgish NGOs (the Luxembourg Red Cross, ECPAT, Fondation Raoul Follereau, Handicap International, SOS Villages d’Enfants, Fondation Partage, SOS Faim and Caritas) have run projects in 2019 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.