Regions: Africa   Asia   Latin America


Name of Organization: Association Malienne d'Initiatives et d'actions pour le Développement (AID-Mali)

Country: Mali

Project Title: "Project d'Education communautaire pour la Réduction du travail et du trafic des enfants" ("Community-based Education project for the Reduction of child labor and child traffic")

Project Timeframe: 12 months

Location of Project: Kaboila

Budget Amount: $10,000

NGO contact and website:
BP: 3179 Bamako, Mali
Phone: 229 81 58
E-mail: aidmali@afribone.net.ml

Project's Primary Objective: Raise awareness of the importance of education for all children, and mobilize a wide array of actors to improve and expand education infrastructures.

Description of Organization: AID-Mali has its main offices in Bamako and sub-office in Sikasso, Bougouni and Koro (Mopti region), and currently has a staff of 40 agents operating under several programs: education, health, reinforcement of civil society and governance, child trafficking.

Description of Project funded by CIRCLE: AID-Mali's CIRCLE project designed in the context of the struggle against work and trafficking of children. It will be implemented in 12 villages in which there are community schools (ECOM) for a total number of 1,214 pupils, among whom 574 girls in the commune of Kaboïla, cercle of Sikasso.

AID-Mali has been involved in the establishment of community schools in this area, making access to education easier for children. There are several factors leading to the risk for children work and trafficking, including inadequate schools and poor teacher training, people's ignorance of the risks associated with school drop out (exploitation, child trafficking, HIV/AIDS), and proximity to Cote d'Ivoire, with a pattern of children leaving to work there on plantations.

This CIRCLE project will directly work with 1,214 pupils (of which 574 are girls) from 12 community schools, and 6 will be integrated into economic activities. Indirectly, an additional 1,511 schooling age children from 12 villages of the commune of Kaboïla will benefit. The project will strengthen the fight against child labour and trafficking of children, while also remaining in accordance with the youth employment policy and the frame for alleviating poverty.

AID-Mali, for this reason, through its activities intends to:
  • Increase the recruiting capacity and the quality of teaching in the 12 community schools of the Kaboïla commune;
  • Promote a communal center or workshop for modular training for crafts and income generating activities (AGR) in the Kaboïla commune;
  • Reinforce the training of six trained youth issued from the communal modular training center in socio-professional and economic life; and
  • Mobilize communal and community opinion on the issue of work and trafficking of children in the Kaboïla commune.
This will be ensured through an integrating participatory approach to allow an understanding of the project activities by the communities: (1) Enrolment and keeping of children at school, (2) Immersion pre-training or apprenticeship for children, (3) Re-inserting-children, and (4) Social mobilization around children work and trafficking.

Project Targets (Common Indicators):
Enrollment: 240
Persistence: 90%
Transition: no transition to other non-CIRCLE funded programs
Conclusion: 90%