Regions: Africa   Asia   Latin America


Name of Organization: Réseau d'Appui et de Conseils aux Initiatives des Artisans du Mali (RAC)

Country: Mali

Project Title: « Projet intégré de réduction du travail des enfants et de scolarisation dans les placers des régions de Kayes et de Sikasso » (Integrated Child Labor Reducation and Education Project in the Kayes and Sikasso Regions)

Project Timeframe: 15 months

Location of Project: Kayes and Sikasso Regions

Budget Amount: $97,466 or 49 805 000 FCFA

NGO contact and website:
Rue 222, Porte 173 Hamdallaye
Bamako Mali Bp: 1502
Phone: 229-26-02, 229-84-58
Email: artisan@experco.net or omsanogo@yahoo.fr

Project's Primary Objective: Assure the long-term sustainability of child labor prevention initiatives

Description of Organization: RAC is a Malian NGO operating nationwide, with a management office in Bamako and sub-offices in Kayes for the western part of Mali, in Koutiala to cover the Regions of Sikasso and Ségou and in Bamako to cover the District of Bamako and the Region of Koulikoro. (The Regions of Mopti, Gao, Timbuctu and Kidal are covered by the management office). In the context of their partnership with the National Federation of Artisan (FNAM), RAC staff collaborates with animators for the implementation in the Regions of Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Ségou and Mopti.

Description of Project funded by CIRCLE: Mali, because of the riches in its soil, especially gold, is strongly concerned over the use of child laborers in mines. At present children between the ages of 5 and 17 can be found there in the regions of Kayes and Sikasso. Often families, in an effort to exploit the land as they can, use children to descend vertically down mine shafts, where they did, carry minerals, break stones, and filter gold powder. Children also sell gold, or provide ancillary services, like making food for miners or selling tools. Some girls are even engaged in prostitution.

These children are not only engaging in dangerous work, but also risk losing their educational, social, and psychological development opportunities. Another reason that children are forced into this work, outside of the poverty level of their family, is the absence of proper educational structures within the community.

Facing the lacking of proper education for children in this area, RAC will initiate this project for the second phase of the CIRCLE, with the objective of child labor reduction. This project aims to offer an education in the intervention zones in order to reinforce the capacity of communities in activities management and school enrollment, and to inculcate the children with a sense of responsibility towards their own education.

Complementary to projects already executed within the national framework working towards the end of child labor in Mali, the project proposed by RAC will reinforce local community initiatives by:
  1. Increasing the capacity of local leaders (chiefs, elected officials, women leaders, and school administrators) by making them more aware using national and international child labor mandates.
  2. Mobilizing communities and children to participate actively in the management of school activities and the application of those national and internatioanl mandates.
  3. Introducing a special education/training program for school-age and non-schooled children, so that they can continue their studies.
  4. Creating mobile classrooms in target areas
  5. Preventing, removing, reintegrating, and educating 250 children in the following target areas: Baye, Dabia, Dialafara, Dombia, Guénégoré, Kouroukoto, Sagalo, Sitakily, Kéniéba, and Massioko


Project Targets (Common Indicators):
Enrollment: 250 children, those older than 8-12 years will be placed in an alternative education program
Persistence: 250
Transition: none specified
Completion: 100%