NEW! GIS Corner:
USAID/Mali is focused on utilitizing the power of GIS mapping to help achieve our development goals and objectives. We believe that spatial analysis of our activities can help us in the planning stages of all our work in Mali. GIS can also be a useful tool for collaboration between our various partners.
Click on the map thumbnail below to visit our new GIS page:
All Activities in Mali by Communes
Malian Proverbs:
"Face directly at the river, it is better than going around it."
"People prefer their desires more than the good."
"Sitting doesn't earn money."
"Don't eat poison with a humble face."
"A person cannot fry an egg without breaking the shell."
"Don't leave the fish by your hand for the fish at your feet."
Some Project Photos... Women's Network received sewing machines and solar powered radios in the village of Fatoma, Mopti Region Community Telecenter provides internet service in Djenne Irrigation Pump for System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Program in Mopti Region Mango processing/drying in Sikasso Region
“To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean water flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.”
-President Barack Obama, Inaugural Address, January 20,2009
USAID Mali Headlines:
Mali and the United States Hold Innovative Science, Research & Technology Conference in Bamako
(See slide show above)
From January 23-27, 2012, the U.S. Government (USG) and the Government of Mali (GOM) organized a conference focused on: “Science, Research & New Technology for Development.” The USG interagency Global Health Initiative (GHI) team hosted the conference. USG hosts included the United States Agency for International Development, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Bamako.
The innovative conference brought together over 100 scientists, researchers and technology experts from the United States and Mali. This was the first conference of its kind to be held in Africa. It served as an opportunity to merge the important sectors of science and development to explore ways in which research, innovation and new technologies can impact development work in Mali, with a particular emphasis on the health sector. It provided a forum for health scientists and public health professionals from both countries to discuss and align their research and development efforts toward the promotion of GOM and GHI priorities. Conference participants produced a joint U.S. – Malian Government Action Plan which was presented to the U.S. Ambassador at the closing session. Lessons learned from the meeting will inform future research and development work, not only in Mali but throughout Africa and will be shared with other GHI countries to inform future Science for Development meetings.
Click here for more info about the conference - ENGLISH pdf, 368kb
READ MISSION DIRECTOR REBECCA BLACK'S SPEECH HERE - FRENCH pdf, 163kb
USAID/Mali Celebrates 50 Years of Partnership with Mali in the National Park
On October 27, USAID/Mali celebrated its 50th anniversary in the National Park in the capital of Bamako. The day began with USAID/Mali Mission Director Rebecca Black, Chargé d'Affaires Peter Barlerin, interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sangaré Niamoto Ba, and other invited guests and dignitaries gathered to listen to speeches and testimonials that summarized key successes and commitment of funds for the coming year. It was a celebration of USAID’s 50 years of partnership with the people and Government of Mali. This gathering ended with a ceremonial signing of the 2011 development assistance agreement between USAID/Mali and the Government of Mali, followed by a 50th anniversary cake-cutting.
To celebrate USAID’s 50th anniversary in Mali, USAID’s partners, both within the U.S. government interagency and its own, helped populate 40 booths that were open to the public. The interactive booths provided information on current and past programs. Three restaurants provided meals of sorghum and millet all afternoon, providing a taste for the urban market of Mali’s chief crop. Family planning methods were on exhibit, HIV/AIDS testing, malaria testing, examples of the use of radio in literacy campaigns and promoting peace in the north. Peace Corps volunteers supported partner non-governmental organizations in their best-ever sales day for shea butter products and Mali’s famous bogolan (mud cloth) designs. The U.S. National Institutes of Health used microscopes to explain the link between the Anopheles Gambiae mosquito and malaria. The Centers for Disease Control had a blood donation van that collected blood throughout the day. Partner organizations - USAID’s implementers, its partner donor agencies - government and staff joined together in a final reception at the atmospheric National Park restaurant at end of the day. Recognizing Malian tradition, USAID sponsored a cloth with USAID’s logo and joint Malian and U.S. flags, which was turned into stunning outfits by USAID/Mali’s 80 plus staff. There was also a large photo exhibit showcasing some of USAID/Mali's best development work in country.
On October 28, Chargé d’Affaires Balerin accompanied by Mission Director Black and some USAID senior staff had a private meeting with President Amadou Toumani Touré at the Presidential Palace to discuss USAID’s historic support and priorities for the future.
USAID/Mali leveraged its celebration of 50 years of partnership with the Government and people of Mali to dialogue with the government, private sector, and other donors on a new approach for USAID support for Mali’s development.
USAID empowers pupils to serve as, “Youth Ambassadors Against Malaria”
To celebrate World Malaria Day, USAID-funded Keneya Ciwara program launched the ‘’Youth Ambassadors Against Malaria Booklet’’. The Youth Ambassadors against Malaria Initiative was developed by the Keneya Ciwara II Project in partnership with the President Malaria Initiative. It is based primarily on the fact that youth are important vectors for conveying information not only at school level through the peer approach, but also at community and household levels.
The booklet launch brought together in a Bamako-based school, the US Ambassador to Mali, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education, Literacy and Local Languages of Mali and an impressive crowd of students and community members. After making keynote remarks, the US Ambassador handed over copies of the booklet to the Minister of Health for the Minister of Education, Literacy and Local Languages.
Under this initiative, model lessons about malaria are taught in Grade 8 and Grade 9 classes from which the Youth Ambassadors against malaria are selected. The booklet clearly explains malaria transmission routes, groups most vulnerable to malaria, signs and consequences of malaria as well as prevention methods and treatments currently available.
Under the initiative, Keneya Ciwara II Program has to date worked in 10 health districts in Mali. Over 7,000 students from 55 schools have been trained to conduct malaria prevention activities at community and household levels.
USAID joins Mali and donors to celebrate World Malaria Day
On May 26, USAID Mali joined Malians and the donor community in Mali to kick off
International Malaria Day in Selingué, one of the nine health Districts of Sikasso Region in southern Mali. This Year’s celebration of the World Malaria Day in Mali was marked by the launching of a phased universal coverage campaign of Long Lasting Insecticide-treated bed nets (LLINs) combined with the Africa Immunization Week.
Under the LLINs mass distribution campaign, USAID Mali, through the President’s
Malaria Initiative (PMI) responded to the Mali Malaria Control Program’s request by contributing 3.61 million nets out of the 8.6 Million needed nationwide. PMI’s contribution helps to reach over seven million Malians, including the most vulnerable to malaria: children under five and pregnant women. At the end this exercise, it is expected that at least one net will be available for every two individuals in the household, a significant step toward reducing malaria morbidity and mortality in Mali.
Mali’s Minister of Health presided over the launch and administered the first polio drops to a baby while USAID Mali Director Rebecca Black, handed over a LLIN to a local resident to mark the launch of the mass distribution campaign.
Global Health Initiative Executive Director’s Visit
Selected as the single French speaking country for the Global Health Initiative Plus (GHI Plus), Mali hosted the GHI Executive Director Lois Quam for a three-day visit on April 20. Lois Quam came to Mali to gain a better understanding of how GHI principles are being translated into practice locally.
In addition to meeting with US Government agencies representatives in Mali, the GHI
Country Team, UN Agencies and other donors, Lois Quam also embarked on a series of field visits. In Bamako, she visited a community health center which provides long acting family planning methods to women with children under one year old; she assisted at awareness raising sessions on modern contraceptive methods and other maternal and child health promotion-related services.
Visits to health facilities in the outskirts of Bamako offered the GHI Team the opportunity to observe the delivery of maternal and child health services, including integration of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria among pregnant women with Antenatal care. Lois had the opportunity to visit the CDC-supported Blood Transfusion Center of Mali to understand its role in the reduction of maternal and child mortality in Mali.
However, the highlights of Lois’ visit were her meetings with the President and the Prime Minister of Mali to exchange on the Global Health Initiative, promoting new business models on core principles to attain significant health improvement and create an effective, efficient and country-led platform for sustainable delivery of essential health care and public health program.
USAID/Mali Kicks off 50th Anniversary events in Partnership with the Segou Festival on the Niger River
The ‘’Festival sur le Niger’’ is a yearly event organized in the region of Segou that promotes tourism, music and cultural exchanges. The 7th edition of the festival was held from February 1 to 6, 2011 with the theme ‘’Youth and Tradition’’ . It attracted over 20,000 international and local participants, the majority of whom were youth, a major target of USAID/Mali programs. The event provided booths for development agencies and businesses to showcase their programs in addition to other side-events (conferences, press events, performance by artists, visuals) that are conducive to conveying key messages and raising awareness. It also provided an opportunity to kick-off activities in commemoration of USAID’s 50th anniversary in Mali. The Missionsecured a space for 10 booths and invited nine implementing partners from February 1 through 6, 2011, to operate the booths, presenting programs funded by USAID and raising awareness of USG partnership with Mali over the past 50 years. USAID/Mali Mission Director Rebecca Black and Scott Radloff, Director of the USAID Washington Office of Population and Reproductive Health, visited the USAID booth on February 4 to see first-hand the level of attendance.
Last Updated on: February 09, 2012