Mali: Young people are learning for a better future
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. Millions of children lack access to education, and many young people are unemployed. Two Terre des Hommes projects offer them opportunities for a life free from poverty and exploitation.
Dozens of mostly jihadist groups are fighting for power, money, and influence in Mali. Despite the UN peacekeeping mission, violence and terror are spreading. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced. Furthermore, the effects of the climate crisis are taking their toll on many: droughts, and consequently poverty and hunger, have increased significantly.
Your support for strong children!
Many children leave school early to work and supplement their family income. Some of them join radical groups for money and food. Ramata Coulibaly, project coordinator for terre des hommes in Mali, is aware of the desperate situation of these children and young people: "Hundreds of thousands have had to flee their homes to other parts of Mali to escape the armed conflicts between militias and government troops."
Children separated from their families are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. 5.9 million people need humanitarian aid – over half of them are children. Ramata Coulibaly is convinced that education is the key to a better future.
Terre des Hommes is supported by the organization “AJA” (Association Jeunesse Action Mali), a partner organization with many years of experience in the vocational training and further education of young people. In AJA's training centers, young women and men qualify in areas such as solar energy and computer maintenance, in skilled trades like carpentry, or in poultry, livestock, and fish farming.
During their two-year apprenticeship, they learn not only to think entrepreneurially, but also to gain practical experience in local companies. And after graduation, AJA staff support the young people in their search for permanent employment or in starting their own businesses.
Many girls leave their families in the countryside, hoping to earn good money as domestic workers in the city. But their hopes are usually dashed: often working late into the night for starvation wages, the girls are mistreated or sexually abused. Terre des Hommes partner organization, APSEF (Association for the Promotion of Rights and Family Well-being), offers help to girls in this desperate situation: they find refuge in a shelter and receive legal support. In the past ten years, APSEF has secured the rights of more than 5,000 girls: shorter working hours, regular payment of a minimum wage, or their own room. And the girls now also know that they don't have to endure sexual harassment from their employers, but can defend themselves.