Passing on good practices to local civil society organizations

The approaches of our projects in Mali

• Educational and future opportunities for girls as well as
• Access to non-violent education, promotion of self-initiatives of village communities,

which we have been able to implement with GRADEM in the rural regions of Ségou, Koulikoro and Mopti in recent years, have successfully contributed to significantly improving the child rights situation in a total of 76 villages. Ecological farming methods have been introduced, leading to sustainably higher crop yields in the arid Sahel region. The supply situation, the income of families and thus also the educational and future prospects of their children have improved. Community initiatives of newly founded and trained cooperatives promote school education for the children. The rural exodus of young girls has diminished. Children's rights have been translated into local languages and a shift toward non-violent education methods can be observed in schools and families!

In order to achieve a wider impact, these successful approaches shall now be passed on to three local organizations (NGOs). GRADEM works with them in the network of Malian child rights organizations, but so far is the only agent that has the necessary know how for these approaches. In this new project, GRADEM is now taking on a coaching role, passing on its experience and knowledge and accompanying three local NGOs in the implementation of their activities in 5 pilot villages each. At the end of the project, they shall be able to expand the approaches independently.

Overall objective (Impact): Contribute to more effective child protection in the three rural regions of Dioïla, Koulikoro and San in Mali.

Project objective (Outcome): The three NGOs Kabu-Wolo, SOLI-AM and Séniwè implement an integrated approach to promote children's rights and sustainable development in 15 villages in their intervention area.

Specific objectives (Outputs):

1. The staff of three local organizations has understood the integrated approach to children's rights and sustainable development and have acquired the necessary skills to transfer their knowledge to the village communities in their respective intervention areas.
2. The staff of the three organizations has practical experience in implementing the integrated approach to children's rights and sustainable development in a total of 15 village communities in their intervention areas.
3. Awareness and acceptance of the integrated approach to children's rights as an effective means of improving children's access to their fundamental rights in rural areas in Mali are strengthened.

Direct target group:

• 3 civil society organizations active in the rural communities of Tenindougou, Motougoula, Benena.
• 2,000 children from 15 project villages of the three communities
• 120 members of 15 (pre)cooperative associations
• 54 leaders from the school sector
• 28 media representatives
• 150 child protection agents from the state and civil society

Indirect target group:

• The population of the 15 project villages in the three project communities (approximately 17,500 people).

• Various trainings of NGO staff on children's rights and their communication in local languages, on the production of radio broadcasts, on the promotion of non-violent education methods, on the concept of (pre-)cooperative associations as well as on agro-ecology
• Accompaniment of 15 villages in the establishment of a (pre-)cooperative association as well as training of the members, i. e.
  Training 120 members of 15 (pre)cooperative associations in sustainable farming methods and small animal husbandry according to agroecological principles, as well as meetings of (pre)cooperative associations to exchange experiences.
• Promotion of community initiatives in all 15 project villages to improve access to school education
• Raising awareness among 2,000 children and young people about children's rights and their own role in asserting their rights
• Promotion of secondary education, especially for girls, in the 15 project villages

Project costs: 469,700 Euros

Funding:

• German Cooperation (BMZ)
• KiRA - Kinderrechte Afrika e. V. (donations)

Cover photo: At the end of the first three-day training course, the participants were satisfied and very motivated to put their new knowledge directly into practice. © GRADEM