71428 Bamako, February 2006 CONTENTS CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................................... 2 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................................................. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................................. 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 8 CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................................. 8 STUDY METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 8 I. EN D ER PRO F IL E O F M A L I .............................................................................................................. 15 1.1. GENDER AND THE SOCIO-CULTURAL DIMENSION ....................................................................... 15 1.2. GENDER AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS ............................................................... 22 1.3. GENDER AND POVERTY ....................................................................................................................... 31 1.4. GENDER AND THE ECONOMY............................................................................................................. 34 2.5 GENDER, ACCESS TO AND CONTROL OVER PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES .............................. 44 II. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROMOTION OF EQUITY AND EQUALITY ......................... 57 2.1 GENDER PROMOTION MECHANISMS ............................................................................................ 57 2.2 CONSULTATION FRAMEWORKS AND MECHANISMS................................................................ 61 2.3 MAINSTREAMING GENDER IN NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMMES ............................ 62 III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................... 65 3.1 MAJOR CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 65 3.2 PROPOSAL FOR AN INTERVENTION STRATEGY AIMED AT PROMOTING GENDER EQUITY AND EQUALITY IN MALI................................................................................................................... 70 3.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A BETTER PROMOTION OF GENDER EQUITY AND EQUALITY IN MALI ................................................................................................................................................. 74 ANNEX I NATIONAL CONTEXT .................................................................................................................. 78 ANNEX II : TABLES.......................................................................................................................................... 80 ANNEX III ........................................................................................................................................................... 82 ANNEX IV ........................................................................................................................................................... 91 ANNEX 3.............................................................................................................................................................. 93 ANNEX 4.............................................................................................................................................................. 95 2 Acronyms and Abbreviations ACODEP Support to decentralized communities for participatory development AFAS Association of women living with AIDS CAFO Coordination of women’s non-governmental associations and organizations CCA-ONG National NGO activities coordination committee CDI Commissariat pour le Développement Institutionnel (Institutional development commission) CED Centre d’Education pour le développement (Education centre for development) CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CMT 1962 marital code CNDIFE National centre for documentation and information on women and children CNR/ENF National centre for informal education resources COFED Women and development orientation committee CPS Planning and statistics unit CSCOM Centre de Santé Communautaire (community health centre) CSO Civil Society Organizations DNPF Direction Nationale de la Promotion de la Femme (National directorate for women’s promotion) DNSI Direction Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Information (National statistics and information department) Directions Régionales Promotion Femme, Enfant, Famille (Regional directorates for the DRPFEF promotion of women, children and the family) EDS Demographical and health survey EEG Equity, Equality and Gender EFA Education for all ELIM Enquête Légère Intégrée auprès des Ménages (Integrated household survey) GA Gender Assessment FGM Female Genital Mutilation GDP Gross Domestic Product GER Gross Enrolment Rate GP/DCF Pivotal Group/ Rights and citizenship of women HCNLS National high council on AIDS control HIV/AIDS Human immune-deficiency virus/ Acquired immune deficiency syndrome ICPD International Conference on Population and Development IDP Institutional Development Programme IEC Information, Education, Communication ILO International Labour Office ILO International Labour Organization MDGs Millennium Development Goals Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme, de l'Enfant et de la Famille (Ministry for the MPFEF Promotion of Women, Children and the Family) NGO Non-Governmental Organization PAPF Women’s promotion support programme PAREHF Support programme for enhancing equality between men and women PASAOP Agricultural services and farmers’ organizations support programme PISE Education sector investment programme PLWHA Persons living with HIV/AIDS PNLE National FGM control programme PRODEC Ten-year education development programme PRODESS Health and social development programme RGPH General population census PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper STI Sexually transmitted infection TFP Technical and financial partners TFR Total fertility rate UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization UNFPA United Nations Population Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development WB World Bank WHO World Health Organization ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The primary autors and consultants of this Report were Astou Diagne (Consultant, Economist and Gender Analyst), Catherine Toure (Consultant, Social-Anthropologist), Hamidou Magassa (Consultant, Anthropologist), Jean Samake (Consultant, Statistician- Economist.Yeyande Kasse Sangho (Task Team Leader, World Bank Staff), Mamadou Tangara (Team member), World Bank staff provide team leadership. The Team would like to thank Ms. Mary B. Dock, Sector Manager, Alassane Diawara, Country Manager, Patrick Labaste, Cluster Leader, Mark Blackden and Kouassi Soman, Peer Reviewers, and the Mali Country Office Staff for their feedback and recommendations; Tamar Bocoum and Virginie Vaselopulos for their assistance throughout the process; thanks also to the Mali Officials, UNDP and CIDA for their financial and technical assistance, the other donors for their technical assistance, private individuals for sharing data and experience and the many nationals for their active and dynamic participation in the consultative working groups which provided enriching resources and insights for the review. MALI IN FIGURES Gender Profile Indicator Data (early period) Data (most recent period) HUMAN ASSETS: CAPABILITY Female year Male year Source Female year Male year Source Health Life Expectancy at Birth 61.6 1998 RPGH Crude Birth Rate (per 1,000 people) 49 1998 RPGH Gross Mortality Rate (per 1,000 people) 4.7 2001 4.61 2001 EDS III Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) 116 2001 136 2001 EDS III Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) richest quintile Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births) poorest quintile Under 5 mortality rate (%) 226 2001 250 2001 EDS III Total Fertility Rate (births per woman) 6.7 1996 EDS II 6.8 2001 EDS III Total Fertility Rate Rural (births per woman) 7.3 2001 EDS III Total Fertility Rate Urban (births per woman) 5.5 2001 EDS III Total Fertility Rate (births per literate woman) 4.1 2001 EDS III Total Fertility Rate (births per illiterate woman 7.1 2001 EDS III Adolescent Fertility Rate (births per 1,000 187 1996 EDS II 185 2001 EDS III women aged 15-19) Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100,000 live 577 1996 EDS II 582 2001 EDS III births) Risk of unintended pregnancy (% of married women aged 15-19) Contraceptive Prevalence (% women aged 8.1 2001 EDS III 15-49) Modern Contraceptive Prevalence (% women 5.7 2001 EDS III aged 15-49) Births Attended by Skilled Health Staff (% of 41 2001 EDS III 63 2004 GT Total) Education Adult Illiteracy Rate (15+) 85 2001 68 2001 EDS III 77 2003 57 2003 GT Young adult illiteracy rate (15-25 years old) 38 2002 CSLP 42 2004 CSLP Net Primary Enrollment Rate (% of age group) 32.6 2001 44.2 2001 EDS III 44.3 2003 51.3 2003 ELIM Net Primary Enrollment Rate (% of age group) 58.6 2001 69.4 2001 EDS III Urban areas Net Primary Enrollment Rate (% of age group) 24.7 2001 36.6 2001 EDS III Rural areas Gross primary enrollment rate (% of age 46 1999 56 1999 EDS II 43.1 2001 61.3 2001 EDS III group) Gross secondary enrollment rate (% of age 10.2 2001 12.7 2001 EDS III group) students of 1e cycle basic education 921 513 2003 1 205 608 2003 ELIM students of 2e cycle basic education 366 380 2003 572 800 2003 ELIM students of secondary education 88 821 2003 163 657 2003 ELIM students of higher education Share of Secondary Enrollments net (%) Share of Tertiary Enrollments gross (%) Progression to Grade 5 (% of cohort) 5 Indicator Data (early period) Data (most recent period) HUMAN ASSETS: CAPABILITY Female year Male year Source Female year Male year Source HIV/AIDS Adult HIV Prevalence (% of age group 15-49) 1.7 2001 EDS III 2001 EDS III Percent infected in age group 20-24 1.6 2001 0.3 2001 EDS III Percent infected in age group 25-29 3.2 2001 0.7 2001 EDS III Percent infected in age group 30-34 3.1 2001 3.8 2001 EDS III Percent infected in age group 35-39 2.8 2001 1.1 2001 EDS III Total Number of People Currently Infected 48,000 2001 32,000 2001 EDS III Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in major 2,5 2002 1,9 2002 CSLP 2,5 2004 1,9 2004 CSLP urban areas (% infected) Women Attending Antenatal Clinics outside 1,9 2001 1,1 2001 EDS III major urban areas (% infected) Female Sex Workers / Male STD patients in major urban areas (% infected) ECONOMIC ASSETS: OPPORTUNITY Labor Force Participation Adult economic activity rate Agricultural Labor Force % of total 47 2003 53 2003 ELIM female/male labor force Industry Labor Force % of total female/male 36 2003 64 2003 ELIM labor force Services Labor Force % of total female/male 46 2003 54 2003 ELIM labor force Gender Intensity of Production Agriculture labor force (% female-male) 47 2003 53 2003 ELIM Industry labor force (% female-male) 36 2003 64 2003 ELIM Services labor force (% female-male) 46 2003 54 2003 ELIM Informal Sector employment (% female-male) 66 2003 34 2003 ELIM Contribution to GDP (%) PHYSICAL ASSETS: SECURITY Access to improved drinking water source (%) 42 2001 EDS III Access to improved drinking water source (%) 32 2001 EDS III Rural Access to improved drinking water source (%) 70 2001 EDS III Urban Access to improved sanitation (%) 15.5 2001 EDS III Access to improved sanitation (%) Rural 9.1 2001 EDS III Access to improved sanitation (%) Urban 33 2001 EDS III Traditional energy use (%) Total Time Allocation (hours/week) Time Allocated to Water/Energy Provision (hrs/day) Domestic transport Tasks (hours/day) Share of earned income (% of total) Land Ownership (%) Access to Financial Services (%) 6 Indicator Data (early period) Data (most recent period) HUMAN ASSETS: CAPABILITY Female year Male year Source Female year Male year Source SOCIAL ASSETS: EMPOWERMENT Representation in Parliament (%) 2.6 1997 97.4 1997 DNSI 10.2 2004 89.8 2004 GT Representation at Ministerial Level 20 2002 80 2002 GT 18 2004 82 2004 GT Governor of region 0 1997 100 1997 0 2004 99.3 2004 GT Country Policy on Gender Equality Town councilor 6.7 2004 93.3 2004 GT Local Mayor 0 1997 100 1997 0.7 2004 99.3 2004 GT Women Household Headship (%) 11.3 2001 EDS III 12 2002 DNSI Women Household Headship (%), Rural 10.7 2001 EDS III 11.3 2002 DNSI Women Household Headship (%), Urban 13.2 2001 EDS III 13.7 2002 DNSI SOURCES RGPH Recensement général de la population et de l’habitat ELIM Enquête Légère intégrée auprès des ménages (Minor (General Population and Housing Census) 1998 integrated household survey) 2003 EDS II Enquête démographique et de santé (Demographical GT Groupe thématique (Ministry for the Promotion of and health survey) 1992 Women, Children and the Family) EDS III Enquête démographique et de santé 2001 CSLP Cadre stratégique de lutte contre la pauvreté (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) DNSI Direction Nationale de la Statistique et de CPS Cellule de planification et statistiques (Planning and l’Information (National statistics and information statistic unit) department) 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CONTEXT The gender assessment exercise in Mali was carried out in April-May-June 2005, at the initiative of the World Bank (WB). This issues paper provides the government of Mali and its partners with proposals aimed at improving policies and activities that promote gender equity and equality (GEE). These proposals will be discussed by the authorities and development partners at the national and international levels. They will contribute to improving the integration of the gender perspective in strategy papers such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the World Bank’s assistance strategy, and various cooperation programmes by other donors working in Mali. RELEVANCE OF GENDER ASSESSMENT FOR MALI The decision by the Government of Mali and the World Bank, with the endorsement of the technical and financial partners (TFPs) to assess the gender situation stems from the need: (i) To have an overall reference framework that will help to expose gender issues within the society, propose appropriate measures to overcome constraints to equality between men and women and achieve the gender-related changes advocated for by the country; (ii) For a medium to sustain cooperation frameworks among TFPs, in particular the World Bank, and enhance dialogue among the various stakeholders; (iii) For advocacy with decision-makers and opinion leaders to obtain their commitment in order to create an enabling social, economic, legal and institutional environment for gender equality, through relevant strategic and operational measures. STUDY METHODOLOGY The study was carried out in Mali by a multi-disciplinary team of four consultants comprising a social anthropologist, a statistician economist, an anthropologist and a gender and development specialist. The consultants worked in close collaboration with the World Bank country officer, the gender team and the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family. The study is divided into three sections (i) Drawing up the gender profile in Mali; (ii) Analysis of the institutional framework and level of integration of gender issues in policies, strategies and development programmes, and (iii) Proposing an intervention strategy and recommendations for improving integration of gender concerns in the PRSP and in TFP-supported development programmes. Based on the findings of the study, advocacy will be carried out among decision-makers to inform them about gender-specific developmental challenges, and encourage them to give concrete support to gender mainstreaming. To ascertain the true situation of gender in Mali, the assessment was carried out by way of documentary review, interviews with gender stakeholders, and a field survey in three areas of the country: Sikasso, a rural area in the South, Gao, a rural area in the North and the District of Bamako, an urban area. The information gathered contributed to socio-cultural, economic, legal and institutional sectoral studies. These studies were utilized and analyzed in an issues paper, which in turn was discussed and validated at a national workshop organized in Bamako as well as at a regional one held in Segou. STUDY PLAN The study is divided into four sections: Section 1 presents the national context within which the study falls; Section 2 deals with the gender profile in Mali; Section 3 addresses the institutional framework for gender implementation in Mali; and Section 4 gives the conclusions and recommendations of the 8 study. Attached to this study, the reader will find the list of people met and those supervised, a bibliography and a glossary on gender, which were shared with participants at national and regional workshops. STUDY FINDINGS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CONTEXT The gender assessment exercise in Mali was carried out in April-May-June 2005, at the initiative of the World Bank (WB). This issues paper provides the Government of Mali and its partners with proposals aimed at improving policies and activities that promote gender equity and equality (GEE). These proposals will be discussed by the authorities and development partners at the national and international levels. They will contribute to improving the integration of the gender perspective in strategy papers such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the World Bank’s assistance strategy, and various cooperation programmes by other donors working in Mali. RELEVANCE OF GENDER ASSESSMENT FOR MALI The decision by the Government of Mali and the World Bank, with the endorsement of the technical and financial partners (TFPs) to assess the gender situation stems from the need: (iv) To have an overall reference framework that will help to expose gender issues within the society, propose appropriate measures to overcome constraints to equality between men and women and achieve the gender-related changes advocated by the country; (v) For a medium to sustain cooperation frameworks among TFPs, in particular the World Bank, and enhance dialogue among the various stakeholders; (vi) For advocacy with decision-makers and opinion leaders to obtain their commitment in order to create an enabling social, economic, legal and institutional environment for gender equality, through relevant strategic and operational measures. STUDY METHODOLOGY The study was carried out in Mali by a multi-disciplinary team of four consultants comprising a social anthropologist, a statistician economist, an anthropologist and a gender and development specialist. The consultants worked in close collaboration with the World Bank country officer, the gender team and the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family. The study is divided into three sections (i) Drawing up the gender profile in Mali; (ii) Analysis of the institutional framework and level of integration of gender issues in policies, strategies and development programmes, and (iii) Proposing an intervention strategy and recommendations for improving integration of gender concerns in the PRSP and in TFP-supported development programmes. Based on the findings of the study, advocacy will be carried out among decision-makers to inform them about gender-specific developmental challenges, and encourage them to give concrete support to gender mainstreaming. To ascertain the true situation of gender in Mali, the assessment was carried out by way of documentary review, interviews with gender stakeholders, and a field survey in three areas of the country: Sikasso, a rural area in the South, Gao, a rural area in the North and the District of Bamako, an urban area. The information gathered contributed to socio-cultural, economic, legal and institutional sectoral studies. These studies were utilized and analyzed in an issues paper, which in turn was discussed and validated at a national workshop organized in Bamako as well as at a regional one held in Segou. 9 STUDY PLAN The study is divided into four sections: Section 1 presents the national context within which the study falls; Section 2 deals with the gender profile in Mali; Section 3 addresses the institutional framework for gender implementation in Mali; and Section 4 gives the conclusions and recommendations of the study. Attached to this study, the reader will find the list of people met and those supervised, a bibliography and a glossary on gender, which were shared with participants at national and regional workshops. STUDY FINDINGS c The issue of gender equity and equality in Mali The situation analysis of gender in Mali brought to the fore gender inequalities, which affect men and women differently. These inequalities are as follows: Observation 1: Inequality in status and position within the family and society, which limits the abilities of women and hinders their participation. This situation stems from socio- cultural factors, which have a tendency to weigh heavily on the status of the woman within the family and in society. They further put a check on her chances of going to school, limit her capacity to take decisions and participate in the day-to-day life of the community with the same opportunities as men. These factors relate to: • Cultural values and beliefs which make women submissive to men; • The fact that procreation is controlled by a social system where practices and customs are fostered by learning and socialization practices, whose sole purpose is to keep the woman in her reproductive role; • Gender-specific socialization, which shares roles and responsibilities within the family and the community. Observation 2: Unequal level of instruction, education and qualification. In all the educational systems, girls are less educated than boys. More girls drop out of school, and as they advance within the educational system, their chances of success and completing school dwindle. The illiteracy rate among women aged 15 and above remains high. These disparities are strongly correlated to the living conditions of households and to social and cultural norms, which affect the capacities of women, adversely affect their productivity and put a check on their access to development opportunities. Observation 3: Precarious reproductive health situation of women and adolescent girls. This is shown by high mortality and fertility rates, a precarious nutritional status, practices that are harmful to the health of women and girls and high vulnerability to STI/AIDS. This situation stems partly from constraints peculiar to the health system itself, namely: (i) low health coverage and inadequate health care and (ii) lack of efficacy and efficiency in the management of the health system. This situation is equally due to the economic and social status of women within the family and society. Observation 4: Substantial contribution by women to both the household and market economies, but rather low visibility of the work they do in economic aggregates, and poor access to developmental benefits. The disparity in the distribution of roles and 10 responsibilities in the division of labour, the privilege of manhood accorded to men, in terms of access, management and control of resources, unequal access to economic opportunities and the fact that the household economy is not recognized as productive work, are the major constraints facing Malian women, irrespective of their milieu. This is why women are economically disadvantaged and poverty is rife among them. Observation 5: Varying enjoyment of rights and exercise of roles of men and women within the family and society, notwithstanding the Constitution’s provisions of equal rights. This situation is caused by several factors, including: • Coexistence of modern and customary laws, which foster the perpetuation of discriminatory acts against young girls and women; • Failure to harmonize national legislation with international laws and failure by national lawmakers to consider the new situations faced by women today; • Failure to apply laws that favour equality between men and women; • Persistence of the patriarchal nature of Malian society; and • Malian women’s lack of knowledge of their rights. Observation 6: Poor representation and participation of women in decision-making. The causes identified are varied and relate to: • Gender stereotypes and other socio-cultural prejudices; • Social, family and economic constraints that burden women, leaving them with no opportunity to engage in community activities; • Lack of self-confidence and low level of finance; and • Inadequate integration of equality and equity issues in decision-making, due to lack of awareness of gender issues by decision-makers and opinion leaders and the near inexistence of gender experts among these decision-makers. Observation 7: The system’s failure to recognize the multi-sectoral nature of gender. This problem is largely due to the absence of a national gender strategy and the inadequate intervention capacity of the government machinery responsible for women’s promotion and gender equality, of gender focal points and civil society organizations. The problem is equally because technical and financial partners target their interventions by sector and geographically. Compounding this problem, are poor coordination and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and inadequate gender-specific and gender disaggregated data. All these constraints affect the level of financing accorded to women’s promotion and gender equality activities and the impact of development interventions on the target groups. N Conclusions and Recommendations for Gender Equity and Equality in Mali The intervention strategy proposed is aimed at sustaining the achievement of gender equality through two objectives, . namely: (i) Establishing an enabling socio-cultural, legal, economic and institutional environment for gender promotion; and (ii) Actual mainstreaming of gender in national policies and sectoral development programmes and projects. 11 These proposals were made under 6 pillars in the diagnosis: (i) gender and socio-cultural practices; (ii) gender and education; (iii) gender and health; (iv) gender and economy; (v) gender and law; (vi) gender and participation in governance. Implementation of these proposals requires the establishment of a gender equity and equality strategic framework for the country. These various activities will be financed by the National Gender and Development Programme proposed to be endorsed by the National Budget, the major donors working in gender promotion, and the ongoing national programmes. 21. Establishment of a Gender Strategic Framework for the Country The situation analysis showed the lack of a gender equity and equality strategic framework which today is a structural obstacle to the implementation of the gender perspective in development policies, programmes and projects. Consequently, proposals have been made to: 1. provide the country with a gender-specific reference framework comprising: (i) a Policy Letter on gender equity and equality, (ii) a National Gender Equity and Equality Strategy, and (iii) a National Gender and Development Programme for the operationalization of the Strategy. 2. conduct an institutional review of structures for the implementation of gender equity and equality (organizational audit of MPFEF, operationalization of GED Units, PRSF Enhancement) and review of the most important ongoing national development programmes (PASAOP, PNIR, PISE II, etc.). 3. establish a gender information system for the various structures that collect quantitative data at the national, regional and local levels (DNSI, PRSF, CPS, etc.). 4. ensure optimization of donor interventions by revitalizing the TFP gender consultation framework so as to harmonize interventions (COFED). 22. Gender and Socio-cultural Practices The improvement of women’s socio-cultural position and enhancement of their potential require a change of mentality and social practices. This difficult and slow change will require intense dialogue with the various social groups. Consequently, we propose: 1. advocacy for the findings of the present gender assessment exercise with policy makers (Government, National Assembly, Local Authorities, etc.) to obtain their active support for equity and equality through decisive measures; 2. the implementation of a vast information, awareness and mobilization programme on gender issues for the society and opinion leaders; and 3. the conduct of supplementary studies to better understand the socio-cultural problems: (i) violence to women and young girls; and (ii) the socio-cultural diversities of the different regions of the country. 23. Gender and Education The situation analysis showed unequal level of instruction, education and qualification between girls and boys at all levels, which has worsened in recent years. Proposals for improvement of the situation concern: 1. gender capacity building among education employees; 2. preparation of methodological tools for the planning, budgeting and monitoring-evaluation of interventions in the education sectors; 3. increased school enrolment for young girls and reversal of the current girls/boys parities; 4. improvement of female employment in the education sector by increasing the number of female teachers as well as the admission of women into training institutes ( IFM) ; 5. reduction of work time for women through more day-care services for young children (increase in the number of day-care centres for children) ; 6. elimination of any gender discrimination from school curricula. Assist in a review of the gender perspective in school curricula (review the image of girls/women, message on HIV/AIDS, etc.). 24. Gender and Health 12 Despite extension of coverage of the health system and efforts to improve its quality, women’s health remains a cause for concern, particularly reproductive health, due to poor use of basic social services. Reducing the precariousness of women’s health as manifested by nutritional precariousness, HIV/AIDS vulnerability and high maternal mortality requires improvement of women’s capacity to better use essential health services and enhancement of the education of girls and women. Consequently, the proposals focus on: 1. building the gender capacities of health employees; 2. preparation of methodological tools for the planning, budgeting and monitoring-evaluation of interventions in the health sectors; 3. reinforcement of information and awareness programmes on FP, STI/AIDS, excision, and practices that are harmful to women’s health, as well as the introduction of a HIV/AIDS education programme into the school curricula; 4. reduction of maternal mortality and morbidity ; and 5. adoption of a coherent population policy with projections on the country’s development, as well as implementation of the Family Code. 25. Gender and Economy The woman’s position is marked by her weak economic power and growing feminization of poverty. This situation, which requires organizational and entrepreneurial capacity building, as well as the promotion of new investment and credit prospects, calls for the following proposals: 1. improvement of the economic visibility of women through a study to better understand women’s vulnerability status in relation to men; (ii) assessment of the real status of women in the formal and informal sectors of the economy (iii) assessment of the budget of men and women, boys and girls in the economy of the household; (iv) assessment of the opportunity cost of not integrating the gender perspective into policies and programmes; 2. review of national programmes that target new technologies so as to integrate the specific needs of women (PCDA, AMADER, PASAOP, etc.); 3. preparation and implementation of measures to promote equal access for women and men to productive resources, particularly in developed areas (ORS, ON, ORM PIV, etc.); and 4. support for the emergence of female entrepreneurship and consolidation of income-generating activities through implementation of special measures that facilitate access by women to credit. 26. Gender and Law Based on the fact that men and women enjoy different rights and fulfill different duties in the family and society, our proposals relate to: 1. implementation of international conventions concerning women’s rights, which have already been ratified by the country; 2. finalization of the consultation process and adoption of a new Family Code and its implementation; 3. review of the existing laws and regulations so as to abolish all types of discrimination, in accordance with international conventions ratified by Mali. 4. establishment of a national observatory for the rights of women and girls; and 5. implementation of a vast information, awareness and mobilization programme on women’s rights (Family Code, etc.), practices harmful to the health of women and children, such as excision, violence to women and children, gavage, levirate/sororate, and depigmentation. 27. Gender and Participation in Governance Women constitute a mobilizing force for access to power, but their real participation in power remains low. Our proposals are meant to reduce this handicap through: 1. the development of an awareness programme for the various stakeholders in the society, for equal enjoyment of citizenship by men and women; 2. capacity building of decentralized structures and local authorities for better integration of the gender perspective; 3. integration of the gender perspective in local development plans (LDP). 13 28. Mali gender Asessment Action Plan This action plan makes the sysnthesis of this gender assessment propositions. It can be found at the annex5 of the report . 14 I. GENDER PROFILE OF MALI 1.1. GENDER AND THE SOCIO-CULTURAL DIMENSION Women make up nearly 50.5% of the population - 49% of them are under 15 years old, while 40% of them are of childbearing age. Countrywide, twelve percent of them are heads of household, mostly in urban areas, where they account for 17%. The female population is relatively higher in all regions except in Kidal (46%) and in the district of Bamako (49%)1. In Kidal, harsh geographical and climatic conditions, the standard of living and insecurity make living conditions difficult and heads of family prefer to live there by themselves. The high exodus by men to the capital Bamako explains why men outnumber women in that city. This demographic profile of women is indicative of their population size, their youth and their numerous responsibilities. It also reflects the potential leverage that they could have as resources for their community, both now and in the future. However, such potential will be wasted or not considered by communities, unless women are given the opportunity to develop their full potential, influence decision-making, management and control and bring their concerns and experiences to bear on such matters. The challenge, then, for Mali is that women should become aware of their potential and strive to put it to advantage. The diagnostics of the social situation conducted over the last few years show that women are the most vulnerable group. They bear the brunt of the poverty situation, which affects 30% of households living below the poverty line – mostly in the rural areas, where 60% of the population lives. Women make up 52% of this population. This high number of women in rural areas stems from the rural exodus. The poverty situation, coupled with socio-economic difficulties, have brought about new dimensions to the social role of women, who are increasingly seeing their responsibilities widening, without the gender inequalities that adversely affect their status in the family and society being challenged. Cultural factors leading to gender inequalities Social and cultural gender analysis raises the issue of social relations between men and women. The social roles of men and women are ascribed right from birth, and men and women behave according to socially constructed systems and norms. They adopt socially constructed roles and behaviours expected of them by society, in their capacity as social male beings and social female beings. The work done at the three study reference sites, namely Gao in the north, Sikasso in the south and the district of Mali (urban area) revealed the realities of life for men and women in those areas, and gave a better understanding of their real status in these different contexts, in terms of status, social position, living conditions, access to productive resources, opportunities and participation in community activities. 1 Sources: General Population and Housing Census (RGPH), 1998, Integrated household survey (ELIM) 2003 15 Malian society comprises various ethnic groups distributed countrywide. The major groups are the Bambara, Malinke, Soninké, Sénoufo, Dogon, Sonrhaï, Bozo, Tamasheq, Peul and Maure. They lead a nomadic or sedentary life and engage mainly in three forms of agriculture, namely farming, fishing and livestock. Added to these are cottage industry and trading. Social stratification is strong in these societies, with the various ethnic groups falling into categories of so-called “nobles� and the “casted� or “captives�. Socially acquired values are conveyed within the society, through socialization whose content and mediums of learning (rites and ceremonies, the forbidden, behavioural practices, tales, adages and proverbs) are handed down the generations, mainly by oral tradition. This social categorization affects Malian women in diverse ways, and should be considered in terms of access to resources, having their say, decision-making and economic and social opportunities. The family is the basic institution around which social and economic life is organized. Despite their divergent beliefs and practices, most ethnic groups share the practice of differentiating the roles of men and women, although the practice may differ in intensity, depending on the geographical setting, socio-professional category and age. In the rural areas, life for Gao women is not the same as for those in Sikasso in terms of the social and vocational categorization ascribed to them for production, reproduction and community life. Gao women stay at home more, while Sikasso women are actively involved in farming and market gardening. In urban areas, such as the District of Bamako, women are constantly occupied in promoting economic or professional activities outside the home, alongside their household responsibilities. Irrespective of where they live - rural or urban areas, women face the same fundamental constraints inherent in their status as women. For instance, domestic chores are their exclusive responsibility; they possess very few economic assets, have limited decision-making power within the household and are hardly involved in managing the affairs of their community. Their workload far outweighs that of men, because, in addition to their three-fold role within the family, they are compelled to engage in income-generating activities to supplement the family income as well as meet the community’s social demands such as baptismal ceremonies, funerals, weddings, visits to family and the sick, etc. With such a situation, women have little time on their hands to become the independent, trained and well-armed development players that they should be. (Case study, ESG Mali) In patriarchal-type social systems, household life is based on a culture of subordination of women and domination by men. Traditionally, the man is the embodiment of authority within the household; he lays down the rules, controls and manages the family assets, decides how family land is distributed and maps out its use; takes major decisions and provides for the family’s subsistence, such as the distribution of cereals to household members. The woman owes the man respect and obedience, and in certain cultures, even expression of gratitude on a daily basis. The woman’s social responsibility as mother and wife is to see to the day-to-day running of household. She carries out household chores, takes care of the children and maintains the social reproduction of labour. Indeed, it is her responsibility to support the man in his social mission within the family. Her role is to see to anything that will help create favourable conditions for the accomplishment of the man’s mission, including stepping in for him in the 16 event of disability (absence or illness). She thus stands in for the man in the practical execution of his prerogatives. Social roles are reinforced by stereotypes, which portray images that are easily internalized as being ascribed to men and women, according to female/male abilities, and which are considered as natural. Stereotypes and proudly flaunted cultural practices are often deliberately confused with religion (as in the case of FGM). These stereotypes have maintained moral and psychological influence from generation to generation. Impact of socio-cultural factors on living conditions, education and health of women and men The cultural factors described above have an impact on the living conditions and social status of women, who are discriminated against in the division of labour. They are victims of gender gaps in terms of schooling and are subjected to discriminatory practices such as female genital mutilation, levirate and sororate, forced marriage etc. Such practices have dire effects on women’s health and undermine their position in the family and society. • Impact on living conditions In terms of production, reproduction and community activities, men are assigned the more glamorous roles, while women make do with domestic chores and caring for children. Men engage in farming, heavy-duty work and take on managerial roles in public affairs. Women are involved in production activities, mostly on family farmlands, where they carry out the most demanding jobs such as threshing, transplanting in rice fields and gathering on cotton plantations. Within the community, women are the ones who organize family ceremonies, including initiating and preparing young girls toward wifehood and motherhood. Men, for their part, are the ones who take decisions on issues affecting the community. While women do have a hand in all areas of activity, they are only recognized for their role in social reproduction and the forging of social relations. The productive work they do is hardly acknowledged and as such, is not remunerated. This situation only goes to confirm the dominance/dependence nature of relations between men and women within the family, and which contribute largely to the feminization of poverty. • . Impact on health and physical integrity The family is the most important basic element in most communities in Mali, and maternity is at the centre of family and community life. All cultures hold fertility in high esteem, and the The phenomenon of early marriages is so widespread in Mali that one in two women woman is supposed to “give her husband enter into marriage before the age of 16.5 children�. Failure to do this subjects her to social years, while this figure is 21.1 years for men. rejection. Strong family and community Reproduction is also rife because almost all pressure is brought to bear on a woman who is women (92%) experience first-time sex before the age of 22. The fertility rate carrying or taking care of children. remains high at 6.7 children per woman. (Source : EDS III, 2001) The cult created around fertility is the root cause of early marriages and polygamy within the society. The survey showed that in both northern and southern communities, polygamy is the sign of a man’s power. Polygamy is less rife in the north than in the south (cf table 1). 17 Polygamy is accepted by many Table 1 : Average number of wives and distribution by marital status women, irrespective of their Areas Average % % Number level of education. It is more number Monogamous Polygamous or less a way of succumbing to of wives households households social dictates, which require Urban 1.2 85.0% 15.0% 20 that, to stand in good stead in Rural south 1.8 26.6% 73.3% 15 Rural north 1.0 60.0% 40.0% 15 society marriage is a must, Urban & rural 1.3 60.0% 40.0% 50 even an unhappy one. Women Source : Etude de cas ESG Mali also see marriage as guarantee of a measure of emotional or material security, and a way to abide by religious precepts. Very few women give in to living alone or being abandoned by their spouses, especially when they have children with the man. For men, the rationale for polygamy is guided by the respect for the precepts of Islam, and concern for providing farm labour, reinforcing their social status or quite simply the need for prestige. In the North, as in the South, marriage is what determines society’s recognition of the social status of men and women. However, according to EDS III, monogamy is supposed to be predominant in Mali, at a rate of 73%. This indicator requires explanation. Many customary or religious marriages are not registered at the Registry and may not have been covered by the survey. Besides, other criteria must be taken into account. These include the fact that ethnic groups like the Songhay and Tamasheq, practice very little polygamy. Other considerations include religion (Christianity) and even urbanization and level of education. Tradition and cultural beliefs are other issues raised to justify certain practices against girls and women. An Ad Hoc committee set up by the Government of Mali identified 16 cultural practices as having harmful effects on the health of women and children. These practices include female genital mutilation, tattooing, forced feeding, early and/or forced marriages, levirate or sororate, dietary taboos, physical abuse, use of certain traditional products said to have aphrodisiac properties, de-pigmentation, humiliating practices against women during difficult childbirth, infanticide of orphans of mothers and of natural children, uvula ablation, tooth filing, excessive dieting prior to marriage and bleeding. Of all the practices, forced marriage, FGM, levirate and sororate marriages and violence appear to be the most topical issues today, on account of their psychological and health effects on girls and women. Forced marriage is quite common in Mali. A girl as young as 12 years old can be married off (a frequent practice among the Peul). The women surveyed tried to justify the practice by saying that it is a means of protecting the girl and keeping the honour of the family intact, in the event of unwanted pregnancy. Hence, young girls are often married off without their consent to much older men. Female genital mutilation is also quite common. It is a traditional form of symbolic purification rite, and a means by which society checks on a woman’s fertility. The practice is culturally compared to a religious obligation imposed by Islam. It is important to understand the reasons why this custom persists and the strong resistance to its abolition. 18 For a long time, FGM was considered a “ritual operation that stemmed from social and cultural conceptions�. Since, then, the findings of some studies and surveys FGM: Scope of the practice have brought to the fore the practice’s FGM affects 94% of women of childbearing age. The harmful effects on health. The studies average age for FGM is 6.3 years. The practice is also highlighted the effects on the health rampant among urban and rural communities alike (95% of women. Some of these effects are in Bamako and 96% in rural areas). It is not common in hemorrhage, sometimes fatal, acute the districts of Timbuktu and Gao, where the rate is 9%. infections (tetanus, septicemia, vulva It was also observed that the rate varied according to ethnic groups - (Source : EDS III, 2001) abscess, potential HIV/AIDS transmission) resulting from the use of non-sterilized equipment and genital trauma, such as lesions and fistula, not to mention psychological disorders. According to the EDS III survey, 80% of women questioned would like the practice to continue, saying that it has its advantages, which include facilitating childbirth, controlling sexual desire and ensuring the personal hygiene of girls. The persistence shows that convincing these communities to do away with such practices will be an uphill task. Levirate and sororate marriages - equally common practices in Mali. The levirate specifies that a widow should marry the brother of her deceased husband, where she in effect “inherits the brother. The sororate is the rule that a widower should marry the sister of his deceased wife. This practice allows the family of the husband to keep the bride price previously paid for the deceased wife, and keep the children as well. Apart from the fact that women are rarely consulted in these matters, the practice, just like polygamy, exposes them to the dangers of HIV/AIDS, making them more vulnerable. Gender biases and taboos in the society are the root causes of this situation. Violence against women Analysis of the issue becomes difficult because there are no statistics on the forms and magnitude of the phenomenon and the subject is still taboo among most communities. Be it physical, verbal or sexual (rape, incest) violence, the victims in most cases prefer to remain silent, with the family stifling the problem in order not to bring it to disrepute. This attitude of resignation reflects the unequal relations between men and women within the family and society. Violence against women is the very expression of the power and authority conferred on boys and men. The man is vested with the right to “discipline� the woman and raise her in the same way as a parent would a child. This opinion is corroborated by the EDS III, which states that 89% of Malian women believe that men have the right to beat up their wives for the following reasons: going out without permission, refusal to have sex or neglecting the children. In these conditions, it is quite rare for the abused woman to seek redress, which should be the case, if such practices are to be wiped out. Impact on education Education statistics available show the closing gap between the sexes, but emphasizes the lingering disparities against girls at all levels of education. 19 Here again, the social status of women must not be ignored. The gender distribution of labour, which assigns a good portion of domestic chores to girls and the enhanced value of marriage among young girls in all cultural communities, with its attendant motherhood are the first obstacles to girls’ enrolment. This social subordination of girls, which favours boys, gives little opportunity to girls to pursue their schooling and succeed. Compounding the problem of the socio-cultural prejudices that put a check on girls’ enrolment is the negative perception of modern schools, believed to be breeding grounds for perversion among young girls. The increasing number of child mothers confirms this belief; likewise, the long distances that girls have to travel to school and poor performance, with high repeating and dropout rates, hinder the enrolment of girls and their retention in school. Lastly, the prevailing poverty situation only exacerbates the problem as parents with low incomes are compelled to make choices in spending. When it comes to schooling, based on the role that men are expected to play as family heads, the scales tip heavily in favour of boys. With respect to technical and vocational schools, while disparities may seem blurred in terms of access (33.21% of girls in 1997; 51.57 of girls in 2003), girls outnumber boys in disciplines (secretaryship and family economy) akin to the female roles ascribed to them, while boys take on scientific and technical subjects. This denotes the deep-rooted nature of social representations and their stereotypes, which greatly influence what institutions have on offer and the choices of parents and the boys and girls themselves. In terms of literacy, men are twice as literate as women. The low literacy rate among women is linked to their social status and heavy workload. Between their farm work, off-farm work and household chores, women put in 10 hours a day in urban areas and up to 15 hours a day in rural areas. This does not leave them much free time to attend literacy classes. (Source: Case study, ESG Mali, 2005). Impact on participation The number of women involved in business and politics in both urban and rural areas remains low, given their large numbers in society. This paradoxical situation is suggestive of the patriarchal conception of Malian society and women’s position of inferiority compared to that of men. The world of business and politics, in collective conscience, is still the preserve of men and is based on authority and power, two attributes, which alas, have totally escaped women. Victims of their subordinate status, women themselves perpetuate this discrimination. Most of them lack confidence in their personal abilities and live in fear of not rising to the occasion. Furthermore, faced with the demands of family and social responsibilities, they are hesitant to exchange family stability for the opportunity of a promotion. Even when they do decide to move up the ladder, they constantly find themselves trying to reconcile their professional or political obligations with their responsibilities as mothers or spouses. Alas, oftentimes, most of them prefer to pass up a good opportunity. In conclusion, this review of the socio-cultural context helped to underline the cultural factors that affect the status and position of men and women and the relations between them. These factors weigh heavily over the status of women in the family and society, and limit their ability to take decisions and participate in community life on an equal footing with men. 20 These factors are: ¾ The patriarchal, patrilineal and patrilocal system, which ascribes a dominant position to men within the family and the community, and confers on the woman a subordinate status. This inferiority status is turned to account by custom as guarantee for a blessed progeny and especially as a means of “opening the doors to paradise to the woman who is submissive�; ¾ Education and socialization, which assign roles to girls and boys and determine responsibilities and gender division of labour within the family and society; ¾ Stereotypes and biases which corroborate values and norms decreed by the community and perpetuate gender inequalities; ¾ Low level of education and information among women, whose economic possibilities are also limited, are all constraints, which exacerbate their vulnerability. The major consequence of these socio-cultural factors, which are integrated and interiorized, is that they forge mentalities and determine behaviours and attitudes and serve as justification for resistance to change. With the strategies put in place by government and various development partners to improve the status of women, relations between men and women have seen some changing trends. This is due to the poverty situation, which makes it difficult for men to assume their family responsibilities - a situation, which puts further strain on the responsibilities of women in the household. This, however, in no way calls into question the status and authority of men, whose position as head in the various communities remains intact. Extending the association movement to women has also had quite a remarkable impact on the relations between men and women. In the associations, women have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and hone their negotiation skills. Self-confidence and the urge for enterprise have all become women-specific assets. Unquestionably, this change is the most important gain for women. They have laid the ground, albeit informally now, for the future repositioning of social roles. Above all, this change is a clear indication that far from being static and gender-specific, gender roles rely on the social choices and mechanisms that regulate society. 21 1.2. GENDER AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS Social inequity in the roles of men and women imply social disparities. In Mali, men and women do not have the same possibilities, because society, in socially constructing them differently, conferred on them different abilities. 1.2.1. Situation in terms of education Education, which is a key human development component, is an essential lever for socio- economic and democratic progress. Education is a key factor in the improvement of work productivity and poverty reduction. It is also an important resource that women could use to curb the disparities that hinder their social, economic and citizenship empowerment. The woman’s level of education determines to a large extent the level of other socio-economic indicators. The all-important role played by education in promoting equitable and sustainable human development is reflected at the international level in the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA), the ICPD action plan, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the regional level, this is reflected in NEPAD. In all of these reference documents, in which Mali is a stakeholder, the promotion of education, in particular, girls’ education is stated as a priority objective. At the national level, Mali’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) reflects this commitment. Furthermore, the country has put in place a ten-year development programme (PRODEC, 2001-2010), which is divided into three phases. PRODEC targets the most destitute classes of population, and those most affected by the lack of education and illiteracy. To achieve these major objectives, which include the enrolment of all children of school-going age by 2010 and improving the performance of the education system, priority is given to basic education as the kingpin and trigger for achieving universal basic education. The first phase of PRODEC entails the implementation of the education sector investment programme (PISE). PISE covers a period of four years, from 2001 to 2005, and has three objectives, namely: - Increase basic education enrolment from 56% in 1999/2000 to 70% in 2003/2004 and that of girls from 46% in 1999/2000 to 58% in 2003/2004; - Improve the quality of teaching and learning; - Improve the decentralized management of education and mainstream issues of girls’ education, health and hygiene at school into the programme’s interventions. Like UNICEF, some technical and financial partners have been specifically assisting girls’ enrolment under the “Child friendly and girl friendly school� project. Specialized NGOs and associations are also involved in promoting girls’ enrolment through several initiatives like advocacy activities, bearing the cost of school supplies and teachers’ salaries in community schools mainly, sponsoring of children and providing assistance for equal recruitment. 22 Preschool - The level of enrolment in 2003 was 4.5% (Source CPS/MEN). Equal enrolment for girls and boys has been achieved in pre-school, given that in 2003-2004, 50% of the 46,896 children enrolled were girls. Overall, preschools seem to be in short supply. Public preschools are inadequate and the few that exist are mostly concentrated in urban areas like Bamako. Compounding the problem is poverty, which limits children’s access because their parents lack the means to send those under six years old to private kindergartens. Some families, which are unable to get help from within the family – a grandmother, aunt or cousin - fall on young maidservants to take care of their children at home. This, needless to say, has consequences on the children in terms of learning, safety, diet and health, as these domestic hands are often not qualified to assume those kinds of responsibilities. First cycle basic education, most children are enrolled in public schools. One third of pupils aged between six and thirteen are enrolled in community schools in the rural areas. Private schools, which can only be found in the urban areas, account for 24.5% of total primary enrolments. Aside from these schools, there are the Franco-Arabic schools or Madrases, which take in nearly 2% of children aged between six and twelve. The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) in primary schools rose markedly from 56% in 1999 to 67% in 2003. During the same period, the parity index improved from 0.68 to 0.73 (Source ELIM, 2003). Although the chasm between boys and girls is closing, there still are fewer girls enrolled than boys. Apart from disparities in terms of access, disparities also exist among regions. Enrolment is highest in Bamako, with a GER of 118% and Koulikoro with 71.4%. The rates for all other regions fall short of the national average. Mopti has the lowest enrolment rate with 48.3% (Source ELIM, 2003). These observations notwithstanding, girls’ enrolment has made some strides in the last few years, thanks to the combined efforts of the government, development partners, NGOs and associations. All the efforts made to improve education supply and the numerous awareness activities on girls’ enrolment have done little to improve outcomes for achieving the goal of 100% enrolment by 2010 and the objective to achieve equality between boys and girls by 2005, according to the MDGs. Basic education still faces many constraints such as high drop-out rates due to lack of access, inappropriate facilities, large number of students, repeating and exclusions. Dropout is higher among girls than boys (40% for girls and 30% for boys). The reasons often evoked here are the burdensome household chores and early marriage and pregnancy. Here again, the social role of the woman as mother and spouse, work overload and the lack of opportunities on the job market are the reasons why families would rather marry off their girls early to the detriment of their education. Second cycle basic education. Fewer girls reach the second cycle of basic education. The gross enrolment rate rose sharply from 9% in 2001 to 32% in 2003. The gross enrolment rate for boys saw a similar rise. Although access to schooling improved, the number of girls in secondary schools was still low. 23 Second cycle basic education has not been spared the high dropout rate because of the long distances children travel to school, early marriage and early pregnancy, the high cost of school supplies, lack of facilities and materials, lack of gender training for teachers, and the mounting poverty among families, which makes them push their daughters into marriage or work. Increasingly, at this level, girls and boys alike prefer to seize the easier opportunity of obtaining work in the informal sector, than continuing schooling, where their chances of doing well appear to be slim. For general, technical and vocational schools, EDS III, 2001 data show GER for girls at 10.2% and 12.7% for boys. Out of this number, 51.57% of girls are guided toward technical and vocational training as compared to 58.4% of boys. Unlike boys, girls are increasingly attending technical Distribution (% students) rather than general education schools, as shown by the Academic Boys Girls 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 enrolment figures. Year However, training opportunities are inadequate and 60.36 2001-2002 39.63 unequally distributed across the country. Most training 2002-2003 58.40 51.59 centres are in the urban areas. These schools offer more the so-called male disciplines, hence attract fewer girls, who would rather stick to the areas identified with their social role. New subjects such as agro-industry are gradually being introduced to take into account emerging trends in the development of female entrepreneurship. For higher education, the situation is quite the same as for primary and secondary schools. There are fewer girls at all the faculties, Girls’ enrolment at the University and institutions of especially the sciences (FAST). Gender higher learning 1999 – 2000. (Source : CPS/MEN) stereotypes influence the choices of Faculty of Law and Economics (FSJE) 22 % subjects. Faculty of arts and humanities (FLASH) 21 % More girls take up the Arts and Law and Faculty of science and technology (FAST) 8% attend institutions where the training Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs (ENI) – 4.5 % engineering school takes only two years. There are also very Institut Supérieur (ISFRA) 4% few girls in higher education institutions, Institut Universitaire de Gestion (IUG) – 57 % which prepare students for the third cycle management institute (ENI, ISFRA). . The chances of access and retaining girls in school at this level depend on economic problems such as provision of scholarships and job opportunities and cover for the upkeep of these girls in terms of accommodation, health and transportation. Poverty rears its ugly head again at the university level, where the enrolment rate for girls from poorer households is negligible. In the light of the above situation, the entire formal education system appears to be far from efficient. There is a widening gulf between urban and rural areas as one moves up the education ladder. There are fewer girls enrolled than boys and there is a strong correlation between the level of the disparities, age and the level of education. Compounding the problems inherent in the education system itself are the entrenched social and cultural norms, which militate against girls. The Malian poverty assessment survey (EMEP, 2001) shows that household living standards also have an effect on enrolment. Poorer households are half as 24 likely to send their girls to school. As observed in the socio-cultural analysis, in most cultural contexts, the comparative advantage for girls is marriage and not education. Faced with immense needs and given their scant resources therefore, most families make choices, which do not favour girls. Non-formal education. With the efforts made over the last few years in Mali, illiteracy declined from 2001 – 2003. The literacy rate rose from 21.3% in 2001 to 24% in 2003 (Source: ELIM, 2003). Over the same period, the literacy rate for women rose from 12.7% to 15.9% and that for men from 30.7% to 32.7%. The literacy rate increased because of the establishment and equipping of nearly 200 literacy centres in villages, under PAPF-AP and PAPF-PNDU/BIT. In addition to this, through CNR/ENF, the department of education set up multi-purpose centres in the peri-urban areas of the District of Bamako, mainly to support women’s literacy, IEC and technical training in income-generating activities. In addition, education for development centres (CED), which target children 9 to 14 years old, receive assistance under PRODEC and from NGOs such as Plan Mali and World Vision. In the same vein, ACODEP has embarked on a pre-vocational phase. Many NGOs and associations also organize functional literacy programmes for people between 15 and 55 years old. In spite of the great efforts made, the illiteracy rate among women remains alarming. While the causes for illiteracy are many, just like for other areas, socio-cultural constraints have a strong hand in the situation. These constraints include the fact that women always have very little time left on their hands and have to cope with a busy timetable, they depend on their husbands and in-laws and have virtually no say in scheduling their time to suit their own needs. 1.2.2. Health Situation In terms of the health situation in Mali, a number of problems have beset the performance of the health system, namely: (i) low coverage and poor quality care; (ii) lack of effectiveness and efficiency of health system management; (iii) lack of financial sustainability and (iv) high population growth rate. To address these shortcomings under the Ten-year health and social development plan (PRODESS), the Government of Mali and its development partners have provided financing for PRODESS from 2000 to 2005. The three strategic objectives of the plan are as follows: 1. Expand access to health care and referral services; 2. Improve quality, efficiency and effectiveness of social and health services, especially those related to reproductive health and nutrition; and 3. Build government’s institutional capacities and monitor and evaluate the health and social action system. Her reproductive functions and role as child rearer, as well as her duty to provide care for members of the family makes the woman the leading user of health services and the most concerned about the supply and quality of services offered by public, associative and private health institutions. 25 In Mali, reproduction takes place on the basis of cultural values and references. The woman is socially recognized by her faculties of procreation and as the one who raises the children. , She contributes, thus, to the survival of the family and village communities. The biological function and socio-economic role of the woman define the social status that the pro-birth and religious environment ascribes to her. Fertility remains high with 6.8 children per woman, on average. The influence of women’s education on fertility is especially marked after the primary level. Early pregnancy is seen as a public health issue. One-third of young women under 20 years have Unwanted pregnancies, abandoning of already given birth to at least one child and more children, infanticide and prostitution among than one in 20-24 year olds has already had three or more children. Adolescents (15-19 years) young girls are gaining ground in urban and account for nearly 14% of the total fertility rate of rural areas alike. This shows the inability of women. By 17 years, 38% of women already these girls to control their fertility. Current have one child and 61% of them are already trends show a slight contracting of the mothers by age 19. Early motherhood is more marrying age and the age at first pregnancy. rampant in rural (49%) than in urban (28%) areas, especially among adolescents not enrolled This change is due to several factors: girls’ education, youth unemployment, the rural exodus, migration, difficulties in putting together the dowry and marriage trousseau and other needs and requirements. Strides have been made in antenatal Consultations and data from the EDS III survey show deliveries assisted by medical staff. The wide disparities between urban and rural areas are due to the level of education, physical access, According to EDS III, in 2001, 52.1% of quality care and attitudes and behaviours. Women pregnant women went for antenatal in rural areas would rather preserve traditional birth consultation at least once, 79.5% in urban practices. areas and 43.2% in rural areas. In urban areas, 79% of women give birth at Post-natal visits are not frequent in Mali. Seventy- health centres, while only 25% do so in the rural areas. eight percent of women in urban areas and 85% in rural areas do not go for consultations after delivery. With the low reproductive health coverage, Mali has the highest maternal death rate in the world, with 582 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. PRODESS anticipates that the percentage of medical staff-assisted deliveries would be 65%. Contraception prevalence remains low at 8%, although 78% of Malian women claim to know at least one contraceptive method (Source EDS III). The highest level of knowledge is among women of the 20-34 age cohort in urban The supply sources of contraception methods are areas. The coverage rate has hardly changed the public health sector, community health over the last years, hence the persistent high centres (CSCOM), hospitals and the private fertility rate among women in Mali. The rate is sector, mainly pharmacies. Information on about the same among all women as among family planning is from radio, TV and married women (8%). The maximum rate is newspapers. Sixty-four percent of married women are not aware of any contraception among women between 30 and 39 (11%). In method and have never discussed family planning rural areas, only 5% of married women use one with their spouses. form of contraception or other, compared to 18% in urban areas. By 2005, PRODESS expects contraception prevalence to hover at 15%. 26 With regard to nutrition, the 2025 Malian prospective study conducted by the President’s Office, shows that three out of four Malians do not have a square meal a day. Women are more vulnerable and are the worst off for malnutrition, due to taboos, dietary patterns, frequent pregnancies and too much work. Six out of every ten women suffer from iron deficiency anemia. Irrespective of their status, most women breastfeed their babies. Ninety- five percent of babies are still breastfeeding by age 12 to 15 months. Bottle-feeding is not very common. On average, babies are breastfed until they are 23.1 months. This protracted breastfeeding period tells on the nutritional status of women. As part of HIV/AIDS control activities, the Government of Mali embarked on a vast multisectoral HIV/AIDS control programme, coordinated by the National council on HIV/AIDS control, in conjunction with other national stakeholders. Sectoral plans have been HIV/AIDS : High and medium risk groups developed and implemented, and the strategy (Source : EDS III, 2001) recommends the decentralization of Categories Prevalence rate interventions. The goals for 2005-2009 are to: (i) prevent the spread of the pandemic, Commercial sex workers, hawkers 6.7% especially mother-to-child transmission of Household help (maid servants) 1.7% HIV (PMTCT) and transmission among vulnerable groups; (ii) improve the quality of Ticket resellers at lorry stations 5.7% life of HIV positive persons and that of their Truck drivers 4.1% families and community; (iii) reduce the impact on health services; and (iv) create an ethical and legal environment that respects the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS. Studies and surveys carried out since 1987 show that HIV transmission in Mali occurs mainly through sexual intercourse. Prevalence is relatively low at 1.7%. Women are twice as affected as men (2% and 1.3% respectively). A large majority of the population (90% of women and 98% of men) is aware of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, although most women are not very well informed about the means of transmission and prevention. Despite numerous communication and information campaigns, HIV/AIDS still remains something of a taboo subject, with biases and stereotypes still surrounding the disease (69% of women say that they have never raised the issue with their spouses). In spite of the high level of awareness of the disease, risky behaviours and attitudes do persist. Twenty-two percent of women know about the condom and where to buy it, but only 2% of them have ever used one, and only 9% of men have used it, i.e. with partners other than their wives. Condom use is not systematic during casual sex, even among groups at risk. In April 2004, the Government of Mali declared that antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) would be free. This, however, remains a challenge for sero-positive persons, especially women, who face many obstacles. Some of these are the low quality of services, the concentration of care in Bamako only, the cost of testing, stigmatization and ostracization of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), especially women. Due to gender disparities, the biological, social, cultural and economic vulnerability of women is all the more serious as they are the worst hit by HIV. As a result, women are directly affected by constraints, which include care for sick people, the responsibility of 27 raising AIDS orphans and the survival of the family. Cultural and social practices such as sororate and levirate, which allow families to take care of orphans and widows only exacerbate the spread of the disease in cases where the new spouses carry the virus. The pressure of HIV/AIDS incidence is such that the community reflexes of women have been sharpened, as they increasingly get involved in associations of women suffering from AIDS (AFAS). Gender-based violence is a fact of life in Mali. With expanding urbanization and sub- regional migratory activities, even rural Malian communities are no longer spared acts of sexual violence such as rape. Such cases are increasingly being heard in courts and receiving media attention. Women, and indeed, society at large, are no longer accepting the tolerance levels and taboos surrounding such acts. EDS III shows that 89% of Malian women believe that a man has the right to beat his wife for the following reasons: going out without permission, refusing to have sex and neglecting the children. Only 10% approve all the reasons that justify a woman refusing to have sex with her husband. Female genital mutilation is one of the customary practices that have direct consequences on the health of women in the short and long-terms, as well as psychological and moral consequences as in the testimony recounted above. . Testimony In her thesis, EnSup 1985, Ms. Agnes Dembele Kone cites a hysteria case reported by Dr. Kone at the Hopital du Point G, following the genital mutilation of a newly married woman who could no longer bear to have sexual intercourse: “The patient’s problems started from the very first day of her marriage. On her wedding night, the marriage could not be consummated because the healing wound from the circumcision had nearly closed up the passage to her vagina. A traditional circumcisionist, brought in to solve the problem did a shoddy job on the woman, and then advised the couple to have sex immediately. The experience was so painful that the young bride could no longer bear the thought of having sex again, despite her love for her husband. This, of course, did not meet with the approval of the family, less so that of her husband, who kept on complaining. The young bride’s paternal family condemned her attitude. Following this total rejection, the young woman started having a nervous breakdown, which would have turned to insanity, had she not checked herself immediately into hospital�. The national female genital mutilation control Programme (PNLE) has drawn up an action plan to combat the practice. Over the period 2002-2006, the activities of all stakeholders, men and women alike, will be coordinated, based on a consensual planning model and concerted action. To improve knowledge of the phenomenon of FGM, facilitate information flow and break socio-cultural resistance to positive behavioural changes, PNLE will carry out studies and research with a view to building a database. Following this exercise, it will develop an IEC and advocacy/lobby strategy to obtain the political support of decision- makers and the population. PNLE will assist in the drawing up of curricula to be introduced in training schools for health professionals. Alongside this, PNLE will develop a policy for identifying and managing victims of FGM. In ensuring that national legislation is applied and international agreements implemented, PNLE intends to create an enabling legal environment to protect girls and women against FGM. 28 1.2.3. Access to clean drinking water, sanitation and housing Access to clean drinking water According to EDS III, 70% of people have access to improved source of potable water in urban areas, while only 32% do so in rural areas. The supply of water to the household is an area traditionally reserved for women. Given their domestic chores, they tend to use the most water for household needs. They are the ones to put up with long queues, long waiting time, the weight of carrying the water and the cost. They are helped by their daughters and sometimes daughters-in-law. Although they are the main users of water, women are often excluded from decisions taken on the siting, management and technical maintenance of water points. There are very few of them in water point management committees. However, the PNIR project hopes to integrate equality in the management committees to be set up for the maintenance and monitoring of water facilities. As the main users of water, women are in constant contact with used and unhygienic water, which exposes them to waterborne diseases. They also suffer the most when water is in short supply. Access to sanitation According to EDS III, in 2001, 33% of Malians had quality sanitary facilities in urban areas, and only 9.1% of those in Table 2: Rate of latrine existence and distribution by type of latrine the rural areas did so. The Residential areas Existence Latrine Latrine Number findings of the case study de latrine Traditionnelle Moderne show that 98% of the Urban areas 95.0% 60.0% 35.0% 20 households surveyed had Rural South 100.0% 100.0% 0.0% 15 access to latrines, albeit Rural North 100.0% 93.3% 0.0% 15 traditional ones, and only Total 98.0% 82.0% 14.0% 50 14% had modern latrines Source: Mali Gender assessment study Household waste management Waste management habits vary between villages and cities. In Bamako, private waste companies (GIE) are increasingly being used for waste removal. Users pay user fees, which cover the removal and treatment of the waste. Sixty-five percent of the city’s households use this service. The promoters of these GIEs are often women entrepreneurs like “SANIYA3�2. Initially, GIEs used donkey-drawn carts. Today, they use mechanized equipment for waste collection and treatment, which is a lucrative business. They have specialized in the collection of plastic waste and the purification of septic tanks. In rural areas, households collect and dispose of their own waste. In the South, the waste is dumped in the village and in the fields. In the North, on the other hand, there is a dumping ground outside the village for the waste. Be it in urban or rural areas, women are the ones who carry out this chore, and they either do it themselves, or pay to have it done. 2 Meaning “cleanliness� Bambara 29 Access to housing The case study shows that 90% of the men surveyed in the Bamako district own the homes they live in, while only 25% of women are homeowners. Men in the southern rural areas own the homes they live in and the women, as wives, live in the marital home, and thus are not homeowners. In the North, though, 7% of women do own homes, even though they are married. They most often rent out these homes, and the rent serves as a source of revenue for them. To facilitate access to housing and property, in 2003, Mali adopted a law on co-ownership to enable low-income earners, like women, to become homeowners. 30 1.3. GENDER AND POVERTY As has been emphasized throughout the analysis of the human development indicators, gender inequalities have a definite impact on the economic and social vulnerability of men and women. Poverty too has the potential to aggravate these inequalities, if no measures are taken to alleviate it. Defining poverty Poverty is a phenomenon, which has no single definition; it can be seen from various standpoints, namely living conditions, level of revenue and potentialities. - Poverty seen from the standpoint of living conditions is reflected by a situation of lack in basic areas like food, health, education and housing; - Revenue-related poverty, which stems from inadequate resources leads to insufficient consumption; - Potentiality-related poverty is characterized by lack of capital (access to land, equipment, credit, employment etc.). Source PRSP. The case study revealed a different perception of poverty by the man in the street, whose assessment mechanisms refer more to (i) lack of food, perceived by 73% of those surveyed in this study as the first sign of poverty; (ii) lack of work, especially in urban areas; (iii) disintegration of solidarity mechanisms - 25% of people in urban areas and 38% in rural areas refer to this; and finally, (iv) drought, which, for three-quarters of rural folk, is the leading cause of poverty. Impact of poverty on women and men • Extent and depth of poverty The scale of poverty varies according to the area of Area of Extent of Depth in % residence (urban or rural), the sector of activity, age residence poverty % and sex. 88% of the poor population resides in the rural areas. The incidence of poverty is 76% in rural Urban areas 30.1 22.3 areas and 30% in urban areas. Rural areas 75.9 45.8 Besides, twice the investment must be made in the Mali 63.8 42.3 social sectors in rural areas (Depth: 46%) to bring poor communities on a par with urban areas (Depth: Source: EMEP, DNSI, 2001 22%) in terms of poverty. Source: PRSP, 2002. Based on this overall situation, in 2002, DNSI carried out a study, “Femme et Pauvreté� (Women and Poverty), which provides a better understanding of the differentiated situation of women in terms of gender, status, level of education and employment. 31 • Impact according to gender Graph 1: Poverty status of women Very poor and poor communities make up 64.3% 60% of the female population; the remaining 35.7% are 50% 40% found in non-poor communities. 30% These rates are akin to the poverty rate for the total 20% population. It seems therefore that poverty affects 10% 0% men in the same way as women. Très pauvre Pauvre Non pauvre The study on the poverty profile reveals gender-based situations whose determinants may be: • Impact depending on marital status According to DNSI, 12% of households have a female household head. Table 3 shows that 58% of women household heads are married. This situation, which may seem rather paradoxical, may be Table 3: Distribution according to marital status explained thus (i) the unofficial of woman head of household remarrying of widows, who wish to keep (Source MEPI/ DNSI 2002 Femme et pauvreté ) the pension of the late husband, or for Residence Single Married Widowed Divorced social convenience; (ii) a woman Urban 5.7% 51.4% 35.8% 7.1% belonging to a polygamous household, Rural 3.0% 61.2% 31.7% 4.2% who lives separately from her husband. Urban & Rural 3.8% 58.1% 33.0% 5.1% Quite a number of single women (4%) also have family responsibilities. This corroborates the phenomenon of single-parent households observed in both urban and rural areas (3%), and which is now increasingly being tolerated. Vulnerable groups • Households with women household heads There appears to be less Table 4: Poverty situation (%) of households with a female head poverty in households whose Residence Urban areas Rural areas head is a woman than among the population as a whole. % Population Poverty % Population Poverty Mali as a whole 24.4% 67.9% Households with female It is clear that the situation household heads 11.7% 18.9% 4.3% 47.6% of households that have a woman household head is Source: Estimation BM /OMD diagnostiques et outils not a determining factor of poverty. However, among this category of women are single parents (single women, widows, divorcees), who could find themselves in a deeply vulnerable situation, because of their meager income and their very situation as single women faced with the pressures of taking care of household needs, (bringing up the children, family health, domestic costs, and at times, rental costs). It is quite clear that when incomes are low, a single-parent household headed by a man or woman will always be in a vulnerable situation. 32 • street children under 15 years Seventeen percent of street children are girls, 80% of whom are hawkers, selling miscellaneous items. Hawking comes with risky behaviour among these girls, who engage in prostitution (See table 18 in the annex) • House-help In order to cope with combining the income-generating activities they engage in outside the home with their domestic work, women, especially those in urban areas, employ house-help. These girls carry out the bulk of household chores, namely cooking, washing, keeping the house, minding the children, etc. They often live with their employers, and have practically no rest and receive very meager monthly salaries, far below the minimum wage, which is about 10,000 CFA francs. They comprise mainly migrants, who have come to the city to work for some money to finance their wedding trousseau. These girls, who often arrive at a tender age (quite often below 16 years), in an environment alien to them, are easily malleable and over-stretched. They earn very low wages, with no social security and are very prone to unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS infection and prostitution. Some women have been organizing themselves into NGOs to come to their aid. • Handicapped persons Handicapped persons constitute 0.9% of the total population, and 43.5% of them are women. 39.7% of handicapped women are visually impaired and 20% are physically challenged. Poor and very poor communities host over two-thirds of the female handicapped population, 21% of whom live in very poor communities. In urban areas esp ecially, begging is the main activity practised by the visually Table 5: Distribution (%) of handicapped persons according impaired and physically handicapped. to the poverty situation of the community Despite the solidarity mechanisms Types of handicap Very poor Poor Not poor developed by the society, the Blindness 21.4% 45.5% 33.0% handicapped are still marginalized Physical handicap 18.5% 43.2% 38.2% from society, and even excluded Other handicaps 20.8% 44.9% 34.3% outright, in the case of the mentally Total 20.6% 44.8% 34.6% handicapped (cf table 5). Source DNSI : Femmes et pauvreté and author For a better perception of the situation of these vulnerable groups, there must be more in- depth analysis of poverty profiles from a gender-specific standpoint. Gender disaggregated data and gender-specific indicators are needed for this exercise. Out of the approximately fifty indicators available for monitoring poverty, only one indicator specifically integrates women’s concerns - “The proportion of women benefiting from micro-credit�. To improve the situation, the sector ministries, in conjunction with the poverty monitoring unit, should speed up work on building a gender-disaggregated database. 33 1.4. GENDER AND THE ECONOMY Generally, the role of women and men in the economy is closely tied to their status in the family and society. Thus, the household economy or merchant economy, the assignment of roles and responsibilities and the recognition and valorization or not of the contributions of men and women are all based on gender differentiations. The rules of authority, hierarchy, negotiation and power constitute the base of family relations and production. The activities carried out by women and men are socially constructed and conform to rules and norms ascribed by the social systems they pertain to. ¬ The labour force and non-working population in Mali The labour force in Mali accounts for 56% of the total population. It is characterized by its youth, high concentration in rural areas and unequal distribution between men and women. (cf Table 19 in the annex). ¬ Labour force by area of activity The table 20 in theannex shows the distribution by area of activity of working women and men. The primary sector employs one in two while trade employs 17%. Women are portrayed in socially constructed areas of activity such as education, health, administration and services. In the civil service, it is observed that the number of women diminishes as the hierarchy of categories rises. Only 10% of category A Table 6 : Distribution of civil service staff by category women are among the Men Women managerial staff. There are Categories Number % Number % Total more women in categories B and A 7 555 90.4 806 9.6 8 361 C, where we have middle-level B2 13 928 77.3 4 084 33.7 18 012 and support staff (cf table 6). B1 2 732 66.1 1 399 33.9 5 435 It must be pointed out that the C 3 540 65.1 1 895 34.9 5 435 socially constructed trades for Other staff 8 788 84.7 1 584 15.3 10 372 All categories 36 543 78.9 9 768 21.1 46 311 women are found in categories Source : MFPT, 2000 B and C: teachers, nurses, mid-wives, secretaries, etc. Studies carried out by the civil service in 2001 and 2002 indicate that women do not occupy positions of responsibility because of inadequate schooling for girls and inadequate training for women in the public service. Employment and vocational training sectors The traditional agricultural sector and informal sector are the chief employers. The public service (42,000 jobs) and the private sector (36,500 jobs) occupy an insignificant position compared to the rural sector, which employs 3.97 million people, and the informal sector with 1.18 million jobs out of a total of 5.2 million. The low rate of employment in the public sector and the inability of the private sector to create enough jobs suggest a grim picture for the short term, in the absence of a more encouraging investment-oriented employment strategy. Moreover, vocational and technical training is not really tailored to the needs of the economy and does not constitute a dynamic factor of access to employment. Micro-enterprise and individual employment have acquired great importance in Mali’s economy. Salaried workers number a mere 80,000, within a context where the civil service is not a major employer and where not many modern private enterprises are created. Training is mainly through street-side apprenticeship or within the family setting. This, in effect, is a process of self-apprenticeship, because the master trainer dwells more on the use of physical energy, rather than the transfer of know-how, especially as there are no apprenticeship support mechanisms. (Source: PRSP) Following this brief review of the employment situation, the following observations can be made (cf table 21 in the annex): (i) Apart from the rural areas, the informal sector is the leading provider of jobs, especially in urban areas. This situation leads to job insecurity. Furthermore, 37% of workers say that they do not receive any form of fixed remuneration. Women make up 43% of this group. (ii) In the civil service, most women occupy junior positions. (iii) Both in private companies and in the civil service, women are mostly found in the services sector, education, health and administration. (iv) Forty-three percent of working women say that they receive no pay, compared to 31% of men. The lack of remuneration reduces with age; it affects mainly the youth and women. This phenomenon is especially rampant in rural areas (46%). In the urban areas, where this figure is 12%, there is no remuneration for apprenticeship or in-service training in companies. Sometimes the training period is prolonged, contrary to rules laid down by the work code. (v) Twice as many men have regular jobs. 1.4.1. Socio-economic roles of men and women in the household economy Generally, the actual work time of women is underestimated and their contribution to the productive household economy is not valued. The activities engaged in by men and women in the household economy are threefold: agricultural activities in rural areas, non-agricultural activities (paid work, trading, cottage industry, sale of firewood, housing) and domestic activities. In the rural areas, women are engaged Table 7: Daily workload for farming activities Area of residence Men Women Women’s time in three categories of activity. In /Men’s time addition to their domestic work, they ratio contribute to agricultural work and Urban - - - carry out some non-agricultural Rural south 8.3 heures 6.5 heures 78.4% activities such as petty trading or Rural north 6.0 heures 0.2 heures 3.3% cottage industry to supplement their Together 7.2 heures 3.4 heures 47.0% incomes. Source Case study, ESG Mali, 2005 Table 8: Daily workload for non-farming activities In urban areas, women carry out more Area of residence Men Women Women’s time non-farming activities. This does not /Men’s time ratio exempt them, though, from domestic Rural south 6.8 heures 5.1 heures 75.0% chores, most of which fall on their Rural north 4.6 heures 4.5 heures 97.8% shoulders. The sole difference with the Together 1.8 heures 0.5 heures 27.7% rural women is that, urban women can Ensemble 5.4 heures 4.3 heures 79.6% afford house help to carry out the Source Case study, ESG Mali, 2005 domestic chores. Within the household, in keeping with her reproductive role, it is the woman’s responsibility to carry out all domestic chores such as preparing meals, maintaining the household, searching for water and firewood, especially in rural areas, raising the children and caring for the sick and aged. In addition, she has to steer social relations with her husband’s family and friends, as well as with her own family. 35 The Mali Gender Assessment case study provides us with some indications on the situations in the North and South of the county. (cf tables 7, 8) Table 9: work. In the South, 95% of the women carry out domestic Men’s contribution Daily workload for domestic activitiesfor accounts only 0.7 of an hour per day, i.e. 5% of Area of Men Women Men’s time/ Number the work time of women, and is residence Women’s time essentially devoted to maintenance Ratio works on the house, like plastering, Urban 0.6 h 3.7 h 16.4% 20 Rural south 0.7 h 13.5 h 5.0% 15 annual fencing and minor repairs. Rural north 2.6 h 3.4 h 77.8% 15 In the North, the situation is quite Together 1.0 h 7.2 h 14.2% 50 different. Women mostly stay at home and hardly engage in activities outside the home, because they rarely go out. The household work is less of a chore for them because their husbands give them a hand, putting in 77.8% of the wives’ work time. The husbands devote nearly three hours in the day to taking care of the children, seeing to the comfort of the home and carrying out activities outside the home. . In the urban areas, women are as active as men are. They are in gainful employment, petty trading and other informal sector trading activities. In the South, women have a heavy workload, because in addition to their household chores, they have to participate in work on the family farms, as well as on their own plots of land, where they cultivate crops, which account for a large portion of the household consumption.. They receive no remuneration for these activities. This work overload has dire consequences on their economic abilities and possibilities. Women in the South therefore, have very little free time to devote to their own social advancement (literacy and training), or economic empowerment (income-generating activities). There is also no denying that this heavy workload has the greatest impact on their reproductive health. Women in the southern rural areas have busy schedules - they carry out farm work, engage in extra activities and all the domestic chores; The resources from savings/tontine or credit or income from their own activities are used to supplement the household expenses; Women in the northern rural areas devote themselves mainly to their role as housewives. Their revenue from tontine or non-farming activities are used for their own needs (jewelry, livestock, family ceremonies). They contribute much less to the household expenses. . Women in urban areas (Bamako) are occupied the whole year round with their economic activities. They carry out tasks like household work that society traditionally ascribes to them. They bear the cost of engaging house-help, as well as pay for the firewood used in the traditional home. Their income comes from salaried work or other income-generating activities. They contribute to the household expenses. Men in both the South and the North engage in the production of cash crops and they control the proceeds from this activity. Women are not paid for their contribution to this activity. 36 Overall, Malian women work more hours than men, doing household work, farm work and non- farm work. Women in rural areas put in 15 hours a day on average compared to 13 hours for men. In the urban areas, women work an average 10 hours a day and men work seven hours. Women are very active in the household economy. However, their reproduction activities are not recognized as having marketable value, while men’s activities have value and are therefore remunerated. This compounds the problem of all women, who are already subjected to inequalities in terms of work overload, the lack of time to undergo training, participate in the life of their community and consequently the market economy. The unequal distribution of roles and responsibilities in the division of labour, the disparities observed in the control and use of resources from individual or collective work in the home, and the unequal access to economic opportunities are real constraints facing Malian women, irrespective of their milieu. These, without doubt, are the reasons for the feminization of poverty. In the light of this analysis, there is no doubt that for women to be empowered as fully- fledged development stakeholders, their workload needs to be lightened, value put on their reproductive and productive work and their economic power within the household enhanced. 1.4.2. Contribution of men and women to the market economy ¬Participation of women and men in different sectors of activity The data collected show that while both men and women are involved in all sectors of production, their participation in and access to production assets are unequal. ¾ Situation in the primary sector Women’s assets in the primary sector account for 45%. • In the agricultural sector Cereals and cash crops Agricultural production takes place within the production unit, which is the family holding. In his capacity as family head, the man also heads the farm. He holds the title deed to the land or farm permit, and organizes and manages the farm. The few women who head farms are widows or urban women who have invested in agriculture. Farming activities are carried out according to gender distribution of labour. The men produce cash crops, which bring in revenue and the women cultivate food crops, mainly for the family’s subsistence. However, women also contribute to the production of cash crops; but their participation is simply tied to the role Table 10: Distribution (%) of farming assigned to them in the household economy. population by category of work They do this in addition to their domestic chores Categories of work Men Women Unpaid work 51.0 77.1 and are often not paid for it. Self-employed 42.4 18.4 The data in Table 10 show the vulnerability of Regular work 2.8 1.0 women, who, despite being important economic Piece work 2.1 1.6 Undeclared 1.7 1.9 stakeholders, may find themselves devoid of Total 100% 100% assets. They are not paid for most of the work Source ELIM 2003 and Author they do. Seventy-seven percent of women working in agriculture say that they do not receive any form of remuneration. Only 18% of them work for themselves. 37 With regard to the work proper, women in cotton-growing areas specialize in gathering, and those in the rice growing areas specialize in planting and threshing. However, they still have to carry out some other male-specific jobs like clearing, ploughing, weeding and harrowing, especially in situations where the men have emigrated. Participation of women’s planting groups in developed rice growing areas The farm head himself is of the opinion that membership of women in planting groups is quite widespread, and involves 69% of farms in the developed areas (compared to 57% in the peripheral areas). These women’s groups (for planting, and to a lesser extent for harvesting) started developing from 1992. For planting, the women’s groups are often preferred to men’s groups because their work is more thorough. (Source: URDOC et Nyéta Conseil / Office du Niger) To complete the list of activities carried out by women in rural areas and to have a better grasp of their contribution to the economy, agricultural product processing and market- gardening must be included. These production activities are reserved for women and can be a source of revenue, when they get the opportunity to market them. Market-gardening was hitherto considered by farmers as a source of side income. It was almost exclusively carried out by women on small plots. With the introduction of improved cropping techniques, production levels and financial margins have greatly increased. (See Table 11). Table 11: Values of operating account indicators of different speculations over an area of one hectare Total costs Production value Gross margin Speculations Production (kg) Cost F/Kg FCFA FCFA FCFA Rice 345 520 5 581 641 815 62 296 295 Maize 206 700 4 000 480 000 52 273 300 Shallots 978 500 40 000 4 000 000 24 3 021 500 Potatoes 3 862 295 40 000 8 000 000 97 4 137 705 Tomatoes 1 008 680 32 000 1 280 000 32 271 320 Source : SE /Office du Niger The gross margins for the two major market-gardening products (shallots and potatoes) are much higher than those for rice. Moreover, the production cost of shallots (24F/kg) is much lower than that of rice (62F/kg), implying less initial investment for its production. This certainly is what attracts women to market-gardening, since they can put in less investment but reap high returns. This sub-sector has three major handicaps: (i) limited available market; (ii) seasonal activity; and (iii) precarious storage and packaging conditions. However, efforts are being made to export these products, and the women have been organizing themselves into groups (GIEF) to check the adverse effects of these handicaps. They have built huts for storing and preserving shallots, which they introduce on the market at the opportune time. In view of the high returns from market-gardening, some men (37% in 2002 according to the URDOC report) have started showing interest in the activity. This does not bode well for women, who will find themselves sidelined, simply because their land space would be drastically reduced and their investment capacity in terms of resources, time and finances would be less than that of men, whose income levels are already higher and who have much more time at their disposal than women. 38 • Livestock sector Livestock contributes to 10% of GDP and is the third export earner (13%) after cotton and gold. Mali has the largest cattle stock in Africa, with nearly six million heads of cattle. The country supplies the sub-region’s beef and veal requirements. This sector is characterized by a distribution of roles between men and women: For cattle, men are responsible for grazing, seasonal migration of the herds and marketing. The women process the milk into butter and matured milk and are responsible for marketing. For small ruminants, women are the major players. Increasingly, they engage in fattening the sheep for sale. For poultry, rural women engage in traditional poultry rearing and in the peripheries of urban areas, women and men alike carry out semi-industrial poultry activities, with the production of broilers and eggs. Fulani women have total control over proceeds from milk products. They use these proceeds for the household food requirements as well as their personal needs like savings, buying gold, etc. The cattle stock serves as medium-term and long term savings for both men and women. In this community, the dowry is essentially made up of heads of cattle. • Fisheries The household constitutes the basic social unit of fishermen, made up of seven to eight people on average, including at least, two active ones. . Fishing activity in the Central Delta is in two or three processes: the catch, processing and marketing. The men catch the fish and the women process it by salting, smoking or drying. They are also responsible for marketing the fish. Fresh fish marketing is the predominant activity in areas with dammed lakes because it is the most profitable venture. There are as many men wholesalers as women. Retail, however, is the exclusive activity of women at the urban markets. Most fish wholesalers process the fish (salting, drying and smoking) at home, where they can supervise the process, while doing other things. During the high fish season, the whole operation can take 10 to 12 hours in deplorable unhygienic conditions. These women lack the finances to renew their materials or adopt more profitable methods such as cold storage. The Office de Peche Mopti (OPM) and the Office de Developpement Rural de Selingue (ODRS) both provide training and supervision for these women. OPM has 19 extension bases, which supervise 16,469 households, who live mainly on fishing, and supports 135 women’s associations. • Forestry Women operate and protect wood resources. They look for firewood, which provides 90% of the household’s energy requirements (cooking, heating and lighting) and sell charcoal and firewood. Gathering plays a key role in the diet. Women also use medicinal plants (barks, leaves, flowers, fruits) for treating members of their family. They are also very much involved in activities such as creation of nurseries and agro-forestry to protect the forests and natural resources. These activities make up for environmental degradation resulting from the excessive felling of trees by both men and women. 39 Women earn 50% of their revenue from Involvement of women in marketing of forest products the sale of firewood and wild products - Wood operations 30% (the tamarind tree, doumier, nere, - Charcoal sales 40% ronier, date tree etc.). However, there - Wood sales 40% is increasing competition from the men, - Picking operations (shea, néré, etc.) 80% (Source: Rapport 2004 Groupe thématique genre et who have come to realize how pauvreté MPFEF) profitable a venture it is. Moreover, they have an edge over the women, because they have means of transport, the appropriate tools and harvesting permits, all which contribute to increasing their proceeds. Women in both the North and the South are very active in the development of the rural economy. In order to appreciate their contribution better, we must call to mind the issue of access to land, equipment and inputs, all which will determine their production capacities and productivity. In most rural communities, the “women and land� issue is usually about access to fertile land and security on the land allocated. Men are given priority in land distribution - they get the prime superior quality farms. The study data show that the women surveyed have little plots of land for individual use. The farm size of women household heads is 0.3 ha, while men get 3.5 ha (Source Case study, ESG Mali, 2005). The woman’s lot is usually land of inferior quality or land left to fallow. While they may enjoy relative security on plots allocated by their husbands, the same cannot be said for land borrowed from other owners, which could be taken back at any time. For instance, the case study shows that 100% of lands held by women were borrowed and can neither be leased nor transferred. Among the Fulani, women do not farm and the problem of land security therefore, does not arise. The problem of unequal access to land also affects access to equipment, inputs, supervision and training, all of which the head of farm is the main benefactor. Men and women are very much involved in forestry and pastoral activities. However, their participation is far from being equal in terms of constraints and opportunities. Women are faced with specific challenges, which do not make for a true assessment of their contribution. Gender-based division of labour in the family set up and the productive system; the challenges that women face in terms of land access and consequently access to other productive resources, the fact that the work of rural women is not recognized and viewed as productive, whether it generates income or not, and the fact that related statistics are not mainstreamed into national data undoubtedly constitute not only major obstacles to the consideration of such work as a contribution but also direct constraints to the economic advancement of rural women on the same level as men. 40 ¾ Situation in the secondary sector The secondary sector comprises the mining industries, manufacturing industries, construction and the cottage industry. Women participate in each of these areas at varying levels. Women are absent from mining, which accounts for 10% of GDP and constitutes one of the leading exports, together with cotton. Mining operations are carried out by large multinationals, which hardly employ women, for it is felt that “the mining trade is for men only�. On the contrary, women are going more and more into artisanal mining, which will be addressed under cottage industry. Diagram 2: Development and Projection (% of GDP) of the Secondary sub-sectors 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Minier AgroAlimentaire Textiles BTP Autres Women’s participation in the textile industry is quite low, whereas their involvement is particularly felt in light industrial activities. In 2003, the two main enterprises – COMATEX and FITINA employed 6.5% and 0.9% women respectively. In the male-dominated building and public works sector, women are virtually excluded. However, there has been a slight change in recent years with the involvement of women in the sale of construction materials like sand, gravels and quarry stones. In agribusiness, the development of women’s entrepreneurship has strengthened their involvement. SMEs have been established by women in the agribusiness sector: dairy products (yoghurt, ice-cream…) packaging of condiments (groundnut paste, fermented nereid…) processing of products (jam, local fruit juice). 41 In the small-scale industry, women are involved in three activities: agriculture, textiles and mining. In small-scale agriculture, women are involved in several local product-processing activities (pottery, tanning, basket making). More than 50% of small-scale products come from the forest. Some of the small-scale activities are caste-related. Pottery and leatherwork are carried out by women from the caste of blacksmiths who are found in the North and South of the country. Women of Sonrhaï and Peulh origin are involved in basket weaving. In the small-scale textile industry, women are involved in spinning, and processing cotton fibre into yarn. They have recently got involved in weaving which was hitherto the preserve of men. It should, however, be noted that weaved cloth is increasingly being used in the clothing and decoration industry. Since women are very active in this field, the inroads they have made into the weaving sector through the bogolan method are justified. Dyeing is a very popular and profitable sector. In small-scale mining, there is a very strong presence of women. 44.7% of gold washers are women. However, they still use rudimentary techniques and work under extremely difficult conditions. The lack of training and the hasty organization of the actors worsen this situation. There is every reason to strengthen the capacity of the operators, particularly women’s groups, in order to support the emergence of sustainable productive activities in this sector. ¾ Tertiary Sector Outlook The trade and service sectors, which are predominant in the urban areas, are the sectors in which women have a strong interest. According to the clearance Centre of the Chamber of Commerce, out of the 5,520 listed companies, 618 were established by women, representing 11%. They are also very active in catering, hairdressing, dressmaking, rubbish collection, etc. However, it can be observed that these activities are considered as informal and are not taken into account by the national accounts. This fact is a further constraint to the proper assessment of the labour of women. • Informal Sector The informal sector plays an important role in the involvement of women in the labour market, be it in the urban or rural areas. 43% of female employment is in this sector and 85% of them are traders (source: ELIM, 2003). In recent years, there has been some growth in the involvement of women in the informal sector. They consider this sector as a good alternative due to the fact that it requires less qualification and specialization; its organization is smoother and it is better suited to the financial capacity and working time of women. For them, the informal sector is a privileged source of employment which, in spite of the inadequacy of revenue accruing to them, enables them to face up to the increasing responsibilities that come with their various roles. However, workers in the informal sector are very vulnerable because they do not benefit from any statutory protection; incomes are lower, working hours are longer and women are more exposed to physical and, indeed, sexual violence. 42 Conclusion The major observation is the inadequate involvement of women in sectors that are not related to agriculture or informal activity. Indeed, the just completed analysis has laid emphasis on the actual position of women in the commercial sector, shown that there are opportunities in traditionally male-dominated areas like mining, building and construction (BTP) and also that very few women are involved in the private sector and occupy responsible positions in public administration. The second observation relates to the social division of labour vis-à-vis the economic status of Malian women. The influence of socio-cultural impediments is manifested at all levels, - from the domestic economy to commerce. The right to practise a trade or otherwise, access to job opportunities, the level of control or decision-making relating to harnessed resources constantly depend on societal norms and values which hardly favour the emancipation and socio-economic advancement of women. Access to employment will probably reduce this influence. It is however, not an adequate measure. Field studies carried out actually show that women with paid jobs or involved in income-generating activities have better access to and control over the productive and financial resources of the household. Their contribution to the needs of the family makes them more independent and enables them to better participate in taking decisions that affect the household, the children as well as investments to improve the household. However, for most women, the dominant position of men over women is a reality they have to respect else they alter the preconceived image of their femininity. 43 2.5 GENDER, ACCESS TO AND CONTROL OVER PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES As seen above, it is usually women who are responsible for domestic chores and care for the family in addition to the productive work that they do to ensure the survival and food security of the family, even in crisis situations. Yet, this contribution is seriously hampered by their inadequate access to means of production (land, equipment). (See table 12). Table 12: Gender distribution (%) of ownership of the means of production Rural Area Urban Area Type of Means North South Men Women Men Women Men Women Land - - 86.7% 13.3% 100% 0% Tools of Production - - 86.7% 13.3% 100% 20% and Traction animals Houses 90% 25% 93.3% 6.7% 100% 0.0% Source: “ESG� Case study, Mali, 2005 The case study illustrates these outcomes. The women of the South, an important labour force in the rural sector, have no right to ownership of the factors of production that are so indispensable to the development of their activities; 100% of available land is owned by men. However, women have access to land in accordance with the social norms established by marriage. That is to say, they have right of usage, which they automatically lose in the event of divorce or widowhood. With regard to the tools of production, however, it appears that a small minority of women have ownership (20%). In the North, information gathered indicates that, unlike in the South, 13.3% of women own land while 6.7% own their homes. This clearly shows the difference in the status of the women of the South and those of the North because the latter enjoy a certain level of independence with regard to their income which enables them to acquire property (houses, production tools ); with regard to land, they enjoy the provisions of the 1949 land census which allows for the individualization of land ownership. To ensure a better understanding of the disparities in the access to the productive resources described above, one must study the conditions of access to land, which are governed by the modern provisions on land rights, which are substantially interfaced with the customary land rights. 1.5.1 Access to land ¾ Access to land in accordance with modern land regulations In Mali, it is the State and Land Code that determines the conditions of access to natural land (land and appurtenances, water, plant formations) and artificial land (irrigation schemes). With regard to natural land, rural women therefore have a whole range of modern legal instruments, which accord them the right to property. However, rural people continue to give greater importance to customs and practices in this matter. 44 As regards artificial land, access by women is recognized without discrimination, even though the criteria for access do not favour women. Artificial land is made up of developed plots, chief among which are the lands of the Office du Niger (ON), which currently account for 50% of rice production in Mali, the rehabilitated lands of Baguineda (OPIB), the Office de Riz de Segou (ORS), the Office de Riz de Mopti (ORM) and the small irrigated rural lands of Gao. In all these areas, land is still registered in the name of the State. However, the modes of farming depend on the specific regulations of each area. In the area of the Office du Niger (ON), Segou: The law acknowledges the right of Women Table to the13 Trends in access developed ofFarm lands by Heads by the Office dugender Niger without discrimination and establishes Number of Farm Rate of Increase Year Heads equality between men and women with Men Women Men Women regard to modes of access. The 1995 11 736 106 substitution of the discriminatory “worker 1996 13 067 168 11.3 58.5 – man� allocation indicator for the more 1997 13 558 209 3.8 24.4 neutral “worker – asset� indicator has 1998 15 205 236 12.1 12.9 facilitated the involvement of women in 1999 16 206 253 6.6 7.2 2000 19 760 258 21.9 2.0 these plots. Even though women who are 2001 21 525 293 8.9 13.6 farm heads represented only 3% of 2002 21 391 436 - 0.6 48.8 workers in 2003, it should be noted that 2003 22 774 641 6.5 47.0 their numbers increased constantly every Source 2003 ON Report, Ségou year as shown by the table 13. On the developed lands of the Office de Riz de Segou (ORS), Segou: The ORS is a financially autonomous public legal entity that encompasses 234 villages. The land is owned by the State. Access to land is subject to the recommendation of a technical commission, which gives priority to the local women farmers. Women suffer no discrimination with regard to access to rice farming lands either individually or collectively. For both of these areas, the same steps for allocation apply and both men and women enjoy the same rights. A written application and adherence to the mandates are requirements to be met by both sexes. In the area of the Office de Riz de Mopti (ORM), Mopti: In this area, 98% of the population is rural. Applications for plots for rice cultivation are forwarded to the Office de Riz de Mopti through the village associations. To be eligible, one must be a head of family or head of a production unit and possess adequate equipment or sufficient financial resources to develop the land. It is difficult for women to meet these criteria because men enjoy the status of head of family and they (women) hardly own the means of production. In addition to these disparities are the land allocation standards that give 0.30 hectares to men as against 0.21 to eligible women. Priority is actually given to men by virtue of their position as heads of family. 45 On the irrigated lands of the Office du périmètre de Baguindéa : For the allocation of land to rural dwellers, the same conditions apply, as is the case of the Office du Riz de Mopti, where the criteria relating to the head of family and the availability of the means of production apply. Thus, in spite of the official texts that provide for equal access to artificial land, it should be stressed that in practice, allocation is not equal as shown by the criteria for allocation that obtain in the ORM and OPIB areas (See table 22 in the annex). In reality, pressure is the dominant factor. Indeed, whenever land is limited, priority is given to men. Statements Individual women have few chances of made by farm heads clearly attest to this fact: acquiring a plot of land. As is shown by the justification given when women apply Indeed, for the category of family heads, only for OPIB land: “… you are an integral widows may be considered in the eventwhere part of the family, the household or the unit there is no adult son. With regard to sites of production; land is not sufficient, it is the heads of family who need it and have developed for market gardening in which women priority and you are taken into account at are the main producers, land, which is equally their level.� allocated in accordance with the family head Source: OPIB Survey Report criterion, represents double the portion given to women.(see table 22 in the annex) ¾ Access to land in accordance with customary land law Apart from the developed areas, it can be observed that natural resources are governed by customary law, which is made up of a set of traditional socio-religious rules that determine the position of the people vis-à-vis the allocation, management and use of land and its appurtenances (water, pasture land, forests, etc.). A distinction should be made between the situation in the South and North of Mali. The non-developed areas of Southern Mali In order to have a better knowledge of the modes of access to land by rural women in accordance with customs and practices, one simply needs to emphasize the role they are given in the rural production system. Land management in the South In the Mandingo region, rural women play an essential role in the entire process of the production of goods. Here, women have double access to land. They have their own land that they use for rice farming, groundnut cultivation and market gardening. In addition, they have a family farm or a production unit where they remain the sole actors with regard to production activities. They work on the family land and the produce goes to the men. In the reclaimed areas of Mopti, every married woman is entitled to a personal plot situated on the land of the lineage of which she is a full descendant. The produce and/or profits from her plot are entirely hers. Apparently, she can freely determine what use to put the accruing income to. However, an analysis of the situation shows that the possession of personal plots by women did not come freely or spontaneously. It is the result of a structuring and social evolution that assigned the task of meeting the food needs to the rural woman, especially the provision of condiments. To this effect, society is obliged to give her a piece of land to enable her to perform her reproductive and, indeed, community function within the society. Thus, income is first used to meet the practical needs of the family or household. In the event where they abandon the marital home, women lose this right of access. Source: T. SANOGO( Lawyer) and Mad. S. DEMBELE. 46 It can therefore be observed that ease of access to land for farming is not synonymous with land security for the rural woman. In the big towns, there is an increasing pressure on land due to the change in the mentality of rural dwellers for whom land is gradually losing its sacred value. Today, people are parting more easily with their land. The undeveloped areas in Northern Mali With regard to land, the Gao region has the distinctive feature of having undergone a land survey around 1949. This survey shaped the individualistic character of landed property, which serves as the basis of traditional land survey for land identification. (See Box 1 in the annex) One of the consequences of the individualizing land is the disappearance of the village land as a collective homogeneous area managed by an authority or institution on behalf of the village community. This situation made it impossible for any land to be allocated for a given purpose without the consent of its owner. The fact that most of the land belongs to the minority of the population gives rise to all sorts of situations: sale, sharecropping, tenancy, etc. Thus, whichever community is concerned, the relation between women and land is governed by customary law rules in spite of the provisions of the Constitution as well as the State and Land Code, which recognize the equality of access to land by men and women. These differences in treatment clearly explain the difficulties that rural women face in meeting their needs and those of their families as well as in effectively contributing to the development of the household. This situation contributes significantly to the femininization of poverty. It also affects the investment capacity of women because if nothing changes, they will never be able to provide a title deed as a guarantee for obtaining a bank credit, for example, in order to expand their financial base. 1.5.2 Access to credit Rural women have no access to the banking and financial system. Its mode of intervention is not suited to their needs. Micro-finance institutions or informal structures (tontine) are more accessible. The involvement of women in economic activities requires them to access credits in order to carry out income-generating ventures. Thus, a requirement for access to the banking system is the submission of “bankable� documents by the developer. This process immediately excludes small-scale rural producers and those operating in the informal sector. Under these circumstances, the savings and credit institutions of the decentralized financial system (DFS) and special funds (Layidu, SYCREF) become unavoidable institutional mechanisms. Mutual Credit and Savings Institutions Table 14 : Trends of membership of the DFS in 2003 The 2003 annual report of the Men Women Groups Total DFS support and follow-up unit Year Number % Number % Number % Number (CAS/DFS) shows that female 2001 262 100 58.2% 174 356 38.7% 14 186 3.1% 450 642 membership accounts for 32%. 2002 307 050 58.8% 184 998 35.4% 29 954 5.7% 522 002 2003 363 171 59.1% 224 836 36.6% 26 304 4.3% 614 311 However, a follow-up over Source: 2003 CAS/DFS Report several years indicates that there was a drop in female membership between 2001 and 2003. (see table 14) 47 Graph 3 shows that the slope in the curve Graph 3: Trends of Membership of the trends of female membership was flat 400 Milliers between 2001 and 2002. This means that the 350 number of women stagnated. Over the same 300 period, the curve straightened. This means 250 that female membership of the group went 200 up (112%). However, there was a linear and 150 progressive rise in male membership. In 100 absolute numbers, male membership is 50 clearly higher than female membership. This 0 situation could be explained by the fact that 2001 2002 2003 women fear to increase the level of their homme Femme Groupement debts and that the credit-recovery requirements of the institutions are more stringent. However, it would be necessary to carry out a more detailed study to ensure a better understanding of these new phenomena. Special funds After the devaluation, the government established a Women’s support fund (FAAF Layidu) in order to mitigate the negative effects of the change in parity of the CFA in 1992. Besides, the support project for the advancement of women and poverty alleviation established SYCREF in 1999. SYCREF aims at facilitating women’s access to credit and ensuring the basic training of women so as to ensure the successful implementation of their projects. Thus, 60,000 women accessed credits through the credit system established at the MPFEF. It can be observed that in 2003, there Table 15 : Credits advanced to women (SYCREF) was a 59% progression in the Source: 2003 SYCREF Report Years Beneficiaries Volume of credit number of beneficiaries. This is due Number % Amount (in % to the high demand of women in the Growth thousands of Francs Growth rural areas. Simultaneously and over 2001 7 879 193 139 the same period, the total amount 2002 8 597 9.1% 260 096 34.7% advanced as credits only increased by 4%. This shows that the average 2003 13 660 58.9% 271 668 4.4% amounts per beneficiary dropped. Does this mean that women’s projects financed are less important and, therefore, need less funds? (see table 15) 1.5.3 Access to Agricultural Tools • In the rural areas The factors of production of an agricultural concern are as follows: the people, available land, livestock and equipment. The people undertaking any agricultural concern constitute one of the most important factors. Not too long ago, they had an influence over all the other factors of production. We have observed above that the land allocation system in the developed areas was based on the number of people involved in the concern and more particularly on the number of active men. (The equal consideration of women in the ON is a recent development). The current system described in the management decree framework is not solely linked to the number of people but this criterion remains very important. 48 Graph 4 shows that less than 20% of rural women either have agricultural equipment or traction animals. Graph 4: Distribution (in %) of the Since they do not own property, rural women have tools of production in the rural south fewer chances of accessing financing for the 100% activities that they would like to initiate through the 80% traditional financial system. 60% Homme 40% Femme Currently, the women are organizing themselves into 20% groups or GIEs in order to start common initiatives. 0% Animaux de trait Charrues Petits équipements Various development partners are also getting involved in order to support the reduction of the domestic and agricultural workload of women through the establishment of industrial projects. The acquisition of this equipment for grinding, the husking of grains and the crushing of nuts, in addition to the substantial physical difficulty of the work of women, also leads to an appreciable saving of time that can be used in income-generating activities: craft industry, petty trading, food processing, sale of firewood and sand and small-scale breeding. The time can also be invested in training or literacy programmes. • In the urban areas Table 16 above shows that 25% of urban women have immovable property. This fact is an indicator of women’s ability to mobilize savings and invest in the real estate sector. The behaviour of men and women varies with regard to the channelling of their resources into safe sectors: * For men - In the urban areas, the choice safe sector is real estate - In the rural areas, the safe sector is livestock, which continues to be regarded by rural dwellers as a means of saving income from rice and cotton cultivation, etc. * For women - In both the urban and rural areas, gold remains a hedge. It is hoarded to cover future events during which its role is essential: the dowry of girls who are to get married. Although it is difficult to assess the value of this kitty, it is generally thought that the gold of the woolen stocking of Malian women is very substantial. By using “gifts�, they take part in festive or other activities of persons belonging to the solidarity group (relatives, friends, various allies, etc.). This participation is a form of social savings to support a member of the group to organize her event with the understanding that their contribution will later be paid back still in the form of “gifts� to organize their own events, in accordance with the modalities defined for the group. It should be noted that currently, especially in the urban areas, the real estate sector is becoming an area of investment for women. 49 1.5.4 Access to information and ICT Access to information is particularly important for a change in attitude and mentality of the various groups within the society. 60% of Malian households own a radio set and 14% own a television; 62% of women listen to the radio at least once a week, 31% watch TV at least once a week and 6% read the newspapers. However, it is observed that nearly 34% of female respondents do not have access to any medium of information at least once a week (EDS III). Access to the media is more substantial in the urban areas than in the rural areas. In Bamako, 84% of women watch TV, 83% listen to the radio and 20% read the newspapers, whereas 43% of rural women do not have access to any medium of information. At the regional level, it is observed that more than half of the women in Mopti (54%) as well as 48% of those in Kidal/Gao and Timbuktu do not have access to any medium of information. Here, there is a strong correlation between the level of instruction and the level of information. These areas have the lowest school-going rates. Access to the media is higher among women who have been to school than among those who have not at all. Among women with secondary or tertiary education, 84% watch TV, 87% listen to the radio and 50% read the newspapers, whereas 39% of women who have no education do not have access to any means of information. It should be noted that in Mali, many people listen to the radio or watch TV in the homes of friends or neighbors. The media is the information transmission channel that is most used to reach out to the people. It should however be noted that this same media transmit sexist stereotypes through the messages it sends across. The new information and communication technologies (ICTs) are also used as a channel of communication. The connection of Mali to the world has materialized through the programme “Leyland Initiative with USAID and Sotelma 1997�. However, the development of an Internet service for all remains a challenge to be taken up. In the light of the limitations of the traditional approaches put in place, it would be interesting to explore other future-oriented alternatives, which are teaching methods through new communication techniques. Efforts can be deployed to make new communication technologies accessible to secondary and tertiary institutions and to increase the number of community access points. These measures will enable girls and women to access distance education information as well as strengthen the establishment of partnership and exchange networks between civil society feminist organizations. 50 1.6 GENDER AND RIGHTS3 1.6.1 Legal protection framework at the national level At the internal level, the legal protection framework is, on the one hand, characterized by the existence of modern formal law provisions backed by the Constitution and the national legislation and, on the other hand, by traditional law rules fundamentally founded on customary and religious values. The legal status and the protection of the rights of girls and women are strongly affected by the co-existence of these two types of legal systems. Gender equality in the Malian Constitution Mali’s Constitution, which was adopted by referendum on 12th January 1992, guarantees the general principle of equality between the sexes. The preamble states “the determination of the State to ensure that both sexes enjoy the same rights without discrimination and to defend the rights of women and children.� Several articles of the Constitution confirm this provision. However, it is regrettable that these articles are not very explicit on the rights of women, particularly marriage rights, protection from traditional practices and violence or access to land and property. Indeed, the specific application of the constitutional provisions is not guaranteed because patriarchal type of values and customs are largely dominant in Mali. See Box 2 in the Annex that lists the constitutional articles that have an impact on the status of women. Gender equality in national legislation With regard to domestic legislation, Mali has various codes that seek to govern social, economic and political life. To this effect, several laws incorporate the situation of men and women, particularly in family life (Marriage and Custody Law, Nationality Code, Family Relationship Code), in the area of work (Labour Law, State Security Law), in the area of criminality (Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code), in political life (Electoral Code), in land matters (State and Land Law) and in commerce (Commercial Law). See Box 3 in Annex on the list of Codes that have an impact on the status of women. Thus, Mali’s fundamental texts globally take into account the rights of both sexes. Unlike the Constitution, they make specific reference to the rights of women. The following may be cited as examples: (i) the specific social protection of women ensured by maternity leave with pay stipulated in Article 14, 19 and 31 of State Insurance Law; the Labour Law exempts women and children from night work in industry with the aim of protecting them. However, associations for the defense of women’s rights take exception to this consideration in terms of the law and actually question it because it could be a further obstacle in the way of women in their aspiration to have equal access to all jobs as men do; (ii) in the educational sector, and quite apart from the constitutional provisions, emphasis is placed on the education of young girls and the literacy of women in Law 90-046 on educational guidance; (iii) access of women to a territorial position of authority within the administration as per Law 82-90 AN-RM of 5th September, 1980. 3 The synthesis of this section was done on the basis of the Analytical Study on the status of women and the Law in Mali, Mad. Soyata Maiga Diallo and Francesco Tonieri, Bamako, 2001. 51 Customary Law and its Practices All laws relating to the family, be they on the marriage of women or the legal status of the family head, on the regulation of divorce or inheritance, surely impact on the rights of girls and women. Officially, the legal protection of women is ensured by domestic law, which guarantees more consideration than customary law rules that were abrogated by the Marriage and Custody Law of 1962 (CMT). This Code is therefore the instrument of reference whose objective is to, without regard to origin or religion, guarantee the rights of individuals, in particular those of women and children for whom it seeks to provide legal protection within the family and the society. However, it should be emphasized that until now, neither this provision nor the binding nature of the international legal instruments ratified by Mali could break the predominance of customary law over modern law. To this day, social practices, relations between men and women, behaviours and mentalities are strongly characterized by customary and religious values founded on the pre-eminence of men within the family and society with the attendant sole exercise of power by them. Thus, as is confirmed by the study on the legal status of women and the law in Mali conducted in December 2001, the influence of customary law is very apparent in the Code of Marriage and Guardianship, which confirms that the status of family head is the sole preserve of men. They exercise paternal authority (as indicated in Article 86 of the Family Relationship Code of 1973) and choose the marital home. Before their death, they may, either through a will or a statement before a judge or the head of the administrative district appoint a special adviser without whose recommendation the surviving mother cannot perform any duty relating to the guardianship of their under-age children (Articles 3 and 104 of the CMT). The devolution of their inheritance is done in accordance with the custom of the parties. Thus, in traditional customary settings, the woman is considered as an item of the legacy to be inherited. In certain ethnic groups, the widows are shared at the same time as the property between the cousins and brothers of the deceased. They are denied the acquisition of immovable property like compounds, farms and land, which traditional rules assign solely to the men whose responsibility it is to meet the needs of the family. In Islam-inspired customs, women have authority to inheritance but the rules discriminate against widows who get one-eighth against a quarter for the widower and the daughters who get half of the portion of the son. The difficulty of women to access land and property particularly in the rural areas where most of them live is a serious obstacle to their full involvement in economic development. Indeed, land remains the basic means of production and the main source of wealth. Yet, the existing legal provisions that govern the matrimonial status of women, on the one hand, and landed property, on the other, generally reinforce all the exclusions and limitations that women suffer because of custom and religion. Indeed, Article 81, Paragraph 2 of the CMT provides that “if divorce is declared in favour of the husband, he may request all benefits he has given to the wife to be returned to him�. The State and Public Code confirms the customary rights exercised collectively and individually on unregistered lands. Article 44 specifies that traditional chiefs are at once the custodians of the traditions that regulate the use of land by families and individuals in accordance with custom. Yet, in customary law, the very idea of land ownership and management remains closely linked to the notion of family head or head of clan, a title that can neither be set aside for nor conferred on a woman. 52 To this day, positive law has not been able to take care of this situation because several attempts at passing legislation have failed as a result of the resistance posed by custom and religion whose prospects are deemed to be immutable in the matter. Consequently, one has a better understanding of the difficulties that the authorities have been facing since 1976, given their desire to provide Mali with a genuine Family Law that will give equal consideration to the rights and responsibilities of men and women in the family and in society. The family law reform process recently make progress with the holding of regional consultation that led to a consensual national synthesis (Draft Code) that respects the constitutional principles of secularism, religious beliefs and positive traditional values, taking into account the current living conditions as well as the demands for sustainable socio-economic development. However, the draft code, which was approved by Cabinet in May, 2002 has still not been adopted by Parliament. At the moment, a select committee set up and coordinated by the Prime Minister is re- examining and fine-tuning the draft code in order to take account of the opinions and concerns of all on the remaining differences, particularly increasing the marriage age to 18 years for girls who need the authorization of their parents and pegging it at 21 for those who do not need it, the irreversibility of the monogamous option to protect marriages from untimely breaking off caused by men, the establishment of the principle of duality of modes of inheritance to enable heirs to freely opt for modern law or customary law. This last consultative stage should be accompanied by a far-reaching information and awareness programme that the government and civil society should implement together for a consensus to be arrived at. 1.6.2 International Legal Instruments As a member of the United Nations and the African Union, Mali has ratified several international conventions that directly or indirectly affect women and various other resolutions issued by regional and international organizations like UNESCO, ILO and WHO. However, we would particularly refer to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women4 (CEDAW) which strengthen the provisions of the International Charter on Human Rights5, 4 CEDAW (1979) and CRC (1989) (CEDAW) and ‡urà Uurà 8‚�‰r�‡v‚�à ‚�à ‡urà @yv€v�h‡v‚�à ‚sà 6yyà s‚…€†Ã ‚sà 9v†p…v€v�h‡v‚�à 6thv�†‡Ã X‚€r� (CRC) define the framework of a strategy meant to promote and 8‚�‰r�‡v‚�à ‚�à ‡urà Svtu‡†Ã ‚sà ‡urà 8uvyq protect the fundamental rights of young girls and women as well as to completely eliminate all forms of discrimination and inequalities against them. Beyond the specifically legal objectives, the Conventions provide a vision of human society in which attitudes to women and men are founded on equity and impartiality. CEDAW presents an ideal framework for measuring the level of equality obtained by women and waging a campaign for their rights at the local, regional and national levels. Mali is one of the first countries in the sub-region to have ratified the CEDAW (1985) and its Optional Protocol (2000) 5 The International Human Rights Charter comprises: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), The International Pact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Pact on Civil and Political Rights and the two relevant optional protocols. “These instruments together constitute the moral and legal basis of all UN activities aimed at promoting human rights and on which reposes the international mechanism for the protection and promotion of human rights� in 9v†p…v€v�h‡v‚�†ÃjÃy·pth…qÃqr†Ãsr€€r†, op. cit. p. 2 53 the provisions of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights as well as other international instruments for the elimination of discrimination against children and women in all sectors of public and private life. These forms of discrimination limit the rights of children and women in areas as diverse and complex as the family, the world of work, school or politics. They devalue and actually undermine their contribution to life within their communities. Stressing the fact that “discrimination is an obstacle to economic growth and prosperity�, the Convention recommends that there should be “a change in attitudes and, through education, that men and women should be made to accept the equality of rights and responsibilities and to overcome the prejudices and practices arising out of stereotyped roles�. Finally, the same convention recommends that States and communities adopt appropriate provisions for equality to be practiced in reality. It is important to recall that in Malian law, commitments made within the framework of international treaties or agreements that have been ratified or approved are binding as provided for by the Constitution under Article 116. However, these provisions are far from being translated into reality. The lack of modalities and procedures for application clearly defined by the legislative and executive organs, the inefficiency of existing follow-up mechanisms and the lack of sanctions in the event of a breach are the reasons often cited to justify the fact that the principles of international conventions have not made the expected impact on the strengthening of the legal protection of the people at the national level. Added to this is the substantial influence of traditions and cultural taboos, which generally encourage the perpetuation of certain acts of discrimination against young girls and women. In the mind of the masses, these customary practices have a clear pre-eminence in modern law texts. 54 1.7 GENDER, PARTICIPATION AND DECISION-MAKING Participation in Decision-making The sex-specific parallelism of forms observed in family and community life management widens the social gap between women and men, thereby imposing a culture of silence and an identity crisis between the two groups. In the traditional family, women have always played the role of sensible wives and sacred mothers. Decisions are made depending on age, positions in the household especially if it is polygamous, number of children and ability and personality of the women to manage social and family events. Today, the level of education and particularly their economic and financial power ensure that women are better listened to and allowed more involvement in the determination of the family’s destiny. At the community level, the exercise of the right to talk is governed by rules and norms that depend on age (gerontocracy) and social group (hierarchy) of both men and women. Thanks to external pressure, women are allowed to express themselves in public. This is often done as an act of politeness, propriety, mistrust or resistance depending on the relationship between men and women in the community as well as on the perception that women have of their place in a constantly changing and evolving society. Mutual aid relations, kinship networks, close relations in the village, area, at the workplace or in the market all constitute a framework of expression in the life of women. Solidarity links are formed during festive occasions (baptism, marriage ceremonies, etc). They are also enhanced by economic (tontine) social and regional (ethnic or territorial groupings) political (political parties) or religious (Muslim or Catholic women’s groups) interests. Membership of one or several of these networks facilitates economic and social activities and is an essential basis for the individual and community strategies of women, which also constitute genuine safety nets. Those of them who are more vulnerable or deprived are excluded or exclude themselves from these solidarity links, thereby making their situation more precarious. Women play an important role in grassroots organizations. Since 1991, a women’s movement has been emerging through NGOs and associations that deal with the enhancement of the status of women. The community dynamics of women has led to the formation of apex organizations, sectoral groups, regional and national coordination bodies, professional federations as well as regional, national and continental networks. This way, women have become more visible, although a lot still remains to be done for their roles and status to be properly recognized. Participation in public and local governance Women in urban areas especially are increasingly willing to play a direct role in politics. They have already played an active role in conflict management (educational crisis, rebellion in Northern Mali). They have therefore demonstrated their negotiating, peace-making and moderation skills. With regard to elective positions, it is when candidates are filing their papers that the low participation of women begins to be felt. In order to have the chance of being elected, one should have a good position on one’s party’s list. However, it appears that political parties, 55 which present candidates, place the names of women, even those who are long – standing activists, preferably around the middle of the list where the chances of getting elected are less obvious. More specific studies should be carried out to determine the reasons. One fact is however clear: the number of female candidates put up for elections at all levels always does not come near that of men. In the area of responsible positions in the management of public affairs, women are involved in all the civil and military jobs. Here too, however, they are under-represented. In Mali today, there are five (5) female ministers (14.2%), 15 members of parliament out of 147 elected members, including two (2) deputy speakers. Out of all the districts, there are six (six) female mayors out of whom five (5) are in rural districts, six (6) female members of the HCCT (High Council of Rural Communities) out of 75 members and one (1) female prefect out of a total of 49. Women hold high positions other than those traditionally reserved for them. In government, women are the heads of ministries such as the Ministry of Employment and Manpower Training (MFP), Ministry of Health (MS), Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family (MPFEF), Ministry of Lands (MDAEF) and Ministry of Justice (MJGSC). In strategic development sectors, they are appointed to high positions in the public service: Ombudsman of the State, Chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), Member of the Auditor-General’s Department and Chairpersons of Special Delegations. The assumption of responsibilities by women and the holding of important positions are triggering factors particularly since they can seriously and successfully perform their tasks and make lawful use of their functions and positions to act as the spokespersons of women. Having been designed as a support mechanism for the consolidation of democracy, decentralization facilitates the participation of men and women in the decision-making process and constitutes an instrument for local development and good governance. The legislative and regulatory provisions that determine the requirements that allow one to vote or to be voted for do not discriminate against women. Table 16 : Participation in elections Source MPFEF Candidates Electoral Candidates Elections Men % Women % Elections Men % Women % Presidential 22 100.0 0.0 Presidential 1 100.0 0.0 Legislative 910 89.8 103 10.2 Legislative 132 89.8 15 10.2 Communal 65 592 87.8 9 080 12.2 Communal 10 030 93.3 720 6.7 Malian women constitute an exceptional mobilization force. However, women are still under- represented on communal councils, district councils and regional assemblies. Among the candidates for communal elections, women represent 12% but only 6.7% get elected. Women are also placed in a disadvantageous position on the lists and so have fewer chances of getting elected. (see table 16) Table 17 : Level of participation in community The case study has enabled us to structures capture the situation with regard to the Area of Abode Men Women Number community structures where women Urban Areas 40.0% 25.0% 20 are less represented than men. When Rural areas (South) 46.7% 40.0% 15 they are, they occupy the positions of Rural areas (North) 53.3% 46.7% 15 treasurers or auditors (see table 17). Total 44.0% 36.0% 50 Source: Case study, ESG Mali 56 II. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROMOTION OF EQUITY AND EQUALITY 2.1 GENDER PROMOTION MECHANISMS The challenges of gender equality are both the result of the institutional and organizations weaknesses of the stakeholders (government, civil society, institutions of State, decentralized localities) and socio-cultural and economic obstacles that these various actors face in order to promote the concept of gender equality. This has been badly understood and accepted with difficulty. Indeed, right from its inception, the movement for equality between the sexes was strongly characterized by a philosophy that seeks to promote women. This general approach has certainly borne fruits in terms of the visibility of women and the acknowledgement of the mobilization abilities of women’s organizations. However, the strategies and objectives are not very clear in terms of far-reaching political, economic, technical and socio-cultural results. The developed approaches remain vertical and general rather than horizontal and integrated as would have been desirable. 2.1.1 Ministry in charge of gender promotion In 1991, the transitional government tasked the Ministry of Public Health, Social Welfare and Women’s Affairs with the business of ensuring the empowerment of women. This ministry was supported by a State Secretariat responsible for social welfare and the empowerment of women. With pressure from civil society, the government established a commission for the promotion of women in 1993. In 1997, a Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family was established to give expression to the commitments made by Mali at the Beijing Conference and to express the importance of and the priority accorded to this issue by the government. In 1999, the National Directorate of Women’s Affairs, (DNPF) was established with the main objective of formulating policies and plans of action for the promotion of women and assessing this target through studies and research. It can be observed that the authorities are willing to consider the gender issue but actual implementation is poor due to institutional, conceptual and organizational weaknesses. There is no specific national gender strategy. The government’s position falls essentially within the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) that aims at removing the obstacles observed: (i) illiteracy as an obstacle to the promotion of women, (ii) women’s health which is of much concern, (iii) the legal and social status of women that has not changed due to the persistence of the socio-cultural obstacles, and (iv) the population burden that does not allow women to assert themselves in the management of public life. The lack of disaggregated data makes it impossible to ensure a gender analysis of the problems relating to development policies and poverty eradication programmes. The initial task of MPFEF is to formulate and implement the national policy on the promotion of women. It materialized through a 2002-2006 plan of action approved by cabinet. This instrument should guide the actions of government and civil society but is not a strategic framework. The approach is first of all vertical and sectoral and it considers women as victims who are responsible for the improvement of their living conditions and status. This plan of action does not really take account of the deep-rooted causes of the inequality between men 57 and women as well as the systematic discrimination against women. There is a lack of cohesion between the strategic mission of the ministry tasked with ensuring a cross- disciplinary outlook of the gender issue and the objectives, expected outcomes and activities undertaken by the MPFEF. The ministry’s objective of ensuring the cross-disciplinary outlook of the gender issue has not been properly understood or accepted by the internal and external actors. The ministry’s weaknesses: the standard departmental structure of the ministry rather looks like a sectoral department with a vertical mission. The centralized style of management at the general secretariat does not encourage creativity and innovation. The technical directorates are therefore ineffective, supervisory and implementation roles are confusing and the level of decentralization of the decision-making process is poor. The divisions and sections lack operational independence. Coordination with decentralized structures is inadequate. These structures feel very isolated. Relations between the national directorate and the regional directorates are not functional. Similarly, there is no consultation framework between the regional directorates and the other technical directions, thereby leading to a lack of coordination and collaboration at the local and regional levels. There is a gap between the expected staff strength in the organic framework and the actual numbers. This situation is more serious (i) in the case of category A executives, which gives rise to a certain inadequacy with regard to posts and profiles, (ii) at the regional level where the numbers and quality of personnel are low. They resort to resource persons who do not come from the ministry; this solves the problem but limits the visibility and effectiveness of the interventions. Given the mobility of some personnel and the poor quality of training, the ministry therefore lacks a critical mass of competent managerial staff. The strong presence of women in this area helps to marginalize the gender issue and reduce it to a gender promotion perception. Technological and material resources are not strategically distributed. Resources put at the disposal of the various divisions and departments are inadequate, thereby affecting their effectiveness and efficiency. At the regional level, resources are particularly limited. Similarly, certain regional directorates manage the contributions of close technical partners without the involvement of the relevant financial structures. At the technical level, the ministry has certain deficiencies: The ministry has no planning and statistical unit (CPS). The DNPF has a Planning and Follow-up Division but this outfit lacks tools and means. This situation causes numerous duplications between projects and programmes, a lack of prioritization and an inadequate correlation between the set objectives and the available means. Follow-up and evaluation capacities are weak, while the ministry depends entirely on the other technical departments for the fields’ relevant information. The project follow-up carried out by a technical coordination team does not provide an overall follow-up and evaluation with gender-related indicators. The ministry does not have a training unit to reduce training to the level of the decentralized structures and sector ministries for it to exert its influence and pressure on gender policy. 58 The ministry has no sensitization plan to enable it to explain its missions and roles and to take action on attitudes and practices relating to gender equality. The ability of MPFEF to influence policies and programmes in Mali is limited. It has had nothing or little to do with the formulation and implementation of big national programmes (PRODEC, PRODESS, PRODEJ). The ministry’s ability to perform its role at the level of other ministries is inadequate. The appointment of gender focal points within the ministries did not yield the expected results: • The focal points are internally appointed. • Their roles and responsibilities are not defined. • There is no ministry-by-ministry plan of action and the sector ministry has nothing or little to do with the formulation of the national plan. • The focal points have still not received the required training. The duties are performed by only one person, hence the wastage due to mobility. These persons are often marginalized. • The relations between the focal points and the central directorates and related departments have not been formalized. • Certain key ministries (Min. of Justice) have no focal point. The deficiencies of the MPFEF are felt in the areas of coordination and consultation. The projected mechanisms are not functioning (See Point 3.1.5). The main problems encountered are therefore as follows: (i) Ideological – due to the socio-cultural obstacles to the gender concept; (ii) Institutional – concerning the understanding of the missions and roles as well as the initiated consultation and coordination mechanisms; (iii) Operational – concerning the weaknesses of the training, communication, follow- up and evaluation measures and tools; and (iv) Technical – concerning weaknesses relating to capacity and competence. The more efficient innovations should be concerned with a more strategic and horizontal approach to the institutional changes of the MPFEF, the sector ministries and decentralized structures, organizational improvement, capacity strengthening and the rational use of material and financial resources. 2.1.2 Parliamentary Institutions With regard to the various institutions of State, the following observations can be made: The National Assembly has no structure or council (commission) specifically tasked with gender issues. The lawmakers have no tools to facilitate the reflection of gender issues into draft projects and other analysis. Women MPs therefore intend to form a group for elected women. The judicial institutions have no structure or council for gender promotion. For the social and economic council, the problem of the promotion of women is handled by a technical commission for social and family affairs. For the decentralized bodies, the High Council of Territorial Bodies (HCCT) has no specific mechanism for gender issues. However, it can be observed that the governance organs at the regional, departmental and district levels are increasingly integrating gender issues into their plans. 59 2.1.3 Civil Society Organizations Right from 1960 when Mali attained independence, a women’s promotion movement emerged through the establishment of a state commission on women’s affairs, which had a monopoly over the issue. Under military rule (1968-1991), only the National Union of Malian Women presided over the affairs of women. With the advent of democracy, following the events of March 1991, there was a considerable growth of civil society and women associations and organizations increased in number. The women’s community movement has many apex organizations: networks, coalitions, pivotal groups, regional coordination outfits, etc. A coordination outfit bringing together the women’s associations and NGOs was formed in 1992. This is the Coordination of Women’s Non- Governmental Associations and Organizations (CAFO) whose objective is to enhance the status of women through the strengthening of the capacities of women’s associations and organizations. Today, CAFO covers the entire country and is represented even at the district level. CAFO occupies an important political place and its visibility is very strong. It serves as a strategic instrument for the promotion of women in Mali. It wants to be involved in taking important decisions relating to the management of public affairs. Consequently, it wants to play a more important role in the formulation, implementation and follow-up of the PRSP. The complementarity with the MPFEF in the institutional consultation framework has never worked. Civil Society thinks the Ministry is encroaching on its territory and the Ministry also feels that civil society is acting independently and does not provide information for it to perform its control function. They seem to be competing rather than complementing their efforts or collaborating. The ministry is not in a position to play its oversight role. The level of consultation of women’s organizations by the technical departments is very high but the involvement of women is merely often limited to mobilization. Civil society has limited access to public resources to facilitate their interventions. The strength of the women’s NGOs and associations is reflected in the following areas: (i) commitment and capacity for social mobilization; (ii) charisma and dynamism of the leaders; (iii) representation at national level; (iv) consensual and democratic management style coupled with the involvement of members in decision-making, (v) existence of thematic coalitions some of which are very efficient, e.g. the Women’s Rights and Citizenship group formed since 2001, and (vi) involvement of civil society in high-profile national debates. The weaknesses of civil society are often reflected in the lack of understanding of the role of the apex organizations and the sense of competition among the associations. The scarcity of resources and the need for visibility or positioning of some leaders explain this veiled competition. Competition among the associations limits the sustainability of the interventions. Other constraints add to this weakness: (i) the rapid increase in numbers; (ii) deficiencies in administrative and financial management (lack of manual on procedures) that hinder the rational use of resources; (iii) non-payment of contributions by members; (iv) communication and information difficulties even at local and regional level; (v) gap between the technical nature of the NGOs and the popularity of the associations, and (vi) lack of a follow-up system and a mechanism for strengthening interventions and experiences. NGOs acknowledge the limitations of the current MPFEF plan of action both at the formulation and implementation levels and would wish for more involvement in the process. For this purpose, it would be proper to (i) redefine the actual role of civil society in national affairs and 60 strategic consistency; (ii) promote consultation and collaboration with the authorities, particularly the MPFEF by establishing the rules of an active partner; (iii) strengthen the administrative, technical and organizational capacities of the NGOs and associations; (iv) harmonize expression and concepts, and (v) design appropriate tools and methods. 2.1.4 Technical and Financial Partners The technical and financial partners intend to mainstream gender and push for far-reaching reforms to significantly increase the living conditions of women. However, it is observed that most of their interventions (i) are within the framework of the women’s advancement objectives; (ii) are selective and vertical; (iii) lack collaboration, hence the risks of interference and duplication; (iv) do not systematically support involvement to ensure the strengthening of the capacity of civil society and relevant service providers, and (v) do not really contribute to the evaluation of the impact of their actions on the situation of women due to the weaknesses of their follow-up mechanisms. The following observations can also be made: • The strengthening of interventions of MPFEF relating to the redefinition of its mission and the consideration of its crosscutting nature by all donors were not effective. • The constant support to civil society organizations illustrates the commitment of partners to the development of a strong civil society. However, the lack of a medium and long-term vision has affected the impact of this support. The interventions have too often been in favour of the visibility of civil society rather than the strengthening of its capacity. • Partners sometimes deal individually and directly with the grassroots organizations, whereas they encourage the establishment and strengthening of apex organizations thereby causing a certain confusion and apathy. • The framework for consultation between the technical partners (COFED) is not functional, hence the dissipation of efforts and the non-maximization of funding. The gender guidance and development committee, which met upon the prompting of UNDP, should be reactivated since the MPFEF is unable to efficiently perform its collaborative and coordination functions. 2.2 CONSULTATION FRAMEWORKS AND MECHANISMS Consultation structures have been formed to coordinate interventions and ensure that the process is given a crosscutting outlook. a) An inter-ministerial or consultative organ made up of a representative from each ministry. Its duty is to advise on documents and follow-up the implementation of programmes and recommendations by the departments. It meets once every six months. b) The joint Government-NGO commission made up a representative from each ministry and five (5) representatives from each of the three (3) coordination outfits must meet once every six months. It is tasked with the coordination of the strategies and activities of the NGOs and associations as well as with the drafting of recommendations. These two bodies are not functional: (i) In this arrangement, the MPFEF shows weaknesses in planning, programming and monitoring It does not perform the function of an implementing 61 organ or secretariat of these bodies; (ii) Theses organs are advisory and so do not force the actors to ensure that the crosscutting nature is effectively implemented. In spite of the desire for decentralization expressed by all (State, civil society), the lack of a framework for consultation and coordination which will effectively integrate gender issues into the development strategies is seriously felt at the local and regional levels. Spontaneous initiatives are taken to make up for these deficiencies. Consequently, the DRPFEF of Mopti has initiated a consultation framework with all the partners (regional assembly and development stakeholders) but the firm establishment, mission and composition of such an organ must be studied and formalized for this arrangement to be extended to all the regions. 2.3 MAINSTREAMING GENDER IN NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMMES There is a desire to incorporate gender at the highest echelons of decision-making but this desire is not strongly reflected in the enforcement texts and measures in order to get the operators to systematically integrate gender issues. As has already been emphasized, there is no national gender equity and equality strategy. Its consideration with regard to government guidance and strategies is essentially based on the PRSP directives which seek to eliminate the vertical obstacles, particularly: (i) illiteracy as an obstacle to the advancement of women; (ii) the health of women which remains a concern; and (iii) the legal and social status of women which has not changed because of the persistence of socio-cultural obstacles. The MPFEF plan of action does not ensure the realization of the crosscutting outlook of the gender issue. It is sketchy and not suited to the various stakeholders. It is weak in the area of formulation (lack of a planning structure), implementation and follow-up. The following are perceptible in terms of evaluation of gender interventions and strategies : i. Lack of clarity in the formulation of concepts: equality, equity, gender. ii. Persistence of erroneous perceptions about women: women are victims, weak and deprived. The gender issue is often presented as a women’s issue managed by women. iii. Activities are particularly centered on the advancement of women. iv. Target group approach prevails over the sectoral approach. v. Lack of comparative analysis between the sexes of the social, economic, cultural and political reality that can ensure the visibility of women’s activities and give equal value to their activities. vi. Weakness of the follow-up and evaluation systems and lack of gender-specific data. Only the health and education departments have started a gender-by-gender disintegration of statistics for a limited number of indicators. Neither the PRSP coordination unit nor the National Statistics and Information Directorate (DNSI) have been able to formulate a disintegration framework to ensure the follow-up of gender equality. The sector departments think that the disintegration of data is the work of the ministry and their responsibilities in this area are not clearly defined. It would be proper to develop strategic approach that enables all the partners to get involved in the dynamics in a rational and concerted manner. By taking note of their own objectives and requirements, each sector must encourage the creation of favourable political and economic conditions to ensure that gender equity is given a crosscutting focus. 62 The conceptual definitions and approaches aiming at achieving equal opportunities for both men and women should be appropriate and applied by all the actors. Future programmes should revolve around the following thrusts: i. Repositioning of MPFEF vis-à-vis its major functions around horizontal objectives, which strengthen its roles relating to consultation, coordination, follow-up and evaluation of gender issues. ii. Support for other departments with clearly defined objectives, real mastery of the methodological concepts and approaches and an assessment of the results achieved. iii. Support for civil society stakeholders in order to encourage the strengthening and understanding of the various components of this segment of civil society stakeholders rather than the visibility of already approved civil society outfits. iv. Support community grassroots organizations in order to integrate gender into the decentralization process. The study of a few major reforms and development programmes has ensured a better definition of the considerations of the gender issue, particularly the Institutional Development Programme (PDI), the Agricultural Guidance Law (LOA), PRODEC, PRODESS and PASAOP. See Box No. 4 in the Annex on the presentation of some of these programmes. The gender issue was not evident in the Institutional Development Programme (PDI) and the initial consultations with the various actors. To make up for this situation, and thanks to the advocacy days held in July 2004 on the theme: “Gender, Institutional Reforms and Good Governance� at which the MFPRERI and CDI agreed on the following: • The setting-up of a technical gender committee at the ministry in charge of state reform. The vision, terms of reference and composition of this committee are still on the drawing board; • The PDI operational plan was amended with the addition of a clause to encourage the consideration of gender equality in the implementation of the programme as follows: “The PDI will incorporate the gender dimension at all levels by identifying the specific needs of all in-service delivery to the citizenry and by ensuring that obstacles to the employment of women are identified within the Public Service with the view to eliminating them�; • The follow-up-evaluation mechanism to be put in place will also bring out the gender- by-gender disaggregated results. The framework for the formulation of the Agricultural Guidance Law (LOA) provides for the consideration of gender in Chapter 3, which states : “organizations dealing with the concerns of women and young rural dwellers must be considered in order to enable them to enhance their contribution to the nation’s wealth�6. The designers of the activities relating to the formulation of the various texts incorporated the consideration of gender right from the beginning of the process: the National Federation of 6 Guidance documents for the formulation of the Agricultural Guidance Law, Presidency and Permanent Secretariat for the formulation of the LOA, 2005. 63 Rural Women’s Associations (FENAFER) is part of the LOA national technical committee; consultations involve the women’s socio-professional organizations at the local, regional and national levels; a special workshop on Gender and Rural Development will be organized and this group of actors will check all proposals to ensure their “gender�7 sensitivity. The approach of the Permanent secretariat is effective for the consideration of the concerns of rural women in the various processes for the formulation of the outline law. However, it has very inadequate technical gender resources (checking tools) that can ensure that this consideration specifically targets equal opportunities for men and women. The outcomes run the risk of being part of the framework for the advancement of women rather than the framework relating to gender equality in sustainable rural development. The MPFEF was not seriously involved in the formulation of major national development programmes: PRODEC, PRODESS and PASAOP. The PMFEF lacks the ability to get involved in sectoral policies like health, education, micro-finance or rural development. Additionally, gender is not mainstreamed into the strategic and decision-making functions of these ministries. Consequently, the internally appointed focal points are not systematically consulted during the formulation of programmes and projects. PRODESS, Health and Social Development Programme, did not, for the purposes of its first phase, have gender-responsive tools for the formulation of its objectives, activities and follow-up-evaluation system, hence the poor consideration of the gender issue. This shortcoming seems to have been corrected in the formulation of phase two of PRODESS with the carrying out of a study on gender. PRODEC, Ten-year Educational Development Programme, laid emphasis on the education of girls and the incorporation of gender into the formal system but did not favour the non-formal education and literacy among women. For each of the PRODEC components, a gender disparity analysis was done and stopgap measures were proposed. Impact and implementation indicators were selected for the assessment of the effects of the interventions. The mid-term assessment of PRODEC emphasized a clear improvement in the rate of access to girl-child education. PASAOP, Programme of Assistance to Agricultural Departments and Farmers’ Organizations, has identified the gender-related concerns, particularly the lack of access to extension services, inadequate training on post-harvest activities and value addition activities of women as well as the lack of female personnel in rural development structures. Activities have therefore been identified to reduce these disparities, which will be measured by an array of indicators. 7 Plan of action for the formulation of the Agricultural Guidance Law, Presidency and LOA Permanent Secretariat, 2005 and contents of the training programmes for facilitators and trainers dealing with the formulation of the Agricultural Guidance Law, according to the Permanent Secretariat for formulation of the LOA, 2005. 64 III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 MAJOR CONCLUSIONS 4.1.1 Gender and Socio-cultural practices The current socio-cultural context review on the one hand helped to highlight the cultural factors that affect the situation, the position and the relationships between men and women. They impinge heavily on women’s status within the family, the society and limit their opportunities to education, their capacity to take decisions and participate in community life in terms of equal opportunities with men. These factors are as follows: ¾ The patriarchal and patrilineal systems of inheritance accord men a dominant social position within the family and the community while restricting women to a subordinate position in relation to men. The men enjoy the privilege of playing an active role whilst women execute the activity. It must be noted that customary practice promotes this submissiveness. ¾ Controlling childbearing through the social system is manifested by practices and customs (virginity before marriage, excision, faithfulness amongst couples, taboos and prohibitions, childbirth rites, widowhood rituals). It is sustained by learning and socialization mechanisms with a singular objective of restricting women to their reproductive function. At the same time, in this very system the woman as a Mother is considered as sacred. ¾ A sexual socialization that assigns roles to boys and girls, women and men, determines responsibilities, duties and division of labour in the family and in the society. This division of labour is manifested in the overburdening of women with work and responsibilities. Gender disaggregated stereotypes and prejudices confirm the values and norms prescribed by the community and perpetuate inequalities. Thus, the major consequence of these inherent and internalized socio-cultural factors is to shape minds and establish behavioural and attitudinal determinants in our utterances and decision-making. They serve as a justification for any resistance to change. Nevertheless, amidst all these constraints, an analysis of the situation among women revealed strengths and potentials highlighted by the following changes in recent years. - A spirit of initiative and adaptation derived from the effect of crises and the increasing family responsibilities. - An effective organizational ability as a strategy in response to taking up community- related duties. - An experience in mediation - A demonstration of solidarity and mutual assistance. - Upholding discipline and commitment. 4.1.2 Gender and Human Development Indicators An analysis of the human development indicators revealed that girls and boys, men and women do not enjoy the same opportunities in terms of access to the various social services such as education and health and do not have equal benefits in meeting their specific needs. 65 The provision of education in Mali is characterized not only by wide disparities relating to the environment, age, profession of parents and their standard of living but also by gender gaps. At all levels of the educational system, there is a lower enrolment of girls as compared to boys. This disparity in enrolment rates is also related to the living conditions of girls and boys but more especially to social and cultural norms, which particularly affect the education of girls, at all levels. More girls drop out of school and, as they go up the educational ladder, their chance of succeeding and completing their courses reduces. The productivity of women in their economic life is consequently seriously jeopardized. This situation, which results in the low level of education of girls, is due to a combination of several factors: ¾ The social status of women reinforced by customary practices and norms. ¾ Early marriages, which are a logical consequence of the social perception of women’s roles in the family. ¾ Poverty that strongly influences parents’ decisions in prioritizing strategic options and expenditure choices. ¾ The social division of labour that makes the girl child help her mother who is overburdened with domestic chores. ¾ The long distances and the hardship that those who attend school outside their communities have to endure. ¾ The low educational level of men and women who are 15 or more is worrisome and not all women with a lower literacy level can avail themselves of all the development opportunities. In the area of health, available data related to the reproductive health of women shows that the indicators are still below both the WHO standards and national targets. The most visible manifestations are: ¾ High maternal death and fertility rates. ¾ A greater vulnerability to HIV/AIDS as a result of the persistence of cultural and social practices (polygamy, levirate and sororate marriages where one of the spouses is a carrier of the virus, excision) and the existence of women’s groups at risk (sex workers, hawkers and house helps) who face difficult socio-economic challenges. ¾ Poor nutrition especially for those who are of childbearing age. These specific gender-related health problems can partly be attributed to constraints inherent in the health system: (i) Low coverage and poor quality in healthcare delivery; (ii) ineffectiveness and inefficiency in healthcare delivery. Nevertheless, these problems are more importantly related to the economic and social status of women within the family and in the society. 4.1.3 Gender and Economy 66 The economic contribution of women is not properly recognized and is still not factored into national data and statistics. The challenges confronting women in terms of their roles and status, their being overburdened with domestic chores, lack of information, training and education are obstacles to their full participation in the market economy. Thus, in the area of employment, women are under represented in the modern private and public sectors. They occupy subordinate positions and are discriminated against by way of income disparities. These disparities also reflect in terms of access and control of productive resources particularly in relation to land, means of production, transport and technology as well as sales channels and outlets. In spite of the progress achieved in the micro-finance sector through savings and credit unions, access to financial services remains limited. The low level of investment keeps women in the informal sector mainly in the handicraft, restaurant and local produce processing sub-sectors. They are mainly very active in petty trading. The market economy remains highly dominated by men. Women play a secondary role and only carry out low output and productivity activities. Women earn incomes that are meant for direct household expenditures. Increasingly, they are compelled to undertake responsibilities meant for men. The feminization of poverty leads women to initiate solidarity strategies and to establish networks through grassroots groups and associations. Thus, it became quite apparent in Mali, just as in many sub-Saharan African countries, that the lack of recognition of women in wealth creation and in sustainable development is linked to the following gender inequalities: ¾ The privilege that men have by virtue of their male status in terms of access to and management and control of resources; ¾ Uneven distribution of domestic work including the most difficult and most energy sapping and time consuming which are productive activities; ¾ The non recognition by society that work done by women is a productive one; ¾ The underestimation of women’s work and the non recognition of their important contribution to economic growth in national statistical data; ¾ The low level of education and qualification of women; ¾ The constant search for compromise by women in the face of family, social and occupation obligations in cases where they succeed in effectively carrying out the job. These factors account for the weak economic power of women and feminization of poverty. The analysis of the situation reveals some advantages in the economic empowerment of women. On this score, the following can be said: 67 - Putting in place equipment for women especially in rural communities to help alleviate the difficulty of domestic duties and gain time for other activities (literacy, training, AGR). - Increased organizational and intervention capacities of women reflected in the creation of women’s cooperatives and associations. - Better access by women through the development of micro-finance with the setting up of an independent micro credit system dubbed the “FAAF – Layidu� and the opening of several credit lines with the support of technical and financial partners. - Promotion of women entrepreneurship and development of micro projects. - Greater involvement of women in water, sanitation and environmental management committees. 4.1.4 Gender, Rights and Decision-making The ongoing review of different legal instruments in Mali led to the observation that there exists an actual will on the part of the authorities and the lawmakers to take into account gender equality in all aspects of economic and social life. This is demonstrated by the equality of access to employment, schooling, to serviced state lands and to loans, which are now an achievement supported by several national laws. However, it was observed that areas that are also not less important are not sufficiently taken into account or are even completely ignored in the laws: Violence perpetrated against young girls and women, persons affected by AIDS, widows and orphans due to AIDS as well as all issues related to rights of the family and to new situations confronting women today (single parent family, households headed by women). The reasons advanced to justify such a situation generally relate to social and cultural resistance especially to habits and customs and some interpretations of Islamic prescriptions, which are now real when it comes to women effectively enjoying their rights. Consequently family law reforms and the adoption of a new family Code appear to be a pre- requisite for creating a legal environment that promotes gender equity and equality in Mali. There is no thought that, the Marriage and Guardianship Law sought to extend the protection of women and children within the ambit of the family, but it still embodies a lot of discriminatory measures against women and in some of its provisions it espouses the consolidation of patriarchal power (status of the husband as family head, prominence of paternal authority), of marriage (polygamy) and of inheritance (male superiority in terms of inheritance under Islam). Concerning participation in decision-making, the situational analysis also helped to establish disparities between men and women at all levels; family, community and national. According to the law, there is equality between men and women. However, women are underrepresented at all levels and have a lower participation in decision-making bodies. The reasons often assigned to this are: ¾ The belief system that power is “masculine� as a result of male superiority and his greater management skills; ¾ The stereotypes and other socio-cultural prejudices; 68 ¾ Social, family and economic constraints overstretch women’s time schedules and do not allow them to carry out their community responsibilities; ¾ Low literacy levels; ¾ Low level of confidence in women and their weak financial capacity (keeping a political clientele, financing electioneering campaigns); ¾ Insufficient consideration of gender and equity issues within decision-making bodies as a result of the low level of consciousness on gender issues among policy makers and opinion leaders and the quasi non-existence of gender related skills within these bodies. However, more women are going into politics judging from the recent elections; such women can avail themselves of the opportunities that exist at the national level especially: - The promotion of democratic governance and the wave of change in Mali; - The organizational capacity of women and their ability to mobilize; - The emergence of a crop of women leaders who will be able to put collective interests of women above personal considerations; - The impact of projects and programmes that promote women’s participation and strengthen their capacities, know-how and self management skills, their participation in the local management of development, as well as learning to play new roles and assume a new status; - Political parties that are better trained and informed about gender equality especially since women will be in the position to make their voices heard and protect their group interests; - The management of local development through community bodies and grassroots development plans of which women should be stakeholders. 4.1.5 Gender and Institutional Mechanisms At the level of the governmental institution in charge of gender issues, the major constraints are as follows: - Lack of a national gender strategy; - Lack of consideration of the cross-cutting and multisectoral nature of the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family (MPFEF); - Lack of formal coordination mechanisms with other ministerial departments and the non performance of focal points; - Internal institutional weaknesses at the ministry especially in the decentralized institutions; - Operational weaknesses within the MPFEF in terms of capacities pertaining to training, communication, conceptualization, monitoring and evaluation of women’s situations. 69 The lack of a consultation and coordination framework is prominent in terms of ensuring an effective role of gender in the decentralized development strategies. The strengthening, the role and the functioning of a local mechanism that takes gender into account need to be examined, formalized and extended to the entire country. Women are very much represented in civil society through grassroots associations structured into umbrella organizations. Even though civil society is consulted in all topical national issues, it faces problems in getting actively involved in gender matters as a result of (i) internal weakness (low capacities, competition among associations) and (ii) lack of consultation and cooperation with the MPFEF. The opening up of Associations to women had a definite impact on the relationships between men and women. In the associations, women had the opportunity to develop their capacities for negotiation: self-confidence drive became precise trump cards for women. This development is undoubtedly the most concrete achievement. Thus, women have certainly, though still informally, prepared the ground for a potential repositioning of social roles. However, it is a clear illustration of the fact that gender roles, far from being static and gender-specific, depend on social choices and mechanisms, which regulate society. A framework for consultation among technical partners is less operational leading to dispersal of efforts, a non-optimization of funding, inadequate harmonization of strategies and approaches as the MPFEF is unable to play the role devolved to it as coordinator of consultation in an effective manner. Mali did not have a national Gender strategy and also the analysis of programmes and interventions on the issue shows that there is: ¾ Lack of clarity in the understanding of concepts: equality, equity, gender; ¾ The persistence of erroneous perceptions about women: women who are victims, weak and deprived; the gender issue is often presented as a women’s affair managed by women; the activities are focused on the empowerment of women; ¾ The target group approach takes precedence over the sectoral and integrated approach; ¾ The lack of comparative analysis between the sexes with regard to the social, economic, cultural and political reality to ensure visibility in women’s activities and give equal attention to their activities; ¾ Weakness in the monitoring and evaluation systems and non-existence of gender- disaggregated data in the MPFEF, and the (National Committee on Poverty Reduction) PRSP and the National Statistics and Data Office (DNSI). 3.2 PROPOSAL FOR AN INTERVENTION STRATEGY AIMED AT PROMOTING GENDER EQUITY AND EQUALITY IN MALI The strategy proposed below is based on the outcomes of this evaluation which helped on the one hand to highlight the differentiated roles, needs and interests of men and women in the social, economic, legal, political and institutional spheres and on the other, to present the constraints underlying the disparities observed between the condition of men and women in all areas of economic and social life. 70 But, it is now an established fact that the advocacy for gender equality can be effective only if women themselves are in good health to ensure better productivity and have the requisite skills to carry out projects and take advantage of investment and employment opportunities, their physical and moral integrity is respected and are represented at decision-making levels including institutional mechanisms that take into consideration adequate financial and technical capacities to boost their empowerment. 9 Goals and Objectives of the strategy The goals of the strategy is to support the realization of gender equality through (i) the creation of a socio-cultural, legal, economic and institutional environment conducive to the attainment of gender equality and (ii) the effective incorporation of gender into development policies, programmes and projects at national and sectoral levels. 9 Strategic areas and priority actions To achieve these objectives, four strategic areas and priority actions are proposed: Strategic Area 1: Developing the social status of women and strengthening their potential The purpose of this strategy is to promote positive attitudes and practices that encourage equity and equality of recognition, treatment, opportunity and outcomes for women and men, and especially enhance, alongside the education and social sectors, the social role and action capacity of women. The actions that need to be undertaken at this level include: • The development of a vast information, sensitization and mobilization programme on gender issues for different sections of the society to sensitize them to and work towards gender equality and equity in order to bring about behavioural change. (Ensure that men and other family members take active part in and share the responsibilities in home management). • Carry out advocacy among the policy makers and opinion leaders to ensure an active support for gender equity and equality through clear measures. • Build gender capacities among education and health officers for a better gender integration as well as design methodological tools for planning, budgeting and monitoring-evaluation of interventions in the education and health sectors. • Tailor educational opportunities to disadvantaged groups especially the disabled and children from poor families and illiterate women for the upgrading of canteen facilities in all rural and semi-urban areas to combat malnutrition and dropouts (with the assistance of the Financial and Technical Partners (FTP) such as the WFP and UNICEF). • Support the reduction in maternal mortality and morbidity through the strengthening of information and sensitization programmes relating to the FP, STIs/AIDS, excision, harmful health practices on the part of women as well as violence and supported by an impact study of socio-cultural factors on access to health services by women. 71 Strategic Area 2: Economic Empowerment of women in rural and urban areas The purpose of this area is to give better visibility to the contribution of women to the national economy and to promote their integration into all sectors of the economy as well as to strengthen their economic potential through the following priority actions: • Reduce the time and tediousness of domestic chores through the promotion of appropriate technologies, the provision of potable water, access to alternative sources of energy and transport logistics for persons but also for marketing produce especially in landlocked areas; • Support the visibility of women’s economic contribution through surveys: (i) on the actual situation of women in the informal sector including micro-finance and (ii) on the working hours of men and women, boys and girls in the home economy and the setting up of an information system on the economic activities of women in different institutions (Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Micro-Finance Organizations, National Federation of Arts and Crafts and Trades); • Promote equal access to resources by men and women especially to land, credit, inputs, technology and extension services. Take specific measures so that access to these resources would no longer be exclusively a function of a family business concern but would take into account the capacities of each asset so as to facilitate the emergence of women entrepreneurship in particular. • Support the development of income generating activities for disadvantaged groups (such as women heads of households, young girls who have dropped out of school, migrant girls, the disabled, persons living with HIV/AIDS, street children and other marginalized groups – Bella –) with the view to reducing their vulnerability; • Strengthen the acquisition of skills by gender experts within the various sectors of economic activity for a better inclusion of (i) women’s economic potential and (ii) the different needs of women and men in terms of development policies, programmes and projects. Strategic Area 3 : Promoting equal rights and responsibilities of women and men and strengthening access and the status of women in decision-making bodies The purpose of this strategic area is to contribute to (i) the elimination of all forms of gender- related discrimination and the promotion of respect for the fundamental rights of persons including those of the girl child and women and (ii) creating equal opportunity in the exercise of power. To this end, the following actions are envisaged: In the area of promotion of women’s rights: • Finalize the process of dialogue on the new Family Law leading to its adoption at the national level; 72 • To pursue the review of national laws so as to remove any discrimination and if possible take new measures by taking into account social and economic changes (single parent families, female heads of households, social security in the informal sector); • Formulate laws related to women’s rights and continue the dialogue for the adoption of laws especially those pertaining to physical integrity (excision, physical and sexual violence, HIV/AIDS) and equality; • Develop an advocacy programme for policy makers and opinion leaders for the effective enforcement of women’s rights in accordance with national law and international conventions; • Adopt regulatory and punitive measures to support the dissemination and enforcement of laws in all domains; • Facilitate the setting up of a national observatory on women and girl child rights which shall be responsible for (i) ensuring the enforcement of the principles of equity and equality between women and men and (ii) conducting surveys on the gender situation in Mali especially a survey on violence, their form and frequency and its physical and psychological effects on the victims. In the area of effective participation of women in decision-making bodies: • Develop a sensitization programme for the various actors in the society on equal exercise of citizenship by men and women, on their equal ability to occupy the same positions and to exercise power in decision-making bodies. • Promote equality and equity in the participation of women and men in all decision- making bodies at all levels (national, regional and local) by adopting discriminatory measures in favour of women (equality). • Support the emergence of women’s pressure groups to enhance the promotion of peace, conflict prevention and management and fighting against corruption. Strategic Area 4: Improving the impact of interventions that promote gender equality and equity The purpose of this thrust is to develop a strategic approach that enables all partner institutional stakeholders to promote gender equality in a harmonized and concerted framework. It is vital that the stakeholders: governmental agencies, civil society, local government authorities, Republican Institutions as well as technical and financial partners promote the creation of the necessary social, legal, political and economic conditions for the multisectoral inclusion of equality and equity between the sexes. To achieve this objective, the following actions are proposed: • Make the crosscutting and multisectoral issue of gender more effective by refocusing the priority of the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family on gender equality issues; • Pursue the creation of Gender and Development Units in the sector ministries and make them operational by ensuring: (i) quality personnel in terms of profile and 73 gender; and (ii) the recognition of their positions and roles to make them an important and active factor in the planning, implementation and monitoring-evaluation process in Gender promotion; • Put in place mechanisms for dialogue and coordination with civil society as well as technical and financial partners; • Strengthen civil society to enable it play an advocacy and facilitation role on gender issues through: (i) a mechanism for dialogue between civil society and government, (ii) capacity building within civil society especially at the level of central and decentralized umbrella organizations, (iii) a broader participation of the civil society in major national discussions and evaluation and programmes, (iv) monitoring evaluation and capitalization of achievement and impact; • Optimize donor interventions through (i) conceptual and operational tools for a better incorporation of gender into programmes and projects including monitoring and evaluation of the situation of women. (ii) a mechanism for dialogue between technical and financial partners, (iii) a mechanism for dialogue between the government and technical and financial partners. • Build capacities in decentralized institutions and strengthen local authority through: (i) the inclusion of gender and its multisectoral character in the planning and management of development programmes and actions (ii) increased participation of women in decision-making bodies and local development management; • Develop an information and research system on gender issues at the national level to elicit disaggregated data in all sectors at all levels. Such an initiative calls for a synergy of all actors and stakeholders. 3.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A BETTER PROMOTION OF GENDER EQUITY AND EQUALITY IN MALI The following recommendations are aimed at creating an enabling environment for the effective implementation of this strategy. These recommendations target MPFEF as a major actor in the promotion of gender equality, other sector ministries, civil society, the private sector and international development partners. ) The Ministry for the Promotion of Women Children and the Family: 1. Facilitate the mainstreaming of gender in development policies, programmes and projects, provide the country with a conducive gender reference framework comprising: ¾ A Gender equity and equality policy letter ¾ A National Gender Equity and Equality Strategy ¾ A National Gender and Development Programme for the Operationalisation of the strategy; 2. Carry out an organizational audit at the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family with the view to adequately strengthening its institutional position and intervention capacity; 74 3. Improve the development intervention planning and programming, put in place an information system comprising a disaggregated gender database in all sectors as well as quality study data and specific survey on the situation of men and women in different regions of the country. This activity shall be executed in collaboration with the DNSI, research institutes, planning departments in technical ministries, gender focal points and specialists in international community institutions; 4. Support national and sectoral development policy and programme review by highlighting the needs and potential of men and women and strengthen gender integration in these instruments and participate actively in the PRSP formulation / monitoring / evaluation policy; 5. Ensure the realization of the necessary thematic studies for a better appreciation of the vulnerability situation of men and women: Actual social and economic situation of women family heads, (i) time budget of men and women in urban and rural areas, (ii) situation of men and women in the formal and informal sectors, violence perpetrated against women and the girl child and (iii) the exodus, migration and urbanization impact in correlation with poverty and HIV/AIDS on men and women. ) Other state sector ministries and institutions 1. Adopt a gender approach as a strategic factor to be mainstreamed into each development sector and at all levels; 2. Take measures to ensure the recognition of GED Units in each institutional structure and make them operational; 3. Ensure review in line with the gender policies and programmes of each sector. ) Private Sector 1. Give due attention to gender issues particularly to ensure the protection of women and their access to economic and financial opportunities. ) PRSP 1. Deepen gender analysis in the formulation of poverty profiles (PRSP 2) for a better knowledge of the actual situation of women and vulnerable groups at the national, regional and local levels and incorporate pertinent gender indicators into the poverty monitoring system; 2. Strengthen coordination with MPFEF and ensure a greater involvement of civil society in the design process and poverty monitoring system. 3. Build gender capacities in respect of members of the Poverty Monitoring Unit and improve the existing national expertise. ) Civil Society 75 1. Strengthen institutional and operational capacities including gender within civil society organizations especially in the umbrella organizations; 2. Strengthen civil society intervention framework by providing it with the resources to play its roles (i) contribution to the formulation of policy instruments, (ii) intervention in the execution of actions on the ground and (iii) pro-active and advocacy stance in the promotion of gender issues and (iv) advocacy for resource mobilization and the realization of actions that are women friendly. ) At the level of technical and financial partners in Mali 1. Support the Government for a systematic national and sectoral policy evaluation and ensure the systematic inclusion of gender inequalities related to the management of domestic chores, access to resources especially land, education and qualification, domestic and sexual violence, HIV/AIDS and their impact on health and poverty of women, access to decision-making and the exercise of power; 2. Ensure technical and financial support in the formulation of the Policy Letter, the National Gender Equality and Equity Strategy and the National Gender and Development Programme and contribute to their implementation; 3. Support the formulation and implementation of a gender information system that takes cognizance of regional realities; 4. Promote dialogue and harmonization of TFP interventions regarding gender issues; 5. Give priority to gender issues in negotiations pertaining to cooperation and programming of different institutions and support their inclusion in the next Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper review and future programmes; 6. Support the conducting of the necessary studies and surveys for the development of a gender information system in Mali and the building of national gender capacities. 76 77 ANNEX I NATIONAL CONTEXT Mali is one of the vastest(? Vastest is a bit awkward, I would choose a different wording) countries in West Africa. It is a landlocked country situated at the heart of West Africa. It spreads over an area of 1,241,238 km2 and shares borders with seven African countries. According to ELIM 2003 projections, Mali has a population of about 11 million inhabitants, 50.5 percent (percent should always be spelled out, rather than given by the symbol, %) of whom are women. With an average density of 7.4 inhabitants per square kilometer, the population is unevenly distributed, and mainly concentrated in the south of the country. Mali is a poor country with no access to the sea, and hardly endowed with natural resources. The numerous constraints besetting the country include lack of natural resources, the fact of being landlocked, climatic vagaries, locust invasions, poor road infrastructure and transport and communication, a population growth rate of 2.2 percent per annum and a weak institutional capacity. With a GDP of 240 dollars and a human development index (HDI/UNDP) of 0.337 in 2002, Mali is classified among the world’s poorest countries, ranking a mere 174th out of 177 countries. Means of subsistence, especially in rural areas, remains a challenge. Reforms undertaken since the eighties to fast track economic growth have done little to reverse the pervasive poverty. Social development indicators remain low. The 2001 poverty profile shows that nearly two-thirds of the total population (63.8 percent) is poor and a quarter of this number lives in extreme poverty. Poverty is even more severe in rural areas where three-quarters of the population lives. Against this backdrop, women in rural and urban areas alike are more vulnerable than men. This is illustrated by gender-specific index trends, which slid from 0.327 in 2001 to 0.309 in 2002. In May 2002, Mali finalized its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which outlines a comprehensive strategy to fight poverty. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper is the reference framework for all donors and development partners. Its purpose is to create conducive conditions for accelerated, sustainable and equitable growth and help Mali advance towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To this end, the PRSP targets women as a vulnerable group, focusing on the following areas: (i) reducing illiteracy, considered as a hindrance to women’s promotion; (ii) access to basic health services, women’s health, which remains a source of concern and the legal and social status of women. In 2002, Mali became eligible for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). The Malian economy relies mainly on the primary sector, which accounts for nearly 44 percent of GDP. The secondary sector accounts for 21 percent of GDP and the tertiary sector, 31 percent. (Source PRSP, 2002). Agriculture remains the mainstay of the Malian economy. It accounts for 30 percent of GDP and employs three-quarters of the labour force. Food crop farming is the main form of agriculture (90% of the country’s cultivated land is devoted to cereals such as sorghum, millet and maize). Most farmers engage in subsistence farming in addition to market gardening, hitherto practiced mainly by women to produce vegetables like okra, tomatoes, onions, 78 cabbage, carrots and salad leaves needed for the family’s food requirements. Today, these crops seem to be turning into cash crops (potatoes and charlottes). Cotton is the main cash crop. Mali is the second leading cotton producer in Africa, after Egypt (cotton is mainly produced in Sikasso) and the leader in West Africa. Following a vast irrigation programme, today, Mali boasts of irrigated areas for rice production, under the Office du Niger and Offices Riz de Segou and Mopti and the Baguindea perimeter. The Office du Niger, which manages 80,000 hectares of irrigated land, provides half of the country’s rice production (400,000 tons). Women, who constitute the key agricultural labour force, work on family cash crop farms, more as unpaid labour and as farm hands in rice and cotton growing areas. Livestock farming. With an estimated livestock population of 35 million heads, livestock accounts for nearly 10% of the country’s GDP. Its contribution to the primary sector is estimated at 35.5%. The livestock population is estimated at 5.7 million heads of cattle, 13.2 million small ruminants, 500,000 camels, 454,000 horses and donkeys and 22 million fowls. (Source: PASAOP, 2002). Fisheries. The Rivers Niger and Senegal have turned Mali into a major producer of fresh water fish in the region. The fisheries sector accounts for 4.2% of GDP. Fisheries production stands at about 100,000 tons per annum, placing Mali among Africa’s leading producers of fresh water fish. Export earnings from this activity amount to about 1.3 billion CFA francs, constituting 1% of the country’s total exports. (Source: Direction nationale de la Peche). Alongside agricultural, livestock and fisheries resources, Mali has immense energy and mining potentialities. The country has hydroelectric power plants at Manantali, Selingue, Felou, Tossaye, Labezenga and Gouina. Renewable sources of energy such as solar energy are also being tapped. The country also has vast mining deposits, especially gold, which ranks third after cotton and livestock in terms of exports. The cottage industry, trade and services are equally dynamic sectors of the Malian economy. On the political arena, March 1991 saw the advent of democratic pluralism and the attendant press freedom, an awakening of the dynamics of community life and a proliferation of political parties. Mali is relying on the current decentralization policy to help fight poverty and promote the conscious participation of men and women in the exercise of power and in development through decentralized management. The country has eight administrative regions, one district, 703 communes and 11,540 villages and fractions (Source: 1998 population and housing census). About twenty ethnic groups live together and share a long tradition of communal life. Islam is the main religion, with 90% of the population Moslem, and the remaining 10% Christian and animists. The ethnic groups in Mali are categorized according to their way of life: nomadic and sedentary. The nomads comprise mainly the Peul (or Fulani), Touareg, Maure and Arab in the central and northern parts of the country, and the sedentary populations, are the Mandingos (Bambara and Malinke), Soninke, Senoufo, Minianka, Bobo and Somono, who live along River Niger and River Senegal. 79 ANNEX II : TABLES • Street children and children in the street, under 15 years old Table 18: Distribution of street children (under 15 years) by activity, in Bamako Boys Girls Population Categories Number % Number % Number % Beggar guides 7 0% 14 2% 21 0% Talibé beggars 95 3% 0 0% 95 2% Other beggars 1,335 37% 84 11% 1,419 33% Resellers 1,009 28% 584 80% 1,593 37% Mechanics 6 0% 0 0% 6 0% Windscreen washers 47 1% 1 0% 48 1% Porters 37 1% 1 0% 38 1% Shoe-shine boys 392 11% 2 0% 394 9% Prostitutes 0 0% 2 0% 2 0% Others 686 19% 46 6% 732 17% Total 3,614 100% 734 100% 4,348 100% Source: Samu social /Sernes Table 19: Distribution (%) labour force under 15 years old Working Not working Employed Under-employed Total Unemployed Not working Total Total 51.1 4.6 55.7 10.3 34.1 44.4 Area of residence Urban 43.9 1.3 45.2 11.9 42.9 54.8 Rural 54.5 6.1 60.6 9.5 29.9 39.4 Sex and Age Men 15 – 29 53.5 5.5 59.0 12.8 28.2 41.0 30 – 49 77.1 5.3 82.4 12.2 5.4 17.6 50 – 64 64.8 7.5 72.3 14.8 13.0 27.8 64 + 33.7 5.5 39.2 5.4 55.4 60.8 All men 62.0 5.7 67.7 12.3 20.0 32.3 Women 15 – 29 40.6 4.1 44.7 9.6 45.7 55.3 30 – 49 50.7 3.5 54.2 9.6 36.3 45.9 50 – 64 41.4 2.8 44.2 4.9 51.0 55.9 64 + 15.9 1.7 17.6 1.2 81.2 82.4 All women 42.3 3.5 45.8 8.3 45.9 54.2 Source ELIM 2003 and Author 80 Table 20 : Distribution (%) of labour force by area of activity Government Private company Informal sector Rural Men & Women together % 3.2% 9.4% 36.2% 51.3% Area Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Total 4.4 2.0 11.3 7.6 26.0 45.7 58.2 44.7 Agriculture 54.3 0.6 0.3 3.1 1.2 96.2 98.5 Mining 0.3 14.9 0.0 14.7 0.0 70.3 100.0 Production/processing 5.7 2.9 0.6 17.4 16.2 79.7 83.2 Construction 2.1 1.1 0.0 9.8 7.9 89.1 92.1 Transport 2.0 4.4 0.0 33.7 0.0 62.0 100.0 Trade 19.2 0.0 0.0 25.1 12.8 74.9 87.2 Services 5.2 12.1 5.4 41.9 33.6 46.0 61.0 Education/Health 2.3 61.1 59.9 17.5 19.8 21.4 20.3 Administration 1.4 75.7 85.3 10.3 3.3 14.0 11.4 Undeclared 7.5 4.0 0.8 18.1 1.9 77.9 97.3 Source: ELIM 2003 and author Table 21: Distribution (%) of labour force by employment status Permanent Piece Unpaid Self- Undeclared employees workers workers employed Total 8.0 4.0 37.0 39.6 2.0 Area of residence Urban 21.3 8.7 12.1 52.7 1.1 Rural 3.3 2.3 45.9 35.0 2.4 Sex and Age Men 10.1 5.3 31.0 42.3 1.7 15 - 29 7.3 6.7 52.1 21.4 2.2 30 - 49 15.1 5.4 17.2 54.2 1.3 50 - 64 9.3 2.1 18.3 58.7 1.3 64 + 3.8 2.9 5.0 70.0 2.1 Women 5.0 2.4 43.2 37.5 2.6 15 - 29 5.8 2.0 50.3 28.8 2.1 30 - 49 5.4 1.9 41.9 41.4 2.5 50 - 64 3.0 3.8 35.2 48.0 2.4 64 + 1.6 4.2 21.1 51.9 7.0 Source : ELIM 2003 and Author Table 22: Distribution of land in OPIB and ORM Men Women Areas Type of development Land Available area Land Available area area – per means of area – per means of hectare production hectare production OPIB Flooded area 2,143 0.87 30.2 0.44 Market gardening 1.20 ORM Flooded area 21,439 2.17 166 1.18 Market gardening 7 1.20 101 0.2 Water control Pot 204 1.20 2.33 0.21 81 BOXES ANNEX III Box 1: 1949 land census in Northern Mali The census, which commenced in 1949, was the starting point of individual appropriation of land. The census draws its legitimacy from the seriousness of land problems that made the colonial administration to carry it out from Bourem to Ansongo. This census led to certain women becoming land owners. The land identification exercise and inventory revealed two types of property: Private land: this belongs to (very few) individual men and women who may enjoy all the rights attached to the property: usus, fructus and abusus. God sent betel: property including land and animals belonging to the community. It is mainly made up of land of deceased farmers with no adult heirs. This land is often entrusted into the care of custodians and it is possible for the child to regain possession upon the attainment of adulthood. Disputes arise over the settlement of certain cases: land omitted by the general land census; reclaimed land affected by drought after the general census; community land which was meant to support the war effort. It is in the area of the God-sent betel that most women have access to the PAPIV plots of land. Source: Mr. T. SANOGO (Lawyer) and Mrs. S. DEMBELE Box 2: Articles of the Constitution that impact women’s status (source: Analytical study on women’s status and the law in Mali, MPFEF, December 2001) Respect for women’s rights Preamble. The Sovereign People of Mali…declare their determination to defend women and children’s rights as well as the cultural and linguistic diversity of the inviolable community Respect for physical Article 1: The human person is sacred and inviolable. Integrity Every individual has a right to life, freedom, security and physical integrity of their person Principle of equality Article 2: All Malians are born and remain free and between men and women equal in terms of rights and duties. Any discrimination based on social origin, color, language, race, sex, religion or political opinion is forbidden Violence against women Article 3: No one shall be subjected to torture nor to abuses or inhuman cruel, degrading or humiliating treatment. Every individual or state official who will be guilty of such acts, either by his own initiative or by instruction, shall be punished in accordance with the law Free choice of residence Article 5: The State recognizes and guarantees, freedom to go and come, freedom to choose a residence, freedom of association, meeting, procession and demonstration in accordance with the terms of the law Right to defence and Article 9(4): The right to defence including being preliminary investigation assisted by a counsel of one’s choice is guaranteed after preliminary investigation Right to ownership of Article 13: The right to ownership of property is property guaranteed. No person can be deprived of their property except for public use but after adequate and 82 prior compensation Education Article 17: Education, learning, training, work, accommodation, leisure, health and social security are recognized rights Article 18(1): Every citizen has a right to go to school. Health Article 17: Idem Social Security / Work Article 19: The right to work and to rest is recognized and is equal to all. Work is a duty for a citizen but no person shall be restricted to a specified work except in cases of an emergency service of public interest Right to vote Article 27: All citizens of voting age who enjoy civic and political rights in accordance with conditions determined by the law. Box 3: Major Laws Impacting the Status of Women (source: Analytical survey on Women’s status and the Law in Mali, MPFEF, 2001) (1) The French Common Partially enforceable in Mali in certain domains relating Law (1803) to property, obligations, civil societies and marital regimes (2) Law on Civil, Decree No. 99-254/P-RM of 15 September 1999 on Commercial and Social Civil, Commercial and Social Procedure Procedure (3) Criminal Code Law No. 01-079 of August 20, 2001 (4) Criminal Procedure Law No. 01-080 of August 20, 2001 Code (5) Electoral Code ƒ Law No. 00-058 of August 30, 2000 as amended by Law No. 01-065 of July 13, 2001 ƒ Order No. 91-075/PCTSP of October 10, 1991 on Political Party Manifesto (6) Nationality Code Law No. 62-18 AN-RM of February 30, 1962 on Nationality Code as amended by Law No. 95-70 of August 25, 1995 (7) Labour Law ƒ Law No. 92-020 of September 23, 1992 on Work Code ƒ Enforcement Decree No. 96-178/P-RM of June 16, 1996 (8) Social Security Law Law No. 99-041 of August 12, 1999 on Social Security Law (9) Commercial Law ƒ Law No. 02 of August 27, 1992 on Commerce Law ƒ Treaty on the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) signed on October 17, 1993 and ratified by Mali by Law No. 94-08 of December 30, 1994 (10) State and Land Law Order No. 27/P-RM of March 22, 2000 on State and Land Law (11) Marriage and Custody Law No. 62-17 AN-RM of February 3, 1962 on Law Marriage and Custody Law as amended by Order No. 26 of March 10, 1975 (12) Kinship Law ƒ Order No. 36 CMLN of July 31, 1973 on Kinship Law ƒ Law No. 89-06, AN-RM of January 18, 1989 83 relating to changes in surname Box 4 Presentation of National Programmes 1. Education Sector Investment Programme (PRODEC) • Project Description Area of Intervention Amount Timing PRODEC: 1st Phase: (PISE) 2001-2005 Quality of Training $149 Access to Education $189 Demonstration in Sector Management $202.15 PPF $1.05 TOTAL $541.20 PRODEC: 2nd Phase $500 2005-2007 PRODEC: 3rd Phase $490 2008-2010 • Institutional Aspects A separate pilot operation is envisaged in order to carry out an evaluation • Ongoing Project The PISE Project, 1st Phase of PRODEC is getting to an end and will be completed by 31/12/2005. Its evaluation is ongoing. 84 • Measures Envisaged under the Project Observations Activities Expected Results and impact Component: School Access • Basic Education * Sensitization of traditional chiefs on * Gross enrolment at 70% in 2003/04 the issue of girls’ enrolment. Gross girls’ enrolment rate at 58% in * Gross enrolment rate of 56% in 99/00 * Consideration of factors that inhibit 2003/04 Gross girls’ enrolment rate of 46% in 99/00 girls’ access to school: * Number on roll per primary school * Number on roll per primary class of 56 pupils in - Reduction of distance between home class of 53 pupils in 2003/04 99/00 and school * Gender disparities in school enrolment between - Provision of sanitary facilities in urban and rural areas persist: gross enrolment rate schools in Bamako is 3 times that of rural areas. - Promotion of a conducive environment * Programme harmonization efforts * Enrolment rates among girls in the Madrases for girls: prohibition of corporal with the Madrases would therefore be appears to be higher punishment especially in rural areas. beneficial to girls * Programme harmonization efforts to be undertaken. • Secondary and higher education * The project will offer support at the At least 32% of female secondary secondary level with the view to school girls will qualify for higher Women are under represented at the university increasing the number of women education and secondary levels. candidates for admission at the higher education level * In building halls of residence, priority will be given to women * Each faculty will be encouraged to adopt a sensitization and liaison policy at the secondary level to increase the number of women in the fields of study. 85 Component: Quality of training Quality improvement * The rate of repetition in the 1st cycle in * The rate of survival of boys in school is higher than 03-04 is 13% and expulsion 5% that of girls especially in rural areas and poor families * The rate of repetition in the 2nd cycle in * The rate of repetition in class in the 1st cycle in 99/00 03-04 is 10% and at the secondary 13% was 22% and expulsion 8% * The rate of repetition in class at the 2nd cycle in 99-00 was 20% and at the secondary 25% Specific Needs The gender issue relating to these A WB survey on street children in Bamako shows that marginalized people will be explored boys constitute the largest proportion but there exist a significant number of girls who are generally pushed into prostitution at an early age. Reproductive Health Course on reproductive health will be Studies show that in view of age disparities in first introduced. Issues of female genital sexual relationship, girls of 15-19 years are 5 to 6 times mutilation will be tackled. more vulnerable to HIV than boys of the same age Gender Equity in the Educational System * An awareness of the gender issue will be * The rate of increase of women There is an under representation of women among the included in the training of teachers candidates into training colleges will teachers. * The recruitment policy will be improved reach 50% in 2010 The number of women amongst candidates into by an increase in the numbers especially * Increase in numbers within the teaching training colleges represents 34% in rural areas staff There is an under representation of women in the APE Experience of convergent teaching skills * Removal of stereotypes from the It is hoped that the use of local languages programme contents would be beneficial to girls and facilitate * Use of the first language as a medium the inclusion of societal issues. * Introduction of societal issues - Early marriages - Work opportunity for women - Excision – HIV - Early sexual relations and risks • Evaluation of Results The programme evaluation is ongoing but mid-way we have achieved: The improvement component of school access * The overall enrolment rates have improved at the two cycles: 1st cycle 56% of girls 86 II. National Rural Infrastructure Programme (PNIR) • Project Description Area of Intervention Amount (millions $ Period US) PNIR 2001-2005 Irrigation $66.6 Feeder Roads $26.0 Potable Water $25.5 Environment $6.9 Management Cost $14.3 (Unit, AGETIER,) TOTAL $139.3 • Institutional Aspects These aspects were taken into account only in relation to the components. - Irrigation - Potable Water Supply and Sanitation (AEPA) * Irrigation Component This component is sub-divided into two parts: - Large-scale irrigation: to be executed by the National Office - Small-scale irrigation: to be executed by DNAER * AEPA Component To be executed by the National Water Directorate. 87 • Measures envisaged under the project Observations Programmed Activities Expected Results and Impact Execution Constraints Component: Irrigation • Large-scale Irrigation * Establishment of joint land * Gender factor is not included in management committees the composition of the joint It concerns the development of three areas: * Land distribution is done by a committee neither is it included - Sokolo with 5800 ha; joint population committee in land reserves quotas (280 ha) - Mbéwani with 1315 ha or lands to be distributed - Koumouna with 1125 ha (390ha) The latter is a test zone for displacement of persons in which villages will be constructed and 280 ha apportioned freely to displaced persons as compensation for appropriated lands. 390 ha will be sub- divided into plots of 3 ha and distributed. • Village irrigated areas (PIV). *Establishment of a management * 10% of developed lands are This component has just committee to ensure the reserved for women taken off and no one can These refer to the three northern regions sustainability of development * They can also apply for the predict future problems * A one-off grant is allocated to remaining 90% associations involved in the * The management committees irrigation project as a means are joint committees involving of keeping the working capital men and women afloat for the purchase of inputs and equipments * These advance payments are managed by associations and specialized NGOs Component: AEPA * Boreholes are drilled by an association or * Establishment of joint * Participatory management by These committees set up could a farmers’ organization or a community. management committees men and women actors not adhere to the joint formula But to avoid possible conflicts, they must involving women and men to because of sociological be incorporated into community oversee the installations and bottlenecks. But generally, development plans. sale of water to ensure the women occupy key positions: * Requests for boreholes must be targeted sustainability of the Treasurer, Officials in charge of by the Mayor of the Commune installations Routine Management Inex- * Support by partner NGOs in perience of partner NGOs in the the management of AEPA promotion of programmes programme related to participation 88 III Farmers’ Organizations and Agricultural Services Support Programme (PASAOP) • Project Description Areas of Intervention Amount Period (millions $US) PASAOP 2002-2005 - Rationalization and strengthening of essential services at the Ministry of Agriculture $15.5 - Consolidation of national agricultural research system $8.7 - Improvement in Agricultural Extension System $18.0 - Support to Producer Organizations $9.2 - PPF $2.0 TOTAL $53.4 • Institutional aspects The gender dimension was incorporated into the components - Improvement in the agricultural extension system - Rationalization of Ministry of Agriculture Services 89 • Measures envisaged under the Project Observations Programmed activities Expected Results and Impact or observations Component: Agric. Extension • Gender and vulnerable groups – equity * The extension officers will receive * Poverty reduction both in terms of * The lack of women’s access to extension training on gender and poverty issues revenue and nutrition services is identified from the onset as being * The number of female extension officers * At the institutional level, an an important issue. will be increased Operational Team « Vulnerable * Specific surveys and analyses to be Groups » shall be set up to lead this carried out to evaluate and oversee Special Initiative, i.e. vulnerable women’ participation as well as group vulnerable producers groups in rural * Improvement of quality, production and commercial activities dissemination of technical * Fisheries and commercialization of fish recommendations relating to products were also identified as great potential such as fruits, vegetables, small sectors. livestock, activities that are traditionally the preserve of women producers • Research, Extension * Food processing, utilization, * Transfer of specific improved Poor management of post harvest activities warehousing and marketing of farm technologies that meet the needs of as well as value added activities undertaken produce and other extra revenue- targeted vulnerable groups. by women generating agricultural activities * Technology creation and transfer. 90 LIST OF PERSONS CONSULTED ANNEX IV Mr. Amidou Dembélé Principal Secretary of the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family, MPFEF Ms. Gologo Assa Coulibaly Director, Women’s Organizations and Associations’ Capacity Building Project at the MPFEF Ms. Aminata Fabou Traoré Men – Women Equity Consolidation Support Ms. Diallo Fanta Camara ADB Project Coordinator, Ministry of Education Ms. Diarra Afsatou Thièro Advisor, Supreme Court, Ministry of Justice (MPFEF) Ms. Diabaté National Employment Agency, Ministry of Public Service and Employment Ms. Keita PRSP Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Ms. Traoré Fatim CNDIFE, MPFEF Mr. Kalilou Tinguana Deputy Director General, PNIR, Ministry of Agriculture Mr. Abdoulaye Traoré PASAOP Coordinator, Ministry of Agriculture Ms. Coulibaly Natènè Quality Control Officer CMDT, Min. of Agriculture Abdoulaye Keita Technical Advisor, Permanent Assembly of the Chambers of Agriculture, APCAM Mr. Abdoulaye Coulibaly Director General, OMBEVI, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Ms. Sow Rokhaya Drabo Deputy Director, Department of Animal Production, Livestock and Fisheries Mr. Eric Coulibaly Director in charge of Fisheries, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Mr. Tahirou Kampo SFD Monitoring Officer, Support and Monitoring Unit, SFDs, Ministry of Finance and Econ. Planning Ms. Traoré Oumou Touré Executive Secretary, CAFO Ms. Kouyagé Goundo Sissoko Finance Officer, CAFO Ms. Nana Sanou Coordinator of the Pivot Group, Right and Citizenship Ms. Joséphine Kéita Traore Director, National Programme for the Eradication of Excision Ms. Sidibé Kadidia Houdou President, Malian Traditional Practices Monitoring and Orientation Association (AMSOPT) Mr. Atou Seck Manager, PRODEC, World Bank Mr. Gaston Sorgho Manager, PRODESS, World Bank Kalifa Sanogo Gender Officer, UNDP Korotoumou Konfé Gender Officer, USAID PARTICIPANTS National Restoration and Validation Workshop Bamako, 15 – 16 June 2005 Yakaré Soumano Ministry of Education Oualy Konté MATCL Djiriba dit Ibrahim Coulibaly CNDIFE Mamadou Traoré CNPI/MPI PME Bintou Sanakona REFAMP / MALI Ms. Traoré Korotoumou Konfé USAID Ms. Konté Binta Bocoum MPFEF / Shear Butter Project Vekeman Christiane Canadian Cooperation Ms. Sira Diop Economic, Social and Cultural Council Sékou Kanta Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Berthé Marietou Makalou Ministry of Public Service Bocoum Tamar Bocoum World Bank Bocar Dioukassi GP / DCF Mantala Traoré UNFPA Kalifa Sanogo UNDP Assitou Diallo PAREHF 2 / Coordinator Moussa Diarra World Bank Mamadou Tangara World Bank Kadiatou Dicko PAREHF 2 Momoutou Dembélé PAREHF 2 Mrs. Astou Diop Diagne Consultant Mrs. Touré Catherine Cormot Consultant Jean Samaké Consultant Hamidou Magassa Consultant / SERNES Demba Kébé CT / MA Ms. Kanté Dandara Traoré National Directorate for the Empowerment of Women Ms. Renée Osté SNV / Mali PARTICIPANTS National Restoration and Validation Workshop Ségou, June 2005 92 ANNEX 3 BIBLIOGRAPHY Association des Juristes Maliennes, Groupe d’Appui à la Réforme Juridique (GARE), La Situation de la Femme dans le Droit Positif Malien et ses Perspectives d’Evolution, Bamako, Août 1995. Association pour la Progrès et la Défense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes (APDF), La Situation de la Femme Malienne, Cadre de Vie, Problèmes, Promotion et Organisations, Livre Blanc, Bamako, Mars 2000. Banque mondiale, Mali, Objectifs de Développement du Millénaire : Diagnostic et Outils, décembre 2004. CEFARAD, Etude de mise en place des réseaux pour le plaidoyer sur la promotion du statut de la femme et de l’équité du genre, Bamako, 2002. Comité National d’Action pour l’Eradication des Pratiques Néfastes à la Santé de la Femme et de l’Enfant, (CNAEPN) / MPFEF, Plan d’Action National pour l’Abandon de la Pratique de l’Excision à l’Horizon 2008, 1ère Phase : 1999-2003. Coordination Régionale pour la Promotion des Femmes du District de Bamako, Haut Commissariat du District, La mendicité féminine dans le District de Bamako, Rapport d’Etude, Bamako, 1998. 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Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme, de l’Enfant et de la Famille, Rapport de Mission de la Septième Réunion Régionale d’Evaluation Décennale de la Mise en Oeuvre de la Plate-Forme d’Action de Beijing + 10, Addis Abeba, Ethiopie, Mmes Berthé Mariétou Makalou, Diabaté Nana Sy et Traoré Aminata Fabou Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme, de l’Enfant et de la Famille, Programme d’Appui à la Promotion des Femmes, PNUD, Etude sur le Niveau d’Actuel d’Accès des Femmes Rurales à la Terre, PAREHF MLI/00/002, Bamako, Août 2001 Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme, de l’Enfant et de la Famille, Projet d’Appui à la Promotion des Femmes, Etude sur le Niveau Actuel d’Accès des Femmes Rurales à la Terre, Consultants SERNES, Me Tignougou Sanogo et Mme Somé Mariam Dembélé, Bamako, Juin 1999 Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme, de l’Enfant et de la Famille, Rapport Genre et Pauvreté, Septembre 2004. 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World Bank, Gender and Development Group, Gender Equality & The Millennium Development Goals, 2004. 94 ANNEX 4 GENDER GLOSSARY Positive action: Specific provisional corrective or promotional measures to address present- day direct and indirect consequences of previous discrimination, to establish equal opportunity and treatment. Causal analysis: Analysis of a situation from its cause to its effect. Situational analysis: Study of the context, major trends, problems, constraints and opportunities. Practical needs: Refer to essential day-to-day needs. Strategic needs: Refer to more profound aspirations related to the status and improvement of power relations in society. Capacity: Knowledge, organization and resources needed to carry out a task. Targets: Beneficiaries specifically targeted by actions. Living conditions: Material conditions that enable individuals to meet their most basic practical needs like feeding, clothing, housing, security, enjoyment of good physical and mental health and education. Sustainable development: Planned, sustainable, equal and efficient social and economic development. Human development: Enlarging the human choices of men and women; a process whereby the developmental and environmental requirements of present and future generations are met equitably. Discrimination: Institutional differential treatment based on sex. Gender disparities: Refers to unequal gender-based distribution, in terms of access to resources, sharing of profits, sharing of tasks and decision-making power. Gender equality: Refers to the principles of equal rights and the status of different social actors. Gender equity: Refers to the conditions in which the principles of equality are applied. It refers to equal opportunity for men and women to participate in the economic, social and political development of the country and access the goods, services, resources, benefits and opportunities emanating from development. Gender: Is a term used to describe the social, cultural and historical differences that characterize men and women as ascribed by society. It is a concept, which enables us to understand the relationship between men and women in society. It is an analytical tool for determining the living conditions and status of men and women in a given society and understanding why this is so. Human development index: Is a summary composite index that measures a country’s average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. Longevity is measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge is measured by a combination of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio; and standard of living by GDP per capita. HDI shows the progress made thus far by a country towards the theoretical maximum of human development, but does not show the developmental differences between the male and female population. Gender-related development index (GDI): Based on the HDI, but takes into account the sociological differences between men and women. Where development is equal for men and women, the HDI and GDI values are the same. 95 Gender inequality: Refers to the structural causes of gender disparities. Gender inequity: Refers to unequal opportunity or treatment based on sex or status and the position of the individual in society. Social position: Level of personal awareness of one’s living conditions and social status in relation to one’s gender. Problems: Gaps between the current situation, between needs and reality. Gender issues: Refers to, besides the social differences and relations between men and women, the measures put in place and actions undertaken to maintain such differences, enhance them or change them. Sex: Biological characteristics, which are specific or innate, and which define humans as female or male. Social status: Refers to the place ascribed by society to women and men and the nature of social relations between the two socially constructed categories. It also refers to certain practical needs and in Africa especially, to the strategic needs or interests of the woman. Stereotypes: Images and representations of the social roles traditionally ascribed to young girls, boys, women and men. ANNEX 5 : Mali-Gender –Assessment Action Plan Issues Strategies Proposed Actions Outcomes Responsibility Lack of a Formulation of an Definition of a gender-specific The country’s policies and MPFEF and gender intervention strategy reference framework comprising: a programmes/projects integrate Technical support o equity and for the promotion of Policy Letter on Gender Equity and gender equity and equality the key donors equality gender equity and Equality, a National Gender Equity perspective in analyses. working for gender strategic equality. and Equality Strategy, a National promotion framework Gender and Development Programme for the operationalization of the Strategy Formulation and Support the design and implementation Statistical data are gender MPFEF establishment of a of a gender disaggregated database in disaggregated DNSI – PRSF gender information DNSI, PRSF, CPS of the major – Consular system in DNSI and ministries and consular chambers. Chambers the different structures National Gender that collect Programme quantitative data at the national, regional and local levels. Institutional review Organizational audit of MPFEF (at the MPFEF organization chart is Prime Minister’s of the structures for national, regional and local levels in adapted to its mission. Office – MPFEF the implementation of collaboration with PDI) gender equity and equality and review of Improvement of the operationality of the most important GED Units in sectoral ministries ongoing national Review of national programmes: A gender action plan is MPFEF and development PNIR, PASAOP, PRODEC, included in ongoing National programmes PRODESS, etc. programmes Programmes 96 Issues Strategies Proposed Actions Outcomes Responsibility Review of the PRSF Deepening of gender-related analysis More quantitative knowledge PRSF structure to make it of Poverty Profiles (PRSF2) of women and other vulnerable an instrument for the groups promotion of gender equity and equality Build the gender capacities of PRSF Availability of gender expert MEF and MPFEF staff and training in gender for the rest of the team Reinforce coordination of PRSF with Consultation framework MEF, MPFEF MPFEF between PRSF and MPFEF PRSF and civil society responsible for gender is put in place and is operational Optimization of Revitalization of the TFP gender COFED consultation Technical and donor interventions consultation framework so as to better framework is operational Financial Partners harmonize interventions (implementation of the strategy adopted). Strengthening of Establishment of mechanisms for Civil society is present in: (i) Civil society and civil society to enable consultations between the civil society the design of policy Prime Minister’s it to play its pressure and the Government and partners, and instruments, (ii) the Office MPFEF and facilitation role in support for its participation in major implementation of actions in National Gender and gender issues national debates. the field, and (iv) advocacy for Development the mobilization of resources Programme and actions in favour of women. Capacity building for civil society. Civil society is strengthened Civil society MPFE Consolidate the intervention and female pressure groups and National Gende framework for civil society and play their role: action and Programme provide it with resources to play its pressure for the promotion of roles gender issues Gender and Development of the Advocacy for the findings of the Information of policy makers MPFEF socio social status of present gender assessment exercise of the current situation and cultural women and with policy makers and opinion proposals made in the study practices development of their leaders to obtain their active support potential. for equity and equality through decisive measures. Advocacy activities for the various Opinion leaders understand the MPFEF and policy makers and leaders through the scope of gender analysis, and National Programm National Gender and Development are open to its implementation Programme Implementation of a vast information, Society more open to gender MPFEF and awareness and mobilization issues National Programm programme on gender issues for the society 97 Issues Strategies Proposed Actions Outcomes Responsibility Conduct of supplementary studies to Improvement of knowledge on MPFEF and better understand socio-cultural the subject National Programm problems: (i) violence to women and girls; (ii) the socio-cultural diversities of the different regions of the country Gender and Gender capacity Gender capacity building of education Health and Education Ministry of Nationa Education, building of the and health employees employees include the gender Education, Health, Health – education and health perspective in their approach National Gender HIV/AIDS system Programme and national programme Preparation of methodological tools More efficiency and efficacy in MEN, Health, for the planning, budgeting and managing the health and National Gender monitoring-evaluation of interventions education system. Monitoring Programme and in the education and health sectors of indicators on health status national programme and preventive activities Reduction of maternal Reinforcement of information and Access by women to health Health and national mortality and awareness programmes on FP, services increases. programmes morbidity STI/AIDS, excision, and practices that Decline of female are harmful to women’s health. mortality/morbidity rate. Conduct of a study on the impact of Better understanding by society MPFEF, Health and socio-cultural factors on accessibility of these subjects national programme by women to health services. Promotion of a Sensitization of policy makers on the Prevalence of contraceptive Ministry of Health coherent population implications of a high fertility rate and practices has increased MPFEF policy with improvement and increase in family projections on the planning services (FP) country’s development Implementation of the provisions of the Family Code, particularly as concerns the minimum age for marriage Improvement of Increase in the number of female The men/women rate of PISE II - MPFE female employment teacher through increase in admission teachers is reversed in education of women into training institutes (IFM). Reduction of work Increase in number of day-care centres Care services for children PISE II - MPFEF time for women for children increase from 4.3 % to 9.1 % through more day-care services Abolition of any Assist in a review of the gender All school books no longer PISE II - MPFEF gender-related perspective in school curricula (review contain gender discrimination, discrimination in the image of girls/women, message on and HIV/AIDS is better school curricula HIV/AIDS, etc.) explained in school books 98 Issues Strategies Proposed Actions Outcomes Responsibility Gender and Improvement of the Conduct of the following studies so as A database on the economic MPFEF and Economy economic visibility of to better understand women’s status of women is available National Gender women vulnerability status in relation to men: Programme (i) preparation and establishment of an information system on women’s economic activities in DNSI, CPS, PRSF, Consular Chambers, . development programmes and projects (see gender equity and equality strategic framework above). (ii) real situation of women in the formal and informal sectors; (iii) budget of men and women, boys and girls in the household economy; (iv) opportunity cost of the absence of gender perspective in policies and programmes ; (v) socio-economic status of women heads of households. National development programmes for Improvement of access by Programmes and new technologies are reviewed to women to new technologies so projects responsible include the specific needs of women as to reduce the time and for developing (PCDA, AMADER, PASAOP, etc.). difficulty of household chores, processing particularly for rural women, technologies and facilitate commercial (PCDA, AMADER activities (market facilities, etc.), research etc). institutes . Access by women to market information systems Support for the Preparation and implementation of Improvement of the access rate MPFEF and emergence of female measures to improve equal access by of women to land and National Gender and entrepreneurship, men and women to productive developed areas. Development the promotion of resources, particularly in developed Programme – micro projects and areas (ON, PRB, ORS, ORM, PIV, ORS, ORM access to productive etc). resources Review of PASAOP to enable access Increase in female staff for MPFEF, National by rural women to agricultural agricultural extension services. Gender and services: research, extension (increase Development in the number of women in the Improvement of access rate of Programme, other extension staff so as to better target rural women to extension projects and promote women’s activities, etc). services Implementation of special measures to Amount of lines of credit put in promote access by women to credit place (special lines of credit in the banking Improvement of access rate and system and, in particular, micro amount of loans credits) 99 Issues Strategies Proposed Actions Outcomes Responsibility Formulation of a specific strategy that The number of businesses would include the results of ongoing or created by women increases completed projects on this subject (SYCREF- LAYIDU, etc.); Implementation of this strategy under cross-cutting issues in the different programmes and projects Gender and Promotion of Enforcement of the following laws Reduction of traditional Prime Minister’s Legislative women’s rights which have been passed but not mediations that disfavour Office, Ministry of Reforms enforced: (i) law on judicial assistance; women Justice and MPFEF (ii) law on penal mediation; (iii) installation of children’s delegates. Harmonization of national laws with international conventions ratified by Mali. Legal and administrative measures are taken accordingly End the consultation process on the The Family Code is adopted at Prime Minister’s new Family Code and have it adopted the national level Office and MPFEF Establish a national observatory for the Monitoring-evaluation of the Prime Minister’s rights of women and girls (respect for effectiveness of gender, family Office and Ministry the rights of women and girls, conduct law, business law, and of Justice of studies on subjects such as employment law is obtained. violence). Oversight and monitoring of international instruments is put in place. . Review of the existing laws and The national texts are made to regulations so as to abolish all forms comply with international of discrimination, in accordance with conventions ratified by Mali, in international conventions ratified by particular those relating to Mali, and in particular the Convention discrimination against women for the elimination of any form of and to the rights of children. discrimination against women and the Official laws and regulations convention on the rights of children are compared with customary and religious laws in order to reduce certain social practices Formulate and implement an active Consultations for the adoption awareness campaign on the duration of of laws on physical integrity the National Gender Programme, are conducted against practices harmful to the health of women and children, such as excision, violence to women and children, gavage, levirate/ sororate, and depigmentation. Participatory assessment of the campaign at mid-term of project to see if the conditions for implementation of a law are fulfilled 100 Issues Strategies Proposed Actions Outcomes Responsibility Gender and Support for equality Development of an awareness Better understanding by the MPFEF and Governance and equity in programme for the various society of these subjects National Gen women’s stakeholders in society on equal Development participation in enjoyment of citizenship by men and Programme decision-making women organs at all levels (national, regional and Capacity building of decentralized Measures, even discriminatory Ministry of local) structures and local authorities for ones, are taken for the Territorial better integration of the gender advancement of women. Administration perspective MPFEF Integration of the gender perspective in the preparation of Local Better management of Idem Development Plans women’s needs at the local level wb204292 C:\Documents and Settings\wb204292\My Documents\GENDER ASSESSMENT F05\ESG MALI FINAL (ENG) - post FR Version.doc 02/22/2006 4:03:00 PM 101 102