Publication: Mali - The Demographic Challenge
Loading...
Date
2010-06-23
ISSN
Published
2010-06-23
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Mali has demographic characteristics similar to most sub-Saharan African countries, except for those of Southern Africa. The population of Mali is very young: in 1998, 46.3 percent of the population was under 15 years of age. Whereas mortality, especially infant and child mortality, has decreased rapidly, fertility has remained high over the past decades, equaling 6.6 children per woman on average. As a result, the rate of demographic growth has increased significantly over the last decades. Today, the natural population growth rate is estimated at 3.3 percent per year (it will take 21 years for the population to double). International migration somewhat slows down this growth, and the net population growth rate is estimated at 3 percent per year, which leads to a doubling of the population in 23 years. This study is presented in three chapters. The first chapter shows the present situation of the population of Mali and its prospects for the future. This chapter evaluates available demographic data, analyzes the size, geographic distribution as well as the structure and rate of growth of the population, including international migrations. It also presents population projections for the years 2005 to 2035, based on slow or rapid fertility decline scenarios. Chapter two is dedicated to the future implications of these demographic trends. It first addresses the development of human capital (demographic investment), especially in education and health. It then examines the macro-economic consequences of demographic growth for Mali. Finally, it briefly analyzes other consequences of the high population growth, in terms of increasing population density, agriculture, nutrition, urbanization, environmental degradation, and maternal and child health. The last chapter assesses the population policies in Mali and what is needed to set into motion a decline in fertility and presents practical recommendations.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2010. Mali - The Demographic Challenge. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2900 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Beyond Economic Growth : Meeting the Challenges of Global Development(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2000-10)This book is designed primarily to help readers broaden their knowledge of global issues, gain insight into their country's situation in a global context, and understand the problems of sustainable development both national and global. Because development is a comprehensive process involving economic as well as social and environmental changes, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach. It attempts to describe and explain the complex relationships among various aspects of development, including population growth, economic growth, improvements in education and health, urbanization, and globalization. Teachers, students, and learners of all ages are invited to explore these relationships even further using the statistical data and theoretical concepts presented in this book.Publication Islamic Republic of Iran - Health Sector Review : Volume 2. Background Sections(Washington, DC, 2008-06)The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has stated its commitment to improving the health and nutritional status of the population as articulated in the Interim Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), which lists as priorities addressing nutritional deficiencies, expanding coverage of basic health services, and improving efficiency of the health system and the quality of service at all levels. This health sector review is consistent with this in that it provides the platform and evidence base for such reform. It is also in-line with part three of the current Fourth Five-Year Plan, which includes health development, human security and social justice priority, the reduction of illness from malnutrition, increasing public health service coverage, and increasing access to quality health services while reducing the financial burden on the families. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive review and diagnostic of the performance of the health sector in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The government is quite advanced in the type of analysis it already undertakes on various aspects of the sector (e.g., burden of diseases, national health accounts, and utilization analysis). However, a consolidation of this information and analysis that encompasses several major elements of the health sector has not been done recently. The health sector review, through a synthesis of available data and other information on the health sector attempts to: (i) assess the strengths, challenges, and opportunities facing the current health system; (ii) offer analytic assessments of the health policies and plans; and (iii) provide a framework for developing strategic options as well as short- and medium-term recommendations and action plans to achieve the goals identified in the country's Fourth Five-Year Plan. The review is also intended to provide a platform for discussions on possible areas of collaboration between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the World Bank on the health sector.Publication Sri Lanka - Demographic Transition : Facing the Challenges of an Aging Population with Few Resources(Washington, DC, 2012-10)As a result of low fertility rates and high life expectancy, the current demographic trends in Sri Lanka include a declining share of children and increasing share of elderly, and (for now) an increasing working age population. Sri Lanka has a unique window of opportunity to take advantage of the high share of working age population to stimulate economic growth, but the other two emerging population issues spur questions on their own. In this context, the report discusses some of the economic implications of demographic transition in Sri Lanka, focusing on employment and productivity related issues on one side; and performance of cash transfer programs aiming to assist the poor and vulnerable groups on the other. This report quantifies Sri Lanka's demographic change by providing updated population projections and by applying National Transfers Accounts methodology documenting how the demographic change and aging contribute to life-cycle deficit and to Sri Lanka's employment and labor market. The challenges and opportunities associated with the upcoming demographic transition are highlighted, focusing on the functioning of the labor markets and the social safety net system. The report discusses different avenues that the country can take to make its labor market more efficient and inclusive, and offset some of the disadvantages faced by the poor and vulnerable households. The analysis in this report suggests that timely policy actions can enable Sri Lanka to effectively cope with its changing demographic structure.Publication Statistics for Small States : A Supplement to the World Development Indicators 2009(Washington, DC, 2009)In 2000 the World Bank made a corporate commitment to organize a small states Forum each year in the context of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings. The forum is intended to raise the profile of small states issues and provide an opportunity for small state officials to bring their views and ideas to the attention of the international community. Forty-eight World Bank members comprise the small states forum, all but five having populations below 1.5 million. These countries are all included in the World Development Indicators database, but countries with populations of less than one million do not appear in the main tables of the print publication. To better serve this important segment of the Bank's membership and to help highlight the challenges they face, this special supplement to the World Development Indicators (WDI) has been produced, covering critical development factors. The data in this supplement cover 40 members of the small states forum excluding the high-income countries of Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Malta, Qatar, and San Marino.Publication Connecting Sectors and Systems for Health Results(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-12)Strengthening public health, that is, improving the health of whole populations through action across all relevant sectors is at the heart of the World Bank's mission. This policy note takes stock of the global progress in public health over the past decade; lays out the challenges that must be addressed for this progress to be sustained and accelerated; and proposes an approach for the Bank to maximize its contribution to public health in the years ahead. This note comes at a critical juncture, given the important gains made in public health over the past decade. Key global indicators, including life expectancy at birth, under-five mortality and maternal mortality, have shown steady improvement, while initiatives such as the scale-up of polio vaccination and the distribution of bed nets to combat malaria have saved millions of lives. The Bank is proud to have worked with countries and development partners to contribute to these achievements. The note emphasizes that the Bank will need to root its future public health efforts in its areas of comparative advantage, including its capacity to analyze the economic and development impact of health investments, and its extensive experience in working across sectors for health results. The Bank finances investments in all the sectors that impact health, including education, social protection, infrastructure, water and sanitation and transportation, to name a few, and is well placed to help mobilize such sectors through coordinated, population-based interventions to improve health and accelerate development. Given its analytic capability, the Bank has a potentially critical role to play in focusing finite budgets on the most cost-effective actions, particularly in prevention and health promotion.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Supporting Youth at Risk(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008)The World Bank has produced this policy Toolkit in response to a growing demand from our government clients and partners for advice on how to create and implement effective policies for at-risk youth. The author has highlighted 22 policies (six core policies, nine promising policies, and seven general policies) that have been effective in addressing the following five key risk areas for young people around the world: (i) youth unemployment, underemployment, and lack of formal sector employment; (ii) early school leaving; (iii) risky sexual behavior leading to early childbearing and HIV/AIDS; (iv) crime and violence; and (v) substance abuse. The objective of this Toolkit is to serve as a practical guide for policy makers in middle-income countries as well as professionals working within the area of youth development on how to develop and implement an effective policy portfolio to foster healthy and positive youth development.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Fall 2024: Better Education for Stronger Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-17)Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is likely to moderate from 3.5 percent in 2023 to 3.3 percent this year. This is significantly weaker than the 4.1 percent average growth in 2000-19. Growth this year is driven by expansionary fiscal policies and strong private consumption. External demand is less favorable because of weak economic expansion in major trading partners, like the European Union. Growth is likely to slow further in 2025, mostly because of the easing of expansion in the Russian Federation and Turkiye. This Europe and Central Asia Economic Update calls for a major overhaul of education systems across the region, particularly higher education, to unleash the talent needed to reinvigorate growth and boost convergence with high-income countries. Universities in the region suffer from poor management, outdated curricula, and inadequate funding and infrastructure. A mismatch between graduates' skills and the skills employers are seeking leads to wasted potential and contributes to the region's brain drain. Reversing the decline in the quality of education will require prioritizing improvements in teacher training, updated curricula, and investment in educational infrastructure. In higher education, reforms are needed to consolidate university systems, integrate them with research centers, and provide reskilling opportunities for adult workers.Publication World Development Report 1984(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984)Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this year's report. As with most of its predecessors, it is divided into two parts. The first looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is this year devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.