FIELD UPDATES - Mali
Situation Analysis
In Mali, many women and girls remain traumatized by the Islamist occupation of 2012-2013, during which rape and forced marriage were rampant. Moreover, delays in the implementation of the 2015 Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali contributed to persistent instability in the northern and central regions of the country, which has impeded humanitarian access. Populations living in areas with weak state presence are particularly vulnerable to attacks by armed groups and extremist elements, which propel forced displacement. Allegations of sexual slavery, forced marriage, castration and forced pregnancy were reported. The perpetrators included members of the Mouvement du Salut de l'Azawad, the Coordination des Mouvements de l'Azawad, and the Malian Security Forces. In addition to internal security challenges, Mali has become a transit point for migratory flows, with numerous violations reported along migration routes, as well as in mining zones, where women have been abused by smugglers and forced into prostitution. In 2019, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) verified 27 cases of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), as well as allegations of sexual slavery, forced marriage, castration and forced pregnancy.
List of Projects
Deployment of national staff in Mali supporting the development of a National Strategy on gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence in conflict
The deployment of a National Staff in Mali enhanced the national capacities of the Ministry for Women, Children and Family Affairs (MPFEF) at the technical and institutional level, through a structured coordination with key ministries, elected institutions and the civil society in order to address issues of inequality toward GBV, in the context of conflict; and consolidated the leadership of the MPFEF to coordinate all efforts for the development of methods, means and mechanisms of reinforcement and implementation of the strategy on GBV, including CRSV. As a result, a comprehensive draft sexual and GBV (SGBV)/CRSV law was handed over to the MFFEF and the Ministry of Justice, and the process of developing a national strategy on SGBV/CRSV was initiated.
15 September 2016 to 13 September 2017
For more information on this project, please go to UNA046
Support the development of a comprehensive SGBV national strategy including sexual violence in conflict in Mali
To enhance the UN system’s and the national capacities to address SGBV including CRSV, UN Action deployed an international inter-agency SGBV expert seconded by the Government of Switzerland to Mali (hosted by UNICEF on behalf of the UNCT) and funded a national expert in the MPFEF in 2017. As a result, a comprehensive national strategy on SGBV was validated by the Government of Mali with the contribution of all key stakeholders at national and regional levels to ensure a more efficient and effective response as well as coordination and joint planning between the development, humanitarian and peacekeeping actors within the UN system in Mali. The project increased the capacity of the MPFEF, other relevant ministries and civil society organisations, through training programmes on integrating GBV and CRSV in the ongoing implementation of the peace treaty, specifically in the reform processes, transitional justice, and national reconciliation.
1 September 2017 to 31 April 2018
For more information on this project, please go to UNA052