Mali

Africa

Endorsements

Safe Schools Declaration

Endorsed in 2018

Paris Principles

Endorsed

Vancouver Principles

Not Endorsed

EWIPA Declaration

Not Endorsed

Relevant UN Resolutions
GCPEA Education Under Attack

Profiled in GCPEA Education Under Attack

Profiled in: 2022, 2020, 2018, 2014

Other Important Information
Memberships in International Regional Organizations
Peacekeeping

Is a peacekeeping contributing country

Key Information

Key information about the country.

Advocacy Meetings

Chronological recap of the engagement with this state or any other relevant information that can support advocacy.

Didn’t participate in SSD consultations in Gva. MINUSMA and UNICEF (Ed cluster and MRM) are actively advocating for endorsement.

November 2015: Letter sent to MoFA with copy to MoD and MoE. MoE very supportive. Challenge seems to be prioritization. Priority country for Norway’s education sector aid, SSD has been included in TPs for bilateral meetings between Ministers (not sure it was actually discussed).

August 2016: Outreach letter with meeting request sent in advance of CAAC Open Debate.

September 2016: HRW (Bede) recommended Tony Lake (UNICEF) to prioritise Mali for advocacy on SSD.

February 2017: DPKO Mali indicated at Brussels conference that government was about to endorse.

May 2017: PLAN organized a workshop in Mali to sensitize state officials, local authorities, and education partners on the need to protect schools from attack. This opportunity was used to present the Declaration and advocate for endorsement.

September 2017: Amnesty issued a report on the impact of insecurity in Mali on school attendance, reporting that 150,000 children are out of school due to the lack of security. The report refers to military use of schools, and recommends that Mali endorse the Declaration. Mali will undergo its Universal Periodic Review by the Human Rights Council in January 2018.

December 2017: GCPEA met with Mr. Amadou Opa Thiam, Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Mali, this morning. He was very positive and supportive, but advised that his Mission had twice written to their capital regarding the Declaration and had never replied any reply. He is keen to see Mali endorse, but cautioned that the Mission is restricted in terms of what they can achieve. He suggested that inviting Mali to meetings on the topic could help. I mentioned the Buenos Aires conference (though I forgot to make the explicit point that non-endorsing states were invited there), and I told him about the Plan International workshop in Dakar last month, where the Ministry of Education of Mali was represented. He was happy to hear that the MoE is supportive. He agreed on the relevance of the issue for Mali, in light of Amnesty’s September report on school attendance, and was interested to hear what DPKO Mali had said in Brussels last February concerning Mali’s expected endorsement. He responded well to the suggestion that endorsement before their UPR by the Human Rights Council in January would be a good move. I asked if letters addressed to the Ministers of Defence, Education, Foreign Affairs would be helpful and he said yes, and pledged to share them directly with the Ministries if we send them to him as soon as possible. We sent the letter before the Christmas break and he replied immediately to say that he would share them with his capital.

February 2018: GCPEA issued letters of appreciation to the government of Mali. GCPEA issued a press release highlighting the endorsements by Mali. GCPEA provided resources to member organizations working on Mali to support implementation now that Mali has endorsed.

July 2018: UNSC Open Debate on children and armed conlfict: Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018) and also joined the statement of Canada on behalf of the GoF which mentioned the Safe Schools Declaration.

January 2019: The Safe Schools Declaration Technical Follow-Up Committee in Mali met with the Minister of National Education, General Secretary and Chief of Cabinet. The purpose of the meeting was to brief the Minister on the Declaration and the Guidelines, and to share a plan of action to catalyse implementation.

February 2019: Save the Children conducted a workshop on the outcomes of a review of the legal framework on safe schools in Mali. The workshop was attended by the Safe Schools Declaration Technical Follow-up Committee, which includes the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Security, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Children, UNICEF, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Norwegian Refugee Council and others. Following the workshop, the Ministry of Education and Justice will initiate the process of drafting a bill on safe schools, which is one of the main recommendations of the legal review.

March 2019: attended GCPEA side-event on “Better Protecting Women and Girls from Attacks on Education” in Geneva.
The Minister Counsellor, who was a panelist, referred to his government’s endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration and Mali’s commitment to protect schools from attacks and to implement the Guidelines. He also highlighted that the Action Plan to implement the Bamako peace agreement aims at ensuring the protection of the civilian population, including students and teachers.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma. MoE presented during a panel.

July 2019: During her visit to Mali, SRSG CAAC, Ms. Virginia Gamba, commended the government for its efforts to strengthen the protection of children, including with its endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration in February 2018 and urged for its swift implementation.

January 2020: GCPEA provided input to Save the Children Mali for the draft Action Plan 2020 on implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, which was under development by the Safe Schools Technical Follow-up Committee. GCPEA recommended the inclusion of an activity to update the military doctrine to incorporate language from the Guidelines. Save the Children has been invited by the Norwegian embassy in Bamako to submit a new concept note on safe schools, which would be funded locally by the embassy, and would include advocacy on implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration.

December 2020: Work on drafting a national law to protect education from attacks during armed conflict has commenced.

December 2020: A national capacity-building workshop implementation of SSD and the Guidelines for journalists was held on 4th December. The objective of this training was to strengthen the knowledge and skills of journalists on SSD, conflict sensitive approach and on their roles and responsibilities to mitigate risks and support the reopening of schools closed due do insecurity. The workshop was funded by Plan International. Key outcome: the creation of a Journalist network called: “Network of Journalists and Communicators for the Protection of Education in Mali – REJCOPEM”. Furthermore, A regional training workshop for members of the regional SSD Committee and traditional and religious leaders of the Region of Mopti took place on 15th December. This workshop was attended by 25 participants from regional authorities, national army and the Civil Protection and Security regional bodies, and religious and traditional leaders among others. The workshop was funded by NRC and Save the Children.

June 2021: co-hosted the sahel regional consultation for the state led implementation network.

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

February 2022: As a follow-up to the UNSC resolution 2601 (2021), GCPEA sent an advocacy letter to the government of Mali, commending their co-sponsorship to the resolution and encouraging the government to take further steps for the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration as a response to the resolution.
June 2022: MINUSMA CPU co-facilitated a regional capacity building workshop on the protection of education from attacks organized by the National Safe
Schools Declaration Monitoring Committee. The workshop brought together 27 participants (24 men, 3 women) and helped popularize the Declaration and the
Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use During Armed Conflict, reinforce the capacities of participants on the six grave violations against children (focusing on attacks on schools), and review and update the annual action plan of the Committee.

August 2022: On 15 August, Nevena and Apolline met with the DPR, Mr. Kanisson Coulibaly, from the NY mission. We briefed the DPR on SSD implementation in Mali and our collaboration with the Ministry of Education in capital (he was not aware). We shared specific recommendations for Mali to include in its national statement and pledges at the Transforming Education Summit (pledge to adopt the draft law on protecting schools). The DPR was very glad to receive concrete recommendations and promised he would include some of it in Mali’s statement – he explained that he was in charge of developing it. We also briefed him on the state-led implementation network’s activities, including the upcoming Sahel training, to which Mali will be invited. Overall, a positive meeting.
March 2017: Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools and provided a speaker – third secretary from Geneva mission.

March 2017: UNAMA organized a workshop in Mazar, Afghanistan, aimed at finding ways to prevent the recruitment of children by armed groups. The workshop included sessions outlining international legal instruments including the SSD, which Afghanistan endorsed in 2015.

May 2017: Human Rights Watch issued a letter to all NATO member states about civilian protection in Afghanistan, asking them to help Afghanistan to stop using schools in light of their shared commitments under the Declaration.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the Ambassador of Afghanistan in New York asking to raise issue of attacks and military use and to draw attention to the Declaration and Guidelines during the Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.

October 2017: Human Rights Watch issued a report on barriers to access to education for girls in Afghanistan, together with a new animation video, highlighting many of these barriers, including attacks on students and military use of schools.

March 2018: During the Annual Day on the Rights of the Child, 5 March: Afghanistan highlighted their support for the Declaration in their national statement.

May 2018: In its monthly update for May, Watchlist called on Afghanistan to implementation the Declaration.

July 2018: Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).

August 2018: Norwegian Refugee Council issued a report, Educational Sites in Afghanistan are Changing from Bastions of Hope and Safety into Spaces of Fear, Armed Conflict and Politics. According to the report, schools in Afghanistan are increasingly becoming military, ideological, and political battlegrounds. “28 per cent of surveyed children and parents stated that schools in their places of origin had been closed due to the conflict. NRC found that the majority of surveyed children do not feel safe at school, with many boys and girls terrified that their school would be attacked. 12 per cent had experienced attacks on their school and 15 per cent experienced shooting very near to their school building. Many had missed exams or periods of school, either because of threats from armed actors, or because they or their parents believed that the school would be targeted. 36 per cent of the children were frightened about risks of kidnap or attack en route to school.” The report also refers to NRC Afghanistan’s new 2018-2020 Protection Strategy which will focus partly on protecting education and operationalizing the Safe Schools Declaration.

November 2018: GCPEA has been working with Save the Children to prepare a briefing paper on attacks on education in Afghanistan that will be released on November 26, ahead of the Geneva Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan that will take place in Geneva on November 27-28.

November 2018: GCPEA released Attacks on Education in Afghanistan briefing paper to coincide with the Geneva Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan, where the Afghan Government and the international community will gather to discuss strategies for achieving peace and development in the country.

March 2019: mentioned their endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration during the Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG CAAC Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva. Joined Norway’s joint statement on the Safe Schools Declaration.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma.

December 2019: HRW made a submission to CEDAW: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/23/submission-committee-elimination-discrimination-against-women-review-afghanistan.

April 2020: the Safe Schools Declaration was referenced by the Working Group in connection with the examination of the fourth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Afghanistan (document S/2019/727).

March 2020: the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has now made its first reference to the Guidelines for Protecting Schools from Military Used during Armed Conflict, in its concluding observations regarding Afghanistan

Oct 2020: GCPEA Director attended a joint virtual meeting which brought together the Group of Friends of Afghanistan in New York, Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict in New York, and the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict in Kabul, Afghanistan. In her intervention, Diya highlighted that attacks against students and education personnel accelerated dramatically during 2017-2019 and gave concrete recommendations to strengthen implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration.

Examples of Good Practice

What, if anything, the country has done to protect education and/or implement any of the 8 commitments outlined in the Declaration.

Commitment 1

In Mali in early 2019, the education ministry established a technical committee for operationalization of the Declaration, including two representatives from the defence ministry

In March 2020, the Safe Schools Declaration Technical Committee launched an Action Plan with concrete activities to disseminate the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, and incorporate protection of schools and universities into national legislation. In May 2020, the Ministry of Education and the Technical Committee issued a letter to the Ministry of Defence asking them to respect the spirit of the Guidelines while schools were closed due to the pandemic, and not use schools for military purposes.

In October 2020, the Technical Committee held a capacity-building workshop on implementing the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines.

In 2021 – Mali is working on a draft law on Protecting Schools and Universities during the Armed Conflicts in Mali – not yet adopted

On 21-22 June 2021, in Kidal, MINUSMA CPU co-facilitated a regional capacity building workshop on the protection of education from attacks organized by the National Safe Schools Declaration Monitoring Committee. The workshop brought together 27 participants (24 men, 3 women) and helped popularize the Declaration and the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use During Armed Conflict, reinforce the capacities of participants on the six grave violations against children (focusing on attacks on schools), and review and update the annual action plan of the Committee.
On 8 September, the MINUSMA Child Protection Unit, together with the National Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the Safe School Declaration (SSD) in Kidal, co-organized a capacity building workshop in support of the newly established Kidal Regional Committee on the Operationalization of the SSD. Theworkshop focused on raising awareness ofthe SSD and its guidelines, and on identifyingactivities in support of its operationalizationat the regional level. The workshop wasattended by 25 participants from thetechnical services of the State, the EducationCommission of the Coordination desMouvements de l’Azawad (CMA), and civilsociety, and resulted in the adoption of aregional implementation action plan.

In 2021 Save the Children hold a Training of Defence and Security Forces on the SSD and its Guidelines with the aim to disseminate the Guidelines to armed forces and groups and to community and religious leaders in order to increase their commitment to the protection of education. The Defense and Security Forces were asked to take initiative at community, local or regional level to protect learning spaces, with the main slogan “schools are zones of peace, even in times of conflict, because it is in these institutions that the future of a country is built” and to contribute to the reporting of any attack, threat or occupation of a school or learning center by armed forces and groups, and to provide support in verifying the facts in compliance with the required confidentiality and security procedures.

A campaign of Save involving youths organizations and mobilisation of religious and community leaders around the protection of education through the SSD resulted in the reopening of some schools in Djenné and Bandiagara with the engagement of community and religious leaders in direct or indirect dialogues with extremist armed groups.

In January 2021 and March 2022 Save the Children in partnership with Geneva Call conducted engagement with ANSA(two trainings and engagment workshops) on IHL, HRL, Paris Principles with the participation of 8 ANSA signatories of the Algiers Peace and Reconciliation Agreement. Also training and engagement workshop for members of the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (CNDDR) on the protection of children in armed conflict. As a result ANSA committed to release associated children, reduce/avoid attacks on schools, abductions, allow humanitarian access in their areas of control and to ensure the continuous training of their troops on the Guidelines for protecting schools from military use during armed conflict. (information shared by Save the Children in June 2023).

As a result of the work of the national and local technical committees on the Safe Schools Declaration, several non-state armed groups signatories of the Algiers Peace and Reconciliation Agreement committed to comply with the principles of the Safe Schools Declaration and the Guidelines. Tacit agreements were reached with non conventional armed groups for the reopening of closed schools under certain conditions.

Only part of the Mali SSD national committee’s action plan has been covered due to a lack of funding, and most of the regional committees that have been set up have remained inactive.

Commitment 2

None

 

Commitment 3

None

Commitment 4

None

Commitment 5

The Ministry of Education has created a girls’ education division and included protection against gender-based violence as a topic in the national curriculum. The Ministry also disaggregates data by gender in their national information system.

Commitment 6

None

Commitment 7

None

Commitment 8

None

National Action Plan or Technical Committee on the SSD

Not established

Relevant Contacts

Contact information of the representatives of Permanent Missions, national Ministries, and focal points for the State-led Implementation Network.

Geneva Missions

General Email(s):
mission.mali@bluewin.ch

Other Contacts:
None

New York Missions

General Email(s):
miperma@malionu.com

Other Contacts:
None

State-led Implementation Network

dakaya1960@gmail.com
Mamadou Kante
Deputy National Director
Ministère de la Education Nationale (MoE)
Location: Mali

dieneba.diakite@yahoo.fr
Dieneba Diakite
Conseiller Technique
Ministere De la Justice et des Droits de l’Homme (MoJ)
Location: Mali