‘Voix des Jeunes au Mali’: Giving voice to youth amidst Mali’s development challenges
Recently, the Residency of the Dutch Embassy in Mali opened its doors to over twenty-five young people from different regions of Mali for the unique forum: ‘Voix des Jeunes Au Mali’. Below, you can find a report of the event, told through the eyes of our colleagues at the embassy.
Creative outlets for communication
Youth from Gao, Mopti, Ségou, Sikasso, Kayes, and Bamako came together to discuss Mali’s development challenges, and reflect together on the actions and solutions they can undertake being key actors in their respective communities.
The participants were encouraged to express their ideas through creative outlets such as painting and slam poetry, which was a new methodology to most. Although a bit conscious at first, the youth quickly made the different forms of expression and reflection their own. We could even say that true ‘Picassos and Picassas’ were discovered!
The novelty and adequacy of the method was also voiced by one of the participants: “It's an innovative idea. It allows participants to surpass themselves and draw on their creativity to express themselves, especially as art brings out all the emotions.”
Reason for the event
The forum ‘Voix des Jeunes au Mali’ was an idea put forth by the Embassy’s very own Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), which has been supporting the Embassy with their expertise for over two years. As their mandate is soon coming to an end, the YAC wished to share their platform with their peers to amplify meaningful youth participation beyond the limits of Bamako.
Because of the challenging security situation in Mali, youth do not always have the chance to gather outside their own region. Facilitating young changemakers from all over the country to meet and discuss shared challenges was the main goal of the forum. We’re happy to share that it was effective, whereas the participating youth afterwards took the initiative to create a network, so that they can keep in touch and continue the valuable exchanges that represent different regions and expertise.
Security, education, and digital skills
The discussions during the forum focused on the themes security and social cohesion, employment, and civic engagement. Within these field, several challenges were identified by the participants that hindered successful and meaningful participation of youth in the wider political context.
The ongoing conflict in the north and center of the country does not create an enabling context for youth to reach their full potential. The conflict has had a major impact on the educational system: this year alone 1500 schools have been closed because of the security situation. This has led to poor qualifications, whilst simultaneously making youth more receptive to disinformation and fake news; a huge problem in the current context according to the participants.
Training youth in digital skills and sensitizing them to the dangers of fake news could significantly contribute to adequate youth participation and development. In fact, through strengthening the digital skills of youth, they can educate and train themselves online in case the security situation does not permit them to physically attend school.
Conflict and the economy
Another theme that was discussed is the impact of the conflict on the economy. The vast majority of young Malians work in the informal sector (about 98% of youth aged between 15 -24 according to the ILO in 2020). Competitive, formal Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are the ‘missing link’ in Mali, as most of the businesses concern small-scale informal activities. These don’t tend to generate enough jobs for absorbing the amount of young persons that enter the job market every year.
Relating to these challenges, the participants expressed that more information needs to be provided on a plethora of topics. In particular, life competences, professional orientation and green jobs (for example on effective waste management). Also, the youth concluded that entrepreneurs should be encouraged to join forces, and work in teams instead of alone, since other West-African countries proved that startups that work in a team are more likely to succeed.
On an institutional level, the structurization of the informal sector would be beneficiary to young entrepreneurs. The discussion revolved around the active inclusion of all actors in the economic ecosystem – such as the financial institutions and banks – and how to establish this.
This related to the experiences that right now, young entrepreneurs are struggling to meet the financial and non-financial conditions demanded by banks when they apply for an investment or loan; there is a continuing distrust on the part of financial institutions to share the risk by providing credit to MSMEs.
Civic engagement: offline and online
The group that discussed civic engagement expressed their thoughts and feelings in paintings. They were mostly distraught by the disinterest and cynicism of youth in current day politics. In their respective regions, they see that many feel like they cannot have an impact and their opinions are not represented, leaving them disillusioned and disconnected. This is partly relates to the political instability in Mali, but was also linked to cultural obstacles.
The groups opted that intergenerational dialogues could be helpful to break the cultural barriers regarding the perceptions regarding young persons, as it facilitates the strengthening of mutual comprehension. Here, too, the participants underlined the importance of proper information and (digital) education on civic participation.
Platforms and safe spaces for youth where they can exchange with peers and experts could encourage young leadership and involvement of young people in decision-making processes. The platform that was created during the forum could serve such needs, and can further inspire future initiatives of this network.
Lastly, the group spoke about the physical and mental health issues of young Malians, and the need for more professional help specifically adapted to young people. Due to the challenging security situation, online organization was remarked as valuable for reaching Malians all across the country – especially in the conflict-struck regions, where health resources are minimal.
At the end of the day, an audience of youth representatives, activists, journalists, civil society members and embassy representatives joined together at the embassy. Here, the participants presented their reflections and proposals through the different creative outlets.
Despite the different local contexts and lived-realities, the collective drive of Malian youth to contribute to a sustainable, safe future for their county, again underlines their essential role in shaping their society. The Embassy’s YAC members – Naba, Hadi, Boubou, Fanta, Sidi, Nassroune, Karia and Dougoutiki - did an amazing job in organizing this event, that inspired the next generation of YAC members.
Hadi in particular deserves a special shoutout, whereas she will soon leave Mali’s YAC, but has been selected to be part of the Ministry’s international YAC. We wish you all the best, and are sure that your expertise and creativity will continue to inspire the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs!