Social protection to tackle child poverty in Mali

The UNICEF West and Central African regional office has undertaken a major study on social protection and children in the region, to get a better understanding of the status of social protection systems and the opportunities and challenges to strengthen social protection for the poorest and most vulnerable children. The study, carried out together with ODI and African researchers, has resulted in a series of thematic reports published in March 2009 and five country reports.

This paper provides an overview of poverty, vulnerability and risk in Mali and discusses the extent to which social protection systems and instruments are addressing child-specifc experiences of poverty and vulnerability.

Some of the key points raised include:

• Mali has made economic progress but poverty remains high and child- related indicators are below average for sub-Saharan Africa.
• The country's National Social Protection Strategy could be the basis for more effective social protection.
• Children are not suffciently visible in Mali's social protection strategy and its child protection policy needs inter-sectoral coordination to become truly effective.

The full report is available in French and a briefing paper in English.

 UNICEF, ODI - September 2009