As part of the on-going preparation of a new Country Policy Strategy, and as basis for the upcoming formulation of a new bilateral programme 2021-26 between Denmark and Mali, the Royal Danish Embassy in Mali will conduct several studies. The present study of support to Civil Society feeds into this formulation process.

The study takes departure in the current political and highly volatile security and humanitarian situation in Mali, and the possible role that civil society can play on the fight against corruption and nepotism, as well as its role in monitoring, documenting and denouncing cases of human rights violations. The study of civil society includes: Identification of interventions already initiated and their prospects for continuation; identification of lessons learned from support to Malian civil society by Danish, European and other donors. Analysis of current and future needed capacity of Malian CSOs in the current unstable context; further, identification of the most relevant themes in view of the experience of FAMOC (Drivers of Change Support Fund - Fonds d'Appui aux Moteurs du Changement), a Danish fund aimed at strengthening and supporting civil society in Mali; identification and analysis of opportunities and key themes of interventions, taking into consideration i) inclusion of women and youth ii) good governance iii) a Human Rights Based Approach iv) sustainable impact balanced between national coverage and specific and measurable local impacts in the intervention areas v) the potential for cooperation with other donors, in particular EU vi) relevance and commitment of national and local authorities to the interventions vii) innovative aspects of the approach.

The study of civil society included analysis of current context, a comprehensive analysis of current donor support, identifications of lessons learned, analysis of capacities of CSOs, as well as identifying and defining possible intervention areas for the future 5-10 years.

A detailed study with recommendations and conclusions was submitted to the Embassy in Mali in May 2021. The assignment comprised one international and one national consultant.