Mali Peacebuilding, Stabilization and Reconciliation Quarterly Report 2 FY2022

The program aims to improve prospects for long-term peace, security, and reconciliation in Mali by building trust between conflict-affected communities and their governments, strengthening community conflict management, and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts. The program focuses on four objectives: building trust and strengthening community conflict management, training and empowering marginalized youth as change agents, addressing immediate and second-order impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and supporting the political transition. Activities are being implemented in 43 conflict-affected communes in central and northern Mali, covering seven regions: Ségou, Mopti, Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Tombouctou, and Gao. During the reporting period (January 1, 2022 - March 31, 2022), Mali PSR sustained operations and made progress with key activities despite security challenges and escalating tensions. The program successfully advanced implementation of activities across the four objectives and accelerated many of the youth-focused interventions under Objective 3. Leadership and business entrepreneurship training were conducted for 515 young people, and they were linked to seed funding to start up micro and small businesses. Mali PSR also created a new partnership with Creative Learning to pilot a project called Artisans for Peace, which aims to train youth artisans as both artists and business leaders. The program consolidated gains achieved in the youth training on disinformation during Quarter 1 by training 50 new members of the youth academies established through the Empowering Malians through Election, Reform and Governance Efforts (EMERGE) project. Under Objective 1, Mali PSR identified the remaining 10 focal points in Menaka as part of the commune-level Early Warning Early Response (EWER) activity. The program leveraged the expertise of consortium partner AMSS to conduct a training for 27 CSO/CBOs in Niono on a protocol that allows for the holistic management of trauma specifically associated with gender-based violence. Under Objective 2, Mali PSR established a formal partnership with the Centre de Formation des Collectivités Territoriales (CFCT) to review the program's governance training modules developed last year. CFCT is a public entity that reports to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization. Mali PSR will work with CFCT to incorporate relevant aspects of the Mali PSR governance curriculum into CFCT's national curriculum. Another important partnership launched this quarter was with the National Employment Promotion Agency in Mali to conduct leadership training in eight communes for 394 young people to support youth livelihoods. Following the leadership training, Mali PSR conducted entrepreneurship training for 514 young people during the quarter and launched support for the creation of 14 cooperatives comprising 140 youth.