Funded by

OXFAM

In Mali, one of the main Sahelian countries, the crisis of 2010-2014 brought complex social, economic and environmental upheaval. The displacement of communities, the modification of power structures, the arrival and emergence of new actors, and the weak presence of the state and its partners combined with drought and climatic events, led to major socio-economic difficulties for the population.

The situation also had a significant effect on collective investment in socio-sanitary, educational and hydraulic projects. The conflict has had a major impact on access to WASH services, with a general degradation of hygiene and sanitation conditions at the community and family level, and also due to the pressure on any functioning water infrastructure. The situation in the area remains very unstable, with a chronic food crisis at the regional level related to a number of different factors:

  • The pastoral crisis (high mortality of livestock, lack of livestock products and sub-products has affected diet and household income);
  • Insecurity linked to the conflict, which has reduced movement and paralysed markets;
  • The weakness/absence of state technical services.

It was in this context that Oxfam, with the support of its partners, has provided vulnerable people who have been victims of the conflict with assistance by implementing a project based on an integrated approach to food security, WASH and protection/gender in the Bourem and Gao districts.

Groupe URD and the Malian staff of Sahel Consult collaborated on the final evaluation of the OXFAM project, “Humanitarian response to the consequences of the conflict in Mali – 2013/2014”. The evaluation aimed to analyse food security indicators, WASH and Gender/protection in the area covered by the project. It assessed the extent to which key indicators have been reached in order to establish the added value of these operations.

Despite security and climatic constraints, this evaluation was carried out in a participatory manner with the participation of OXFAM staff in Bamako and Gao, direct and indirect beneficiaries, and political and administrative representatives.

Carried out by

François Grünewald

Co-founder & Honorary President