Outcome MLI_D_2.1

“By 2024, Malian people, particularly the most vulnerable, participate in the economy and benefit from the benefits of strong, inclusive and resilient growth that creates decent jobs Related.

n 2024, women's entrepreneurship in Mali was strengthened with the development of a new entrepreneurship strategy that takes into account the specific needs of women. As a result, 1,825 women's businesses have been formalised and can now access information and other business support services. 731 women and women's businesses are playing a greater part in the economy because they are now involved in promising value chains and have acquired new skills to bid for public contracts. High-level advocacy with strong government involvement and the participation of a hundred or so participants (100) put the emphasis on women, young people and people with disabilities in public procurement and support mechanisms at the centre of the debates. A major project proposal was submitted on the subject to give concrete expression to these efforts. The training, awareness-raising and high-level advocacy efforts enabled 20 national technical structures, 23 civil society organisations/NGOs, 16 media and 15 Partners, including the UN Agencies, to acquire new knowledge on the issue of unpaid care work and to draw up recommendations for its recognition, reduction and equitable redistribution among family members. UN Women has therefore strengthened its positive response to this challenge, alongside the International Labour Office as a strategic partner.

“By 2024, Malian people, particularly the most vulnerable, participate in the economy and benefit from the benefits of strong, inclusive and resilient growth that creates decent jobs Related.

The National government has seen a renewed engagement for gender equality specifically in the area of women economic empowerment. Despite the difficult situation in Mali, the local authorities have work toward the adoption of more gender sensitive macroeconomic policies and strategies. Hence, in collaboration with various ministries and national technical services, UN Women has supported key players such as the contracting authorities and technical advisors of 19 key ministries in integrating gender into public procurement and facilitating gender-sensitive reforms in public procurement. The Ministry of National Entrepreneurship, Employment and Vocational Training is in the process of adopting a gender-sensitive National Strategy for the Development of National Entrepreneurship, and has also had its most senior executives in 26 directorates and attached programs strengthened to integrate gender in national and sectoral policies and programs. UN Women has also worked alongside the Malian government, through the ONDD and the Ministry of Population, to adopt measures to recognize and value unpaid care work. In partnership with ONDD, UNFPA and UN Women's regional office, a policy dialogue process for the recognition of unpaid work was launched with the development of a roadmap for the recognition of unpaid work by fifty-four (54) representatives of various technical structures and ministries following the workshop to disseminate the report of the ONDD study on unpaid work and the policy brief produced by UN Women. UN Women and its partners have enabled two thousand five hundred and sixty-eight women owned businesses and women entrepreneurs acquired skills to expand their economic opportunities, business development and market potential through organizational capacity building, digital marketing skills, procurement procedures and e-procurement trainings and through the set up of a stone polishing worshop to promote women positionning in the mining industry. They have improved their structuration and organizational capacities, acquire more information and opportunities on accessing public and private procurement opportunities both at national level and on exporting markets and on how to better evolve in the formal economy. In 2023, as a result of UN Women assistance, at least 30 women owned businesses have had access to new procurement opportunities and fifteen women owned businesses have secured 17 new UN and private procurement contracts for a total value of 745 977.48 USD and one ongoing subscription contract with Cigna insurance through the UN Clinic. Also, as part of the AGCI initiative, fifty young girls acquired skills in robotics, coding and ICT, with the aim of encouraging girls to enter the scientific professions and supporting the creation of entrepreneurial initiatives in the field of technology. The Malian private sector has also improved its engagement toward gender mainstreaming through more engagement in the WEPS.

“By 2024, Malian people, particularly the most vulnerable, participate in the economy and benefit from the benefits of strong, inclusive and resilient growth that creates decent jobs Related.

The year 2022 has been marked by the aftermath of covid with still ongoing negative impact on the private sector and especially Women evolving in the formal and informal sector of the economy. The ongoing socio-political crisis that the country is facing has had an impact of women and their businesses. To advance on reaching sustainable results, the program has used strategical partnership such as partnerships with API and World Bank in the operationalization of the Women Business Center, FAFE in the capacity building of women entrepreneurs and structures like Impact Her in advancing women’s access to digital solutions and in building their capacities. The program has also applied the “leaving no one behind” concept throughout its interventions and more specifically by allowing more than 265 women evaluating in the informal sector to formalize their activities, hence allowing the capitalization of their contribution to the economy. UN Women and its partners have enabled over 1853 women owned enterprises and cooperatives to access diverse opportunities allowing them to improve their structuration and organizational capacities, acquire more information and opportunities on accessing procurement opportunities both at national level and exporting markets and to better evolve in the formal economy. Through strategic partnership, UNW has enabled different institutions to mainstream gender in their business model such as MINUSMA which is now actively engaged in putting into practice the gender responsive procurement principles. It has also enabled national structures to have a better understanding and take into consideration the needs of women owned businesses into two current reforms.

“By 2024, Malian people, particularly the most vulnerable, participate in the economy and benefit from the benefits of strong, inclusive and resilient growth that creates decent jobs Related.

The outcome was partially achieved. In accordance with UN Women's intervention, the strategic partnership for a more inclusive economy in Mali is progressing, enabling women-owned enterprises and also those in the informal sector to better develop. These strategic partnerships such as those with API, the World Bank, TFO Canada have enabled at least 400 women-owned businesses in the informal sector to organize, formalize and improve their potential access to targeted markets. In addition, another 54 women's businesses gained a better understanding of gender-responsive procurement (GRP) and acquired new skills in the process of responding to a UN system tender via the online procurement platform, and understood the challenges and partnership strategies for responding to tenders. 2,400 women organized into 25 cooperatives and 41 enterprises have improved their access to markets and finance through capacity building and access to adequate production equipment, with over XOF 26,000,000 in income generated and over XOF 13,000,000 in new finance acquired. More than 100 women-owned businesses received information on financing mechanisms and public and private market opportunities. To note that for women involved in formal entrepreneurship, 2021 was a year of continued challenges as many women-owned businesses are still struggling to recoup their losses and keep their businesses afloat in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Women's access to the various tax relief mechanisms and the relief guarantee fund has been rare and not incidental for many. UN Women, in collaboration with various partners and the government, has taken initiatives to improve women's organizations' access to markets and networks using ICT to enable them to expand their horizons and reach more profitable markets. UN Women Mali's women's entrepreneurship program initiatives have made it possible to establish and disseminate an in-depth diagnosis in the area of statistical production, which has made it possible to measure the effects of Covid-19 on women and their economic activities and to propose measures to mitigate the socio-economic effects of the pandemic. Thus, 153 people from several public administrations and institutions, public enterprises, social security organizations, financial institutions, development partners and civil society organizations contributed to the proposal of very interesting recommendations in terms of capacity building, production of statistics and national gender indicators, integration of gender in economic recovery plans and efforts, and measuring the effects of Covid-19 on women and their activities.