Mali

HKI has operated in Mali since March 1998. Today, HKI provides technical assistance to governmental and nongovernmental partners at the national level. Activities include:

• Trachoma control >> more
• Child Survival >> more
• Saving Newborn Lives (SNL) >> more
• Nutrition activities >> more
• Communications for Development rural radio initiative (Nièta Kunafoni) >> more

In support of the National Program for the Prevention of Blindness, HKI-Mali has developed school health interventions to combat trachoma, a blinding illness resulting from inadequate sanitation. Trachoma particularly affects the most vulnerable social groups, women and children. HKI-Mali targets children in schools and within the community in order to encourage behavior change and in support of the S.A.F.E. strategy.

To improve child survival, HKI, in partnership with the Circle of Social Health Teams and communities, is strengthening the capacity of Community Health Associations and Community Health Centers to combat maternal and child morbidity and mortality.

As part of the Child Survival project, HKI's “Birth Preparedness/Saving Newborn Lives” campaign operates in 48 villages in the Koulikoro region. The goal of SNL is to reduce maternal and newborn mortality. The global objective is to promote measures at the family and community levels that reduce risks to the health of women and their children during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. HKI-Mali’s strategy to promote neonatal health is a systematic approach that engages all of the stakeholders within the community.

HKI-Mali’s primary objective in its nutrition activities is to reduce micronutrient deficiencies (vitamin A deficiency, anemia, and iodine deficiency disorders) in a sustainable manner in order to reduce maternal and child mortality. In collaboration with its partners, HKI-Mali provides technical assistance to the Nutrition Division of the National Health Directorate in Mali, among others, to organize weeks of intensification of nutrition activities.

HKI-Mali also provides key technical assistance to implement the National Program for Food Fortification, with a project for vitamin A-fortified cotton oil underway.

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The goal of the Communications for Development rural radio initiative (or “Nièta Kunafoni” in Bambara) is to institute behavior change in the context of health, education, environment, good governance and equity. Using communications and information technologies, HKI extends the reach of its public health interventions. The project increases knowledge by disseminating information through radios. HKI is engaged in:

• Creating five radio communications campaigns related to development;
• Equipping 20 selected radio stations with information systems, including access to the internet, turning them into Community Multimedia Centers;
• Developing 3 websites with country-specific information developed by Malians; and
• Establishing 36 radio listening clubs for women and schoolchildren.

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Key Staff

• Marjon Tuinsma - Country Director
• Kourounko Keita - Coordinateur Santé Oculaire
• Aménatou Touré - Coordinatrice Projet de Fortification des Aliments
• Fatimata Ouattara Touré - Conseiller en Nutrition et Survie de l'Enfant, Programme Santé USAID/ATN
• Soumana Thienta - Coordinateur Projet ComDev / NK
• Christian Farès - Coordinateur IT
• Aissata Gouanlé - Admin/Finance officer
• Anne Marie Dembelé - Coordinator CS21
• Zoumana Berthé - Deputy Coordinator CS21
• Mariam Sidibé - Coordinatrice MI