Governance and security in Mali
Building the Shared Governance of Security and Peace Programme
By Djeidi Sylla, Senior Programme Adviser, UNDP Mali

The security challenges in Mali are common to many of the countries in the sub-region: rise in crime, uncontrolled proliferation of light weapons and small arms, uncontrolled migratory flows, inter-community tensions largely linked to land and natural resources management, road insecurity and the loosening of social ties.

Since the end of the police state in 1991 and the signature of the National Pact in 1992, Mali has evolved into a democratic and politically stable country. However, increased calls from elected officials, civil society organizations and citizens regarding the country’s security situation have resulted in the Government’s commitment to undertake a comprehensive reform of the security system at both the national and local levels. 

The reform started in 2005 with the UNDP supported National Conference for Security and Peace. In 2006, the Ministry of Interior Security and Civil Protection requested renewed UNDP support to implement this reform.

Key objectives of programme

In this context, UNDP Mali developed, during a year- and-a-half process, a new programme on Shared Governance of Security and Peace. The programme has three key objectives:
* Support the fine-tuning and adoption of the new national policy on security developed at the 2005 National Peace and Security Conference.
* Build capacity for the implementation of the national policy on security at the national and local levels.
* Contribute to sustainable peace and security in North Mali in particular, due to the precarious and volatile situation of this region.

Programme building blocks

The programme builds on lessons learned from existing UNDP and partner programmes, including: 
* Planning and implementing the programme needs to be highly participatory.
* A comprehensive and cross-cutting approach is necessary to make the required linkages between security, peace and poverty reduction and between the national, regional and local levels.
* It is important to anticipate possible risks to programme implementation and build in appropriate responses at the programming design stage.

Results

Results achieved by the programme to date have included:

* A 2006-2012 Action Plan that called for the reform of the security sector in Mali was developed and approved by key stakeholders.
* A security dimension is included in the second generation Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Mali.
* The Kidal Forum, organized in March 2007, allowed for broad participation from civil society, local administrations and national officials in discussing the peace and security challenges of North Mali while agreeing on adapted development strategies and priorities.
* Specific local capacity-building activities have been designed to support local development and the local management of security and peace in the Kidal region in North Mali.  

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