Mali and Sahel Conflict
The Mali Desk provides in-depth field analysis, training, and timely context-aware legal advice to contribute to improved awareness of IHL and human rights rules to save lives in Mali and across the Sahel region.
IHL training, research, and advocacy in Mali and across the Sahel region
The Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre in Mali contributes to improved compliance with the laws of war and Human Rights standards in Mali and across the Sahel region countries Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, and Mauritania.
We work to spread knowledge of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, clarify specific legal protection issues and empower local initiatives. Our goal is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict in Mali and protracted violence across the region. The Desk also endeavours to build local ownership and sustainability to create a long term sustainable change towards greater compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights across the region.
Contact
mali-ihl@diakonia.se
Awareness of IHL and human rights norms among humanitarian actors
The Mali Desk works with key stakeholders in Mali and across the Sahel region to improve compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights standards. By spreading knowledge of the law, clarifying immediate context-specific legal protection issues, and empowering locally embedded IHL initiatives, we help to protect the lives and dignity of victims of the armed conflict in Mali and protracted violence across the region.
Timely analysis and solutions for protection issues in the Mali conflict
The work of the Desk in Mali and across the Sahel region combines an in-depth understanding of the context with the capacity to respond rapidly to the protection needs in Mali and the region. We provide timely IHL analysis of both long-standing and newly unfolding developments. The increasing number of civilian victims in the armed conflict in Mali has also highlighted the need to offer practical solutions of how the legal frameworks can be used in the Mali context. A specific focus of our work is the protection of children and women in the conflict in Mali.
Our approach
The Mali Desk
- applies a context-modelled approach;
- promotes IHL, often in collaboration with other local organisations;
- influences behaviour to achieve societal change;
- regularly identifies trends and practices that affect compliance with IHL with a view to develop needs-based activities and facilitate appropriate community-based initiatives.
This approach helps to foster compliance with IHL and reduce unnecessary human suffering in the short- and long-term in the fragile and constantly changing humanitarian context in Mali and across the Sahel region.
