Bamako SOHS 2018 panel discussion: Cooperation, coordination, funding and the role of military

What turned into a lively discussion began with a minute of silence. This event occurred just a week after horrible massacres took place in Central Mali, which led to a significant need of introspection for the Malian civil society and its international friends. Co-organised by Groupe URD and OCHA Mali, the presentation of the SOHS 2018 brought together around 60 people, the majority from Malian NGOs along with some UN agencies and International NGOs and representatives from some of the Parties to the Peace Accord. The group met at the Hotel Mandé on the shore of the Niger river, a nice but humble venue frequently used for workshops by NGOs, far from the fancy international hotels.

In a context where pessimism often prevails, OCHA launched the event with a call for optimism. Utte Kollies, the Head of OCHA in Mali, sparked a convivial atmosphere by presenting an inclusive initiative of sport for peace. It resembles Sport Biennales by bringing all ethnic groups and communities together in a lively, joyful and peaceful competition true to the Malian “vivre ensemble” and far from the terrible confrontation of today.

The presentation of the main report delivered by Véronique de Geoffroy, raised a significant level of question around the importance of humanitarian principles and the difficulties faced in efforts to ensure proper coordination in a world which is changing much faster that its aid architecture. Véronique underlined the importance of cooperation between different research institutions, including Groupe URD and Development Initiatives amongst others, which, under ALNAP stewardship, contributed to the research that shaped the report.

The Malian case study, presented by its author François Grünewald, sparked a lively discussion on how to ensure proper donor attention in protracted crises.

While humanitarian action is systematically underfunded, Mali is one of the contexts where new funding mechanisms are emerging, largely backed up by development donors involved in the stabilisation agenda. It was underlined that, although this evolution is largely welcome and in line with the Grand Bargain agenda, it creates a lot of confusion in terms of the respect for humanitarian principles. How can we ensure that the coexistence of development and humanitarian needs are being dealt with?

Another key element of the discussions revolved around the high presence of different military forces in the field, including MINUSMA, the Barkhane operation, the G5 Sahel Force and the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA). Each of them deployed a “win hearts and minds” strategy which largely entailed a variety of quick impact projects raising issues for the humanitarian actors. Several participants underlined that in contexts like Mali, humanitarian aid is at risk of being instrumentalised by political agendas, putting first line actors in danger.

A representative of the Malian structure in charge of food security underlined that there are numerous natural risks (e.g. drought, floods, locus infestations) with a significant impact on malnutrition. He stressed that these risks often affect populations much more than the conflict. He also underlined the importance of proper coordination with Malian institutions, particularly in the context of Mali's 'new phase of decentralisation'. A multi risk, compounded crisis approach is thus needed for the foreseeable future.

This event summary was written by François Grünewald, Executive Director of Groupe URD.

Event details

This event – co-hosted with OCHA in Mali – took place on 29 March.