For Freedom of Movement & Fair Development!

11 x 1.000 euro: let's tackle redistribution practically !

Donation campaign for grassroot initiatves in Mali

The pdf-Version of our campaigning-flyer is only available in german. You find it below.

Political campaigns and practical solidarity are close-knit not only in antiracist work, but both aspects also play a central role in the transnational cooperation among southern and northern grass-roots initiatives. That is because many activists in southern countries are literally standing with their backs against the wall – not least countries such as Mali, which belongs to one of the poorest, or rather has been turned into one of the poorest, countries, at all: More than 60 percent of the population live below the poverty line (which has been assessed at a pretty low level, already) 33 percent of all children under the age of 5 are undernourished, and just about 50 percent of the people have access to clean drinking water. Correspondingly, the average life expectancy is 49 years, 75 percent of those aged over 15 years can neither read nor write. In practice, all this means that the vast majority of the population have to see on a day-to-day-basis where their money to make it through the next days and weeks will come from. Formal employment with regular income are an absolute exception, let alone unemployment compensation or compulsory health insurance. Exceedingly blatant is the situation of deportees and displaced persons – on the one hand, because under precarious conditions such as these, it is always harder for ´newcomers` to gain a foothold, and on the other hand, because deportees are commonly, and not only in Mali, stigmatized as ´failures`, and therefore hardly receive any support from their families.

The existential uncertainty that is tied to such conditions is not only personally fatal, it also hamstrings political agency – be it, because the necessary ressources are lacking, or because the activists have to first and foremost care for their own survival. Afrique-Europe-Interact has therefore resolved that eleven Malian groups of our network ought to each receive a one-time contribution of 1.000 Euro with the aid of a donation campaign (whereupon the supported groups have been solely designated by the African partners). In addition, small-scale political activities in Mali ought to be financially supported through network means, according to the level of contributions. In doing so, all parties involved are aware that 1.000 Euro is not particularly plenty of money. Contrariwise, one should not lose sight of the fact that the annual salary of a teacher in Mali, for example, only adds up to 720 Euro – a matter of fact that reveals that it is by all means feasible to punctual support political work in a reasonable way. What is more is that it is downright spiny within the framework of a transnational network to work together trustingly and engagingly, without finding a response to the permanent scandal that is extreme global inequalities, at least on a personal level. Our 11 × 1.000 Euro- donation campaign shall therefore be understood as a more or less symbolic anticipation of the redistribution and reversion of the currents of ressources between North and South, of which there is no getting around on the level of society as a whole, anyway.

The projects

We are looking for donations to support the following projects and political initiatives – for more detailed information, please go to our website. If you are interested, we are happy to provide you with further information, or to put you in direct touch with the respective grass-roots initatives.

APEGA/Association des Planteurs et Exploitantes de Gomme Arabique (Association for the Cultivation and Utilization of Arabic Gum): The environmental organization APEGA mainly supports the self-organization of women in rural areas. The 1.000 Euro are supposed to fund the acquisition of a flour mill for the women of the village Konobougou, 100 kilometers east of Bamako, including the training in operating and administrating the mill.

Le collective des artisans et travailleurs culturels (The Collective of Craftspeople and Cultural Workers): In addition to the setting up of a shared metal work shop and shop for tailoring equipment, rooms for music and theatre performances shall be rented – in the current repertoire, you will find among others a play about Oury Jalloh, an asylum-seeker who burned to death in a police cell in Dessau, Germany.

AJRECY/Association des jeunes refoules de l´espagne de la commune Yanfolila (Association of young Deportees deported from Spain in the Yanfolila area): The association that was founded in 2005 by deportees deported from Ceuta and Mellilais is planning the provision of an insurance-like solidarity funds for medical emergencies, funerals, baptisms and the likes.

MSV/Mouvement des Sans Voix (Movement of the People Without a Voice): The renting of a little office is needed in Bamako – including an internet connection. The MSV is a grass-roots movement that was founded in 2005 and is active in 6 Mali regions, as well as in Burkina Faso and Niger. Their work is primarily centered around the resistance to the effects of neoliberal structure adjustment programs. At present, MSV is particularly supporting people that get expelled from their plots of land or their cultivable land in the country and in the city.

UACDDDD/ Union des Associations et des Coordinations d'Association pour le Dévelopement et la Défence des Droits des Démunies (Union of Associations and Coordination for the Developement and Vindication of the Rights of Destitutes): It is planned to acquire a public-address-system, together with further materials for the training of young people from exceptionally poverty-stricken residential neighborhoods, with regards to both, their rights in dealing with state authorities, as well as strenghtening their self-organization.

Association des veuves et orphelins de Koulikoro (Association of Widows and Orphans from Koulikoro): assists market gardening through the sourcing of tools and materials for the building of fences (protection from animals), as well as the improvement of water supply. So far, 60 women have joined the association that was founded in 2008.

Association Direi Ben: The association in Gao, in the northern part of Mali, aids deportees as well as (transit) migrants on their way up north. It is planned to aquire among other things three water tanks and a motor pump, in order to water vegetable parcels.

ECK/Association Espoir de Cachan Kalifa (Association of Hope of Cachan Kalifa): ECK is an association that was founded by deportees from Paris in order to create job opportunities for young people and deportees in the manual and agricultural sector. What is needed is the setting up of an office with internet and telephone connection, as well as the covering of the travel expenses of its scattered members.

AJE/Association des Jeunes Expulsés (Association of Young Deportees): It is planned to set up an office for the psycho-social care of young deportees, especially from the Ivory Coast – including labor costs for the counsellors.

ADEM/L’Association pour la Défense des Emigrés Maliens (Association for the Defense of Malian Migrants): The association is mainly active in the Kayes region – its work encompasses counceling as well as political campaigns. It is planned to set up an office and a meeting room – including the necessary infrastructure.

FAM/Fédération des Associations de Migrants de Mali (Federation of Migrant Associations of Mali): Renting and furnishing a restaurant in Bamako is the planned application of donations. The obtained money from the restaurant is supposed to generate an income for the members of FAM, as well as create vocational training positions. The opening of further restaurants is planned, in the long run. Inter alia, numerous civil war refugees from the Ivory Coast are organized in FAM.

Where to donate?

As a thank you for your donation, all who donate will recieve a brochure or one of our films documenting the Bamako-Dakar-Caravan. Donations to Afrique-Europe-Interact are tax-deductible. Please remit all donations with the keyword „AEI“ in favour of the account given below (please provide your postal address or send via email).

Our account relationship:

Name/Owner: Initiative ZusammenLeben e.V.
Account-Number: 17 44 96 53
Bank-Connection: 120 300 00
Bank: Deutsche Kreditbank

IBAN: DE11 1203 0000 0017 449653
BIC: BYLADEM1001

Or online via direct debit (quick & safe – including confirmation via mail):

All data is transmitted via a secure line (secure socket layer, SSL). Afrique-Europe-Interact undertakes to treating data as strictly confidential, not passing data on to other parties, nor to make data accessible to other parties.

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PDF-Version of the Campaigning-Flyer (only in german)