Interview with Doumbo Ogossagou

The Award for the Defence of the Rights of Children in depth

Journalist Madeleine French met up with Doumbo to talk about the awards, innovative education projects, and hopes for the future...

Fourteen years ago, a group was set up in Mali with the intention of securing the health, well-being and education of children in the country.

Agence Evangelique de Developpement du Mali's (AEDM)
staunch commitment to protecting children’s rights in Mali has earned them International Service’s 2009 Award for the Defence of the Human Rights of Children.

The morning after the awards ceremony, Doumbo Ogossagou - who has worked with the organisation since it was set up - is still revelling from the experience of collecting the award on behalf of AEDM.

“I am extremely pleased to receive the award,” he says with a big smile. “It makes a real difference for me to be receiving it in the symbol of democracy in the UK – the British parliament.”

One of AEDM’s biggest achievements has been founding an innovative education scheme that educates large numbers of children and prevents students from having to sometimes walk 10 or 15 miles a day to school.

Doumbo explains the problems with education in his country: “primary education should be free for all but it’s not. A lot of people have to pay for the furniture, food, books, clothes and pens. The most vulnerable in society struggle to pay those costs and traditionally people have between 5 and 10 children.”

AEDM’s intensive approach toward education significantly reduces the cost of attending school, and means that children cover in 9 months what is normally learned in four years. By placing teachers to live and work in villages, AEDM bring education to the doorstep of the community.

Government recognition

The Malian government have recognised this education scheme as a way forward for the country.

“On 14 August the government signed an agreement recognising that this approach is worthwhile and that they should collaborate on a national level with NGOs,” Doumbo explains.

“In the beginning, local authorities struggled to accept what AEDM was trying to do. But the approach was so unusual and so innovative we were able to convince local government it was worth supporting. The government then sent a delegation to go and look and understand what was going on.”

Though Doumbo recognises the successes and improvements AEDM have made, he believes there is a lot more for the organisation to do in the coming years.

AEDM would also like the government to give the same level of support to women’s rights.  According to Doumbo, recognition is ‘on its way’, with the creation of a Ministry of Women and Children that focuses on family life and women’s rights.

“The importance of women cannot be underestimated”

“Unless they get women involved, education won’t work because it’s women who look after the children and the house. AEDM ensure women have the responsibility to look over their children’s work, check whether they’re doing their work or not, what grades they’re getting, and speaking to the teacher about them. Women act as mouthpieces, spreading the word that school is important.”

AEDM are also dedicated to improving women’s education and have embarked on literacy, language and business skills programmes for women.

“We have a saying in Mali that ‘to train a woman is to train a country and to train a man is just to train a man.’ It is also important that in order for women to grow in self esteem and to have their own opportunities they have access to finance,” he says.

AEDM have a scheme supporting small businesses with small loans to allow them financial independence. This challenges women’s traditional roles and the cultural norms which hold them back. Doumbo sums up the long term benefits of this with another Malian proverb: ‘if a man in Mali has a lot of money it will enable him to marry a second wife. If a woman has the money it will enable her to look after the children.’

The effects of women living without financial independence were clear to see. Often, when crops were bad, men would migrate out of the villages - sometimes even to neighbouring countries - searching for casual labour.  Women and children were left at home and AEDM found that men often couldn’t find enough money to support their families.

But now, AEDM teaches villagers new farming techniques. This has resulted in less migration and a big improvement in diets – a better variety of food is eaten and mealtimes have increased from an average of one to three a day.

The motivation to carry on

Looking to the future, AEDM plan to use their award to further increase international and national recognition by holding a reception in Mali and contacting the media to expand coverage of their work.

“We are going to proudly present the award to the charity’s partners and to the community who have played their part,” Doumbo says with a smile.

“When your hard work is recognised and appreciated it motivates you to carry on. We would like to receive high accreditation in Mali and for AEDM to become a model organisation for others. We will always strive to improve.”