Right To Play (Mali)

Right To Play has been working in Mali since 2002 to improve the quality of education, protect children, and strengthen the culture of peace amongst children and youth. In 2006, we began training teachers on how to use sport and play to help children build life skills and healthy habits. Through our formal partnerships with the five National Directorates of Education and teaching academies and pedagogical animation centres, we aim to to increase school enrollment, retention, and learning outcomes for children.

Our response to the crisis created by Mali's ongoing socio-political conflict established Right To Play as a credible actor in child protection, and demonstrated that play-based approaches are a relevant response to the psychosocial needs of crisis-affected children. We used learnings from this experience to launch the Jam Suka program, a child protection initiative funded by the Government of Canada that seeks to reduce instances of child labour, begging, and gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation and child marriage.