How is life in Mali?

The life expectancy is 48 years. In comparison: The German life expectancy is 80 years. The children mortality rate is 194 from 1,000 live births. This corresponds to 19.4%. 23% of all women aged 15-24 are analphabets; 36% of all men of the same age are also affected.
Besides many local religions, 75% of the inhabitants are Islamists and 5% are Christians.

The children’s situation is very hard. There are child rights abuses such as children trafficking, circumcision of girls, prostitution coercion and inadmissible medical care, as well as huge poverty and a lack of school education. Girls are more affected from child rights abuses than boys. Children die from avoidable diseases such as measles, cholera, tuberculosis and malaria. Of all newborns, one fifth is born with underweight. The HIV rate rises.

The enrolment rate is low despite the obligatory six-years of school-attendance. There are not enough schools and teachers. Primary school is only visited by one third all girls. Primary school classes with up to 100 children are not rare. Moreover there are teachers and students strikes. Political reformations in the education sector process slowly.

People live in dry regions in houses out of mud bricks and thatched roofs. There are slums in many cities where families live in provisory huts. Many Malians have no access to clean water and latrines; furthermore there is no wastewater and waste disposal.

The Malian live from agriculture; food and cotton are often cultivated. The livestock breeding is important for export and the own alimentation.
The main export goods are cotton and gold. Many Malians are obliged to work in neighbor countries or France because of the bad labour market situation.

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