Strengthening Local NGOs’ capacity in Mali

The nutritional situation in Mali for 2024 is classified as an “emergency” due to armed conflicts, internal displacement, limited humanitarian access, and climate-related challenges. An estimated 3.3 million people, including 2.4 million children under 5 and 908,866 pregnant and lactating women, require urgent nutritional assistance (Global Nutrition Cluster: Mali Humanitarian Needs Overview)

The learning programme focused on three key areas: Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E), Proposal Writing for Resource Mobilisation (PWRM), and Human Resources (HR). Over 60 hours of French-language training were delivered to 51 participants (33% women) from ten local organisations, including G-FORCE, Avenir, and HELP FOR SAHEL. The training was developed using a robust contextualisation and quality assurance process and adapted to suit the needs of participants with limited digital experience.

 

Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 92% rating the courses as “excellent” or “good.” The Proposal Writing module had the most significant impact, leading to a 21.49% average increase in participant knowledge and the highest overall satisfaction score (4.38 out of 5).

 

This initiative comes at a critical time for Mali, where escalating conflict, widespread displacement, and rising food insecurity continue to place enormous pressure on communities and the organisations supporting them. Local NGOs are often the first to respond — delivering nutrition services, supporting displaced families, and addressing urgent protection and health needs — yet they frequently operate with limited access to training and resources.

 

By strengthening essential skills in monitoring, fundraising, and organisational management, RedR’s training has directly enhanced the ability of national actors to plan, deliver, and evaluate humanitarian interventions more effectively. Participants reported increased confidence in designing project proposals, tracking impact, and managing staff — all vital to sustaining and scaling humanitarian response in a complex and rapidly changing environment.

 

Despite technical challenges, particularly with digital tools, the programme demonstrated clear gains in knowledge, skills, and confidence across all modules. Recommendations for future sessions include introductory tech sessions and continued focus on participatory, locally relevant content.

This project marks an important step in reinforcing local leadership and capacity in Mali’s humanitarian sector, with RedR committed to supporting the long-term professional development of national actors at the front lines of crisis response.