Abstract

The Government of Mali has proposed a 2-year pilot family planning program to be established in Bamako. This is the first such activity in subsaharan Francophone Africa and, therefore, has regional implications. One central and four satellite family planning clinics were to be established and equipped and personnel trained. The objectives of this program are to improve the health and well-being of Malian families, determine the best practical approaches to establishing a national family planning program, and to provide the government with the information necessary to organize such a program in the future.

Post-Project Summary

This project established a pilot family planning program in Bamako, one which represented the first government-sponsored program of its kind in sub-Saharan francophone Africa. During two and a half years, the clinic provided services for more than 25,000 clients and consultations for about 10,000 people. A statistical unit monitored service statistics to evaluate such aspects as family planning services; the characteristics of family planning acceptors; and the effectiveness and availability of various contraceptive techniques among the clientele. As part of social research activities, interviews were conducted in southern Mali (a Wasulum village, Sikasso region) as well as in a district of Bamako to compile an inventory of traditional practices of contraceptives and child-spacing. Two seminars were held in Bamako, and the first resulted in an IDRC publication (Education Sexuelle en Afrique Tropicale). The second seminar brought together groups from Mali, Maritania, and Upper Volta. Support continued in a second phase.

Recipient Institution(s)