Consulting the actors

DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVELOPMENT / CONSULTATION PROCESS OF THE PROPOSAL PREPARED FOR MCA- Mali

1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPOSAL OF MALI

A Coordinating "Support Project to the Development and Implementation of MCA Mali" was set up by the Government with the financial support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

A MCA Mali Coordinator was appointed. With the help of National Consultants, he led the development of the Proposal. All the necessary technical studies were carried out by the aforementioned Consultants.

Mali Compact is a coherent formulation of actions necessary to attain the economic growth and poverty reduction objective, as expressed during permanent dialogues with all the representatives of the economic and social actors.

2. CONSULTATION PROCESS

In accordance with the guidelines provided by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for the development of the Program proposal regarding the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), Mali instituted a very advanced framework of dialogue with the various actors of the Society.

Consequently, for several months, the development of the MCA Mali Proposal mobilized, within a permanent exchange framework, all the actors interested in the promotion of the economic growth through investment and those responsible for poverty reduction policies namely: the Government, the Civil Society and the Private Sector.

2.1. Actors

The key actors concerned are:

• Government departments which played a very active role and directly implied in the Program:

• Ministry of Economy and Finances;
• Ministry of Planning and Land Development;
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation;
• Ministry of Equipment and Transport;
• Ministry of Agriculture;
• Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water;
• Ministry of Investments and Small and Medium-sized Firms Promotion

• The private sector: The Malian private sector is organized in professional branches of 26 groups federated within the National Council of the Employers of Mali (CNPM). In addition, the Consular Chambers ensure public interest missions between the economic operators and the authorities: Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Mali (CCIM), Permanent Assembly of the Crafts Chamber of Mali (APCCM), Permanent Assembly of the Chambers of Agriculture (APCAM)). These organizations are gathered within a consular union of the chambers chaired by the CCIM. Through a regular framework of dialogue, they are in contact with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of the Promotion of Investments and the Small and Medium-sized Firms. The entire Private Sector, the professional branches and consular chambers, gathered in a summit organization called the Private Sector Committee (COSEP). The latter will be the interlocutor as regards the MCA Program;

• The Civil Society: the civil society organizations are gathered in ridge tiles (collectives, federations, coordinations, networks). These NGO and their ridge tiles, through a framework of dialogue, are in connection with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Local Communities, and the Ministry of Social Development, Solidarity and Senior People. They are very active in Mali and are in close relationships with the populations and share their concerns. Those concerns are reflected in the activities programs of the local authorities. The civil society is associated in the funding and implementation of these activities along with the representatives of the communities concerned. American NGO expressed a keen interest to take part in the preparation of the Proposal of Mali.

2.1. Activities

 Dialogues:

With Central Administrations: Work meetings, at various stages, took place with the representatives of central administrations designated for this purpose. They permitted to ensure the coherence of the proposed MCA Mali Program, with the various national laws, rules and administrative provisions into force. High level consultations were carried out with the Prime Minister’s Technical Advisers; the General Secretaries, Technical Advisers and National Directors from the different Ministries.

With the Civil Society and the Private Sector: At the various stages of the development of the Proposal, regular consultations took place in Bamako and in the Office du Niger Zone between the Coordination and the various actors. Several meetings which became opportunities of profitable exchanges were organized with the members representing Civil Society organizations and the Private Sector. Taking advantage of these opportunities, MCA Mali Coordination exposed and explained all the technical aspects of the activities planned for the implementation the Program. All the contributions were carefully noted in order to take them into account and improve the Proposal.

 Information:

A periodic information bulletin is published by the Coordination among the actors implied in the process and, beyond these actors, among all the interested people and structures. This Information bulletin reports the activities of the Coordination and helps follow progress made in the development process.

There exists a dialogue framework which allows a broad distribution of information about the process and the various Components of MCA Mali Program.

This framework of dialogue is illustrated in the following diagram:

3. Pursuing dialogue during the implementation phase

The consultation/ dialogue process existing during the development phase will continue during the Program implementation.

In addition to the fact that all the actors will be represented within the different bodies such as MCA Mali Advisory Council, specific actions are planned to ensure sustainability of the consultation /dialogue process.

These actions are supported by various activities planned under MCA Mali Program implementation, including those related to stakeholder’s capacity building.