In Mali, USAID funding cuts hit a local language learning program that empowered thousands

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MOUNTOUGOULA, Mali (AP) — For Aminata Doumbia, an 18-year-old Malian, the “Shifin ni Tagne” project was a path for her life dreams. A phrase meaning “our future” in the country’s main local language, it refers to a yearslong program aimed at teaching around 20,000 young Malians to read and write in their local languages.

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Backed by $25 million in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, over five years, the project has now shut down following the Trump administration’s decision to cut 90% of the agency’s foreign aid.

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“The joy I felt when I was selected for this project has been replaced by sadness,” said Doumbia in Mali’s capital, Bamako.

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She had hoped to take advantage of the empowerment program to train as a pastry chef.

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“I don’t have any hope of realizing my dream (again),” Doumbia said.

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Poverty and illiteracy

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Doumbia is among thousands of people who now find themselves stranded in Mali, a country ravaged by high poverty and insecurity levels and where 70% of the population of at least 22 million people haven’t had the opportunity to learn to read and write, according to Sylla Fatoumata Cisse, director of a government agency focusing on nonformal education and national languages in Mali.

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The USAID funding cut also came at a time when Mali’s other development partners in Europe have withdrawn their support in the aftermath of the 2021 coup, which brought the current junta leader, Assimi Goita, to power.

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A path to empowerment

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For many, the literacy project was the only path to literacy and empowerment.

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Once literate, program beneficiaries move on to the next stage, which involves the acquisition of vocational skills like hairdressing, carpentry, sewing, welding, and pastry-making, according to Modibo Sissoko, literacy supervisor at the Malian Association for Survival in the Sahel nonprofit involved in the “Shifin ni Tagne” project.

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These skills enable the economically disadvantaged to create jobs for themselves, earn a living or support their families, Sissoko said.

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Local languages vs. French

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“With the teaching of mother tongues, it’s possible to move quickly towards mass literacy among the population,” said Issiaka Ballo, a professor and researcher in native languages at Mali’s University of Bamako.

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On the other hand, “only 30% of the population has been educated in French,” the common language in the country, he added.

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USAID’s involvement in Mali had made it the primary development partner of the government. The abrupt end of its assistance hit not only the literacy programs, but also others designed to increase adult education and expand the literacy project to public schools.

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The Gaoussou Dabo School in the Malian capital, Bamako, is among 1,000 schools that benefited from mother-tongue education thanks to funding from USAID.

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Teachers trained for the program last year continue to teach, but the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the program has been withdrawn.

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The funding cut was “a big shock for us,” said Amadi Ba, a counsellor at the Pedagogical Animation Center, which is in charge of the school in Bamako.