As part of the EMiFo (“Slavery and Forced Migration in Western Mali”) research-action programme, a training workshop was held for administrative and judicial authorities (mainly from the regions of Kayes, Kita, Nioro and Koulikoro) on descent-based slavery, from 28 June to 2 July 2021. On Monday 28 June 2021, the opening ceremony was attended by about a hundred people, including guests and participants, governors, prefects, magistrates, etc., in Amphitheatre 1 of the Faculty of Public Law in Bamako.
For one week, the participants followed various modules to strengthen their socio-historical knowledge and their familiarity with international and regional legal instruments for the promotion and protection of human rights and the fight against descent-based slavery. The presentations were always followed by a question-and-answer session, which not only allowed for a more in-depth discussion of the subject, but also for a frank debate on the findings and proposed recommendations.
In view of the answers given by the participants to the satisfaction questionnaire distributed at the end of the workshop, the training was overall a success. They unanimously stated that “the topics and discussions enriched [their] understanding of the subject”, and emphasised in both the questionnaire and the comments the quality of the presentations given and the quality of the participants’ interventions in the discussions. Trainers and participants all contributed actively to the workshop, and stressed the importance of effectively combating descent-based slavery in Mali and elsewhere, both for reasons of respect for human rights and for social and economic stability in a sub-region increasingly plagued by conflict.
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