Mali’s fight against child begging highlights six different routes to street life
On 24 September 2026, Mali launched the operational phase of its National Strategy to combat begging, focusing on children in street situations. Research conducted from 2017 to 2025 in Bamako and regions of Ségou and Timbuktu reveals six different trajectories leading children to street life, including 'confiage' arrangements, economic survival, exploitation, and fleeing violence. Most street children maintain family ties and return home at night, a crucial distinction for protection measures. The strategy includes socio-economic alternatives, parental responsibility strengthening, and educational integration.
Brève Publié le (Africa/Lagos, UTC+1) · date de l'événement : 2026-09-24
On 24 September 2026, Mali launched the operational phase of its National Strategy to combat begging, focusing on children in street situations.
Research conducted between 2017 and 2025 in Bamako and villages in the Ségou and Timbuktu regions reveals that children found on the streets follow six distinct pathways to reach that situation. These include the practice of ‘confiage’—a traditional form of child fostering where children are entrusted to relatives or others, often for economic reasons—economic survival strategies, exploitation, and fleeing from violence.
The study highlights that the majority of street children are not abandoned; they have a home to return to at night. This distinction is important since protection measures differ for children who maintain family contact versus those who live permanently on the streets.
The national strategy rests on four pillars: providing socio-economic alternatives and reintegration for vulnerable persons; strengthening parental responsibility; supervising and supporting Quranic schools; and progressively integrating religious education into the national education system.
Legal frameworks in Mali, such as the 2011 Code of Persons and Family, do not formally recognize the practice of ‘confiage,’ complicating protection efforts. Despite existing laws regulating child mobility, violations often go unpunished, a concern noted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child since 1999 and acknowledged by Mali in 2005.