ORU’s experience in the service of peace in Mali

From the 23rd to the 25th of March, just a few days after the meeting of ORU’s Executive Bureau held in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Jeannot Kouadio-Ahoussou, president of the Ivory Coast Regions and District Association (ARDCI) and Jean-Paul Bachy, president of the Champagne-Ardenne region, participated on behalf of ORU in a seminar on regionalization in Bamako (Mali). 

The meeting, backed by the Minister for Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Abdoulaye Idrissa Maïga, was organised by the Global Local Forum and was meant to enable the exchange of successful regional experiences from other countries with the Malian political leaders.  This exercise was focused on finding solutions to the territorial problem in Mali, especially in the northern part of the country, where the Tuareg demand is raised, and with that, contribute towards the construction of peace in the country. “Regionalisation, a path towards peace in Mali” was the title in a local newspaper.

Minister Abdoulaye Idrissa Maïga stated that regionalisation and regional economic development represent a cornerstone of politics in the country.  He welcomed the holding of a seminar that allowed to see different concepts and institutional and financial approaches to implement an efficient regionalisation. 

One of the main conclusions from the encounter is that regionalisation can only be built on the base of a climate of trust between the state and the territories. And, with Mali’s problem in mind, special attention was given to some successful international examples that ended with a contractual agreement between the parties which allowed to put an end to serious crises and to lay down the rules of the game between state and regions. 

Jeannot Kouadio-Ahoussou from ARDCI and Jean-Paul Bachy from Champagne-Ardenne assured the support from their institutions and from ORU to Mali’s regionalisation process. To develop this line of work, Falilou Mbacke Cisse from Global Local Forum and Carles Llorens, ORU’s secretary-general, have already come into contact. The main aim is ORU’s participation in the next steps for action in Mali and concretising ORU’s support, and that of its member regions, to regionalization in Mali.