Up until 1991 Mali was organized centrally, without autonomous local and regional bodies. Internal political unrest emerging from the population made the government decide on a far reaching decentralization policy. The Mission for Decentralization of 1993 (decree 93-01) has since then accomplished much, creating a new constitutional division of 7 regions subdivided into 46 cercles (sub regional departments), and 682 rural community districts (communes). The people’s demands for a larger role in the political process in 1991 was put into policy as localities were allocated with more and more competencies, most notably in the sector of education, health and water. Local elections were held for the first time in 1998 after a six year build up period implementing basic democratic structures and necessary facilities. Local council members are elected for a period of five years. The latest local elections were held in 2009. In Mali the percentage of female voters is high showing the effects that structured decentralization in combination with gender equality programs can have. a variety of other development programmes in this example focused on gender equality. (Of) Structured decentralization combined with other projects such as gender equality have already had success showed by the high percentage of female voters in Mali.
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The cooperation between the Malian government, localities and external donors has been imperative to the success of the Malian decentralization experiment. From the very beginning of the democratization process in 1992 donors and external funding have been implementing projects . For example local governments can apply for funding through the Communal Investments Fund. Technical support in order to strengthen localities has led to a situation in which the central government is now adapting to the decentralized structure of Mali in which the people are on the initiative. This is emphasized by laws such as the Pastoral Charter Law of 2001 through which local communities have a direct say in an important part of their livelihoods, agriculture and the division of lands. Also the importance of the Association des Municipalités du Mali has grown since its foundation in 2000.
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Hand in hand with these developments are the efforts of development aid to train local communities so they can handle the new responsibilities given to them. Increasing operational and managerial capacities of local officals, but also building infrastructure. Furthermore national and local elections are being closely monitored to uphold and strengthen the rising standards of democratization and subsequently provide a growth in accountability. Most recent successful development took place in the field of sanitation and other basic social services.
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