† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

In 2023, the Armed Forces of Mali (FAMa), as well as the gendarmerie and police recruited and used children in its forces. The transition government detained 14 children during operations and held five. Non-state armed groups also forcibly recruited and used children as combatants and for forced labor at some artisanal gold mines under their control in northern Mali.

Children at Higher Risk

Children, especially from the Bellah community, are subjected to hereditary slavery in northern and southwestern Mali. Some children are born into slavery, while others are born free but remain in dependent status. As a result, these children, along with their parents, are forced to work for their parents' former masters in exchange for food, money, and lodging. Enslaved children perform agricultural or domestic labor and are often sexually abused. In addition, research indicates that children were abducted from Timbuktu and Gossi to be used for exploitation in slavery during the reporting period. Children, particularly those of Songhai ethnicity, also work in debt bondage in the northern salt mines of Taoudenni. Moreover, at least 45,753 children in the north, south, and west are also involved in artisanal gold mining, during which they are exposed to toxic substances and extreme temperatures, transport heavy loads of water and minerals, and work long hours. Around mining sites, children also are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude and are involved in trafficking narcotics. Many of the children working in mines are from neighboring countries in the region. Some boys, including from neighboring countries, are placed in the care of Koranic teachers for education and forced by their teachers to beg on the street or work in fields, after which they must surrender their earnings.

Barriers to Education Access

The Constitution guarantees free and compulsory education for citizens; however, many children, especially girls, do not attend school because parents are expected to pay fees for registration, uniforms, transportation costs, and supplies, as well as teachers' additional salary payments, all of which are cost-prohibitive for many impoverished families. Long distances between villages and schools, and lack of schools, classes, and teachers, are also significant barriers to education. In addition, many children in Mali are not registered at birth, which may prevent them from accessing services such as education. Research indicates that there are hundreds of thousands of children in Mali without birth certificates, and that while lack of documentation does not exclude children from schooling, these students may not be allowed to take national exams. Evidence also suggests that incidences of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including corporal punishment, prevent some children from remaining in school. Furthermore, internally displaced children faced interruptions in their education and barriers to enrolling in school after fleeing their homes. By January 2024, ongoing insecurity and attacks on schools have resulted in as many as 1,657 school closures.

‡ Age calculated based on available information

In July 2023, the transition government enacted a new constitution that sets the goal of prohibiting slavery, trafficking in persons, and the forced recruitment of children by non-state armed groups. Despite this effort, and although Mali's Trafficking in Persons Law criminalizes the act of slavery, including human trafficking for the purpose of slavery, Mali's Labor Code, while prohibiting forced labor generally, does not specifically prohibit hereditary slavery. In addition, Malian law does not prohibit using, procuring, or offering a child for the production and trafficking of drugs as established by international standards. While the Child Protection Code provides some protections for children under age 18, and the Penal Code establishes criminal penalties for several forms of child labor, some offenses included in the Child Protection Code do not carry criminal penalties, such as the prohibition of child recruitment by non-state armed groups. Moreover, although the Child Protection Code prohibits children under age 18 from participating in armed conflicts or joining the national armed forces, it only prescribes prison sentences for those who commit repeat offenses. Meanwhile, the Penal Code only provides criminal penalties for child recruitment if the children recruited are under age 15, rendering 16- and 17-year-olds unprotected. Article 28 of the Penal Code states that crimes committed out of self-defense or under a force that could not be resisted should not be penalized as prescribed in other articles of the Penal Code. Although a 2013 Interministerial Circular on the Prevention, Protection, and Rehabilitation of Child Soldiers states that Article 28 of the Penal Code is applicable to children involved in armed conflict, the Circular does not define the age range of the children it covers. This means that some children under age 18 who are affiliated with non-state armed groups may be penalized for crimes they were forced to commit as a direct result of being a victim of child labor.

The Education Law formally guarantees the right of education only for citizens, potentially making it difficult for non-citizen children to enroll in school. Articles 189.35 and 189.36 of the Labor Code allow children between the ages of 12 and 14 to perform domestic or light seasonal work, as long as it does not impede school attendance or exceed 4.5 hours of work per day. However, Mali's light work framework does not meet international standards because it applies to children under the age of 13 and does not specify the conditions under which light work may be undertaken.

It is unknown how many labor inspectors conducted worksite inspections, or whether child labor violations were found. It is also unknown whether investigations into suspected cases of the worst forms of child labor were conducted, prosecutions were initiated, or perpetrators were convicted.

† Policy was approved during the reporting period.

For information about USDOL’s projects to address child labor around the world, visit https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/ilab-project-page-search
† Program is funded by the transition Government of Mali.

Download the 2023 Bibliography