Mali

Only just 50% of the population has access to a secure electrical supply - access to safe sanitation is only guaranteed for 20% of the population. Two-thirds of the population is illiterate and does not attend school.

Most people live in the south of the country, in the greater Bamako area. The poorest try to survive by begging and collecting garbage. In many cases, they are victims of exploitation and abuse. Children, for whom there is not enough food, are sometimes abandoned when they are still infants.

More than 90% of the Malian population practises Islam, often with animist influences. The steady advance of radical Islamist movements is leading to a growing number of extremist imams, who are exerting particular pressure on the Christian communities. All Christian communities based in the north have been expelled since 2012. The intense pressure of persecution has now reached the more Christianized central area of the country. Many churches have had to close, others live under jihadist oppression with a ban on Christian worship and music, forced full veiling, expropriation of farmland, forced conversions, many other abuses and even expulsion and murder.