Mali Anti-Begging Strategy Asks: Who Are Street Children?

Mali began the operational phase of its national anti-begging strategy on 24 September 2026, with four pillars covering reintegration, parental responsibility, Quranic school supervision and religious teaching. Research by Drahmane Fondo, drawn from fieldwork in Bamako and villages in Ségou and Tombouctou between 2017 and 2025, finds that most street children are not abandoned and that the routes that put them there require different responses.