The ILO organized a training of trainers (ToT) on cooperative development in Bamako, Mali from 21 June to 2 July 2021. The ToT was carried out as part of joint activities undertaken by ILO’s projects in Mali: “CLEAR Cotton - Eliminating child labour and forced labour in the cotton, textile and garment value chains: an integrated approach” co-funded by the European Union and implemented in collaboration with FAO; “ACCEL Africa - “Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa” seeking to eliminate child labour through targeted actions in the cocoa, cotton, gold, coffee and tea supply chains in 6 countries and funded by the Government of the Netherlands; and “Promoting principles and rights at work in the cotton supply chain project” funded by INDITEX.

The workshop brought together 17 participants from relevant national cooperative support institutions operating in the cotton and mining sectors (particularly gold), including the Confederation of cooperative societies of cotton producers, National Confederation of Cooperative Societies of Gold Miners, Chamber of Mines, and the Malian Company for the Development of Textiles.

The TOT was based on ILO’s tools for cooperative development Think.Coop, Start.Coop, My.Coop as well as on the training programme on the role of agricultural cooperatives in the elimination of child labour jointly developed by the ILO’s Cooperatives Unit and FUNDAMENTALS Branch. This programme seeks to build capacities of field trainers, so they are able to raise awareness about child labour among management, staff and members of agricultural cooperatives, and guide them through the development and implementation of a set of actions that will contribute to the elimination of child labour within the cooperative’s and members’ operations as well as in their communities.

The main objective of the event was to equip national trainers with knowledge and skills on cooperative entrepreneurship, the role of cooperatives in the fight against child labour, and on strategic principles, technical tools and methodological approaches of ILO's training materials in these fields.

As next step, a coaching session for the participants to the TOT will be organized. The new trainers will then train 44 extension services agents and 64 members of cotton and gold-mining cooperatives.