OVERVIEW 10. Mali is a land-locked country situated in the heart of West Africa within the SudanoSahelian belt. It covers a surface area of 1,241,238 km, 2 with 65% of it in the desert or semidesert region. It shares a 7,420 km-border with its neighbours: Algeria to the north, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the south-east, Cote d’Ivoire to the south, Guinea-Conakry to the south west, Senegal to the west and Mauritania to the north-west. 11. The country is divided into eight (8) Administrative Regions and a District (Bamako), forty-nine (49) Cercles and 703 rural and urban towns. 12. According to the results of the latest General Population and Housing Census (RGPH 2009), Mali’s population was estimated at 14,517,176 inhabitants, 70% of whom live in the rural areas and are engaged in the primary sector. It is a very young population, with 59.5% of them being less than 19 years old. Women account for 50.4% of the population. The annual population growth rate stands at 3.6%. 13. According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Ministry of Education, the gross schoolgoing rate in the first cycle of basic education (1st cycle or primary 1) increased from 79.5% in 2009-2010 to 81.5 % in 2010-2011, with girls accounting for 74% and boys representing 89.1%. The gross basic school admission rate decreased from 74.70% in 2009-2010 to 69.5% in 2010-2011. The rate for girls decreased from 69.10% to 64.3%. The completion rate decreased from 56.30% in 2009-2010, with girls accounting for 48.6%, to 57.1% in 20102011, with girls accounting for 50.4%. 14. Mali is an ethnic and cultural melting pot. Its population is made up of Muslims, Christians and animists. The Malian economy relies on agriculture, livestock, fishing, craft industry, trade, tourism, mining, industry as well as small and medium enterprises, etc. 15. According to the results of Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework (GPRSF), the GDP growth rate stood at 4.5% in 2009, as against 4.3% in 2007 and 5% in 2008. The majority of the Malian population live below the poverty line. Furthermore, Mali is very vulnerable to fluctuations in the world prices of commodities which are basically made up of three primary commodities (cotton, gold and livestock), its main exports. 16. As a country with a millennia-old civilization, Mali taps the roots of its current political and human rights practice from its own history and universal democratic values. 17. Indeed, in 1236, the “Kouroukan Fouga” Charter, the Founding Act of the Great Mali Empire, had all the attributes of a constitution and contained provisions relating to the 11