Internally displaced people in Mali

Overall objectives

The main objective is to fill the current evidence gap on internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in Mali by collecting and analyzing data on their socioeconomic conditions as part of the Mali’s Enquête Modulaire et Permanente auprès des Ménages (EMOP). Evidence generated will help national authorities to assess whether poverty reduction policies or strategies are benefiting all segments of the population, regardless of their displacement status, but also to work with development and humanitarian partners such as the World Bank and UNHCR to implement integrated responses and interventions that protect and support IDPs and their hosts in Mali.

Activity description

World Bank and UNHCR teams in West and Central Africa and Mali aim to support the Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT- Mali’s national statistics office) to integrate a representative sample of IDPs in the next round of the Enquête Modulaire et Permanente auprès des Ménages (EMOP), a permanent and nationally representative household survey conducted every 3 months to collect data on living conditions of Malian households to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the country’s poverty reduction strategies and national development plans.

In summary, a total of 2700 IDP households will be added to the EMOP sample to enable the estimation of valid and comparable socio-economic indicators on IDP households living in and outside sites in the country.  The main EMOP questionnaire will also be revised to include questions to appropriately capture IDPs using EGRISS recommendations. Actual data collection will be preceded by training of enumerators, sensitization of IDP populations, listing of households and a pilot survey.

To enhance the impact and utility of the survey findings, targeted dissemination strategies will be implemented including an official joint launch for the broad dissemination of the analytical products and the findings and tailored presentations and briefs for national and local authorities, development partners and the private sector at the national and sub-national levels.

Engagement with partners

INSTAT will be the main implementer of the survey in collaboration with the Direction Nationale du Development Social (DNDS), WB and UNHCR. UNHCR, WB, INSTAT and DNDS will hold regular consultations through a dedicated technical committee to provide oversight of the inclusion component including sampling coverage, questionnaire development, survey operations, data analysis, development of analytical outputs and dissemination of findings.

Background and Context

The succession of political, security and socioeconomic crises has resulted in widespread displacement of populations in Mali since 2012. As of May 2024, the government estimates that about 330,713 people are internally displaced. These displaced populations are often settling in areas already struggling with extreme poverty, limited or no access to basic services, and those are some of the most fragile and climate-change affected regions in the world. This further compound their descent into deprivation from decent shelter, education, health, employment, and other basic services but also increases pressure on host communities.

An assessment in 2023 by the Direction Nationale du Développement Social (DNDS) suggests that 95% of displaced people identified food as their most pressing need while 60% of them considered shelter as what they urgently need.

Like in many countries around the world, internal displacement is not systematically and/or appropriately captured in official statistics in Mali. Although the 2022 census introduced key identification questions to help capture forcibly displaced populations such as IDPs, there is no nationally representative household survey that collected relevant and statistically valid data on IDPs in Mali using the EGRISS recommendations. Given the current displacement crisis in Mali, it is therefore important to produce and disseminate relevant data on IDPs, and their host communities that will help government authorities and their development and humanitarian partners to develop and implement effective responses.