Wéwo is a village located in the commune of Yeredon Saniona (district of Niono, region of Segou, Mali). The inhabitants are mainly nomadic Fulani breeding cattle. They move along, depending on the availability of pasture, towards other villages in the district and beyond. The residents of Wéwo are all Muslims, with no Iman (religious leader) or Mosque or Koranic center. In general, they are reluctant to send their children to school: no other education facility exists in Wéwo. Instead, children who are old enough to go to school are taught how to breed cattle and work as shepherds. Girls are often married off early.

It is within this context that, in 2013-2014, the implementation of the CLFZ approach began. After several sensitization sessions with various stakeholders (local authorities, CAP, Civil Service, NGOs, volunteers), the village adopted the CLFZ approach. The school started on January 23^rd, 2014.

According to some people, the village chief became suspicious about school and became quite an obstacle to the running of the new school in his village, because of the rivalry between him and other people in the village who were “in favor of” school. As a result, the temporary shelter that served as a classroom was not rebuilt before the 2015-2016 school year. During the regular consultation meetings held in the commune, and chaired by the sub-Prefect, the issue of Wéwo’s school was debated and the village chief was called in for questioning.

Several sensitization missions were undertaken in the village. The Mothers’ Association (MA) in Wéwo got mobilized for the schooling of children. All these activities failed to make the village chief back down. Then, the sub-Prefect, a very committed person to the good effect of sensitization, threatened to suspend him from office if he still refused to fight in the cause of schooling. Following the threat of the Sub-prefect, the chief of the village began showing signs of commitment by building a temporary shelter for the school. Classes resumed in November 2015.

In May 2014, Stop Child Labour started the ‘Out of Work and into School’ programme.  Supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, within this programme we are strengthening and expanding child labour free zones, where possible and relevant with active participation of CSR initiatives and companies.

Until now, child labour free zones have been developed in 76 areas around the world and almost 10,000 children were withdrawn from child labour or prevented from dropping out of school. Apart from the direct results of the project for out-of-school and working children, we see positive effects for adults and legally working youth.

We have continued our work with CSR initiatives and companies to work in several sectors to combat child labour in their full supply chains, with specific attention to the lower tiers and area-based approach towards child labour free zones. And we have continued to engage with policy-makers and parliamentarians national, EU and international level.

We are grateful for the commitment of all stakeholders, without whom these results would not have been achieved.

Do you want to know more?

>> Download the summary of the ‘Out of Work and into School’ annual report, year 2

>> Download the full report 'Out of Work and into School', year 2

With its new programme 'Out of Work and into School', Stop Child Labour aims to strengthen and  expand child labour free zones (CLFZ) worldwide, where possible and  relevant with active participation of corporate social responsibility  (CSR) initiatives and companies. Participating countries and sectors are  India (natural stone, textile/garment and leather/shoes), Zimbabwe  (tea), Uganda (coffee), Mali (small holder agriculture and gold),  Nicaragua (gold) and Turkey (hazelnuts). The programme is funded by the  Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a three year project period 2014 -  2017.  > Do you want to know more?

Download the report of the kick-off meeting (english version)