Yellen – Rights and Innovations in Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Kayes Region of Mali

The Yellen project – meaning ‘light’ in Bambara – works to enable women and adolescent girls in Kayes, one of the poorest and most underserved regions in Mali, to benefit from quality health services by improving their knowledge, increasing their decision-making power and their ability to influence their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The project proposes an innovative model of collaboration to harmonize the work of health service actors at the state, civil society (especially women’s groups) and decentralized community levels. Project activities include: (1) supporting Mali’s Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in the implementation of the Social Health Development Programme, specifically with regard to improving sexual and reproductive health and rights; (2) providing training and equipping health workers to deliver quality services that meet the specific needs of women and adolescent girls; and (3) constructing and rehabilitating community health centres and providing equipment and inputs for the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning and emergency obstetric care. The project aims to reach more than 540,000 women and adolescents. Management teams from three regional directorates (health, social development and solidarity economy, and promotion of women, children and family) and seven health districts from the Kayes region are also beneficiaries. Overall, 1,255,944 people from Kayes are reached by the project, dispersed in 951 villages, with a special focus on 300 villages.