This report presents the findings of three missions to Mali. The first took place in September 2000 (17th to 23rd, Dante, Gautier and Raffinot). The second was in April 2001 (10th to 20th, Dante, Marouani and Raffinot). The third took place in July 2001 (15th to 30th, Dante, Marouani and Raffinot).

The issues have been addressed through a mix of interviews with civil servants, members of NGOs and CSOs, and representatives of donor agencies and IFIs (see list in Appendix 3). Since June 2001, our study has had an element of
participant-observation, as M. Raffinot has been acting as a consultant for the macro framework of the PRSP (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNDP). As no activity had taken place in the regions on the behalf of PRSP by end July 20011, it did not seem useful to investigate the perception of stakeholders outside Bamako.