The Silver Star of National Merit awarded to Soumana Coulibaly, HER CHOICE coordinator in Mali
The HER CHOICE Alliance is happy to congratulate Soumana Coulibaly – HER CHOICE coordinator in Mali and National Director of Enda Mali – for being awarded the Malian national honor, the Silver Star of National Merit, during a ceremony held in Bamako at the end of February 2018.
Soumana has been chosen for this award because of his tireless work in promoting children’s rights and well-being throughout his whole career. He has worked at Enda Mali for many years now, and became its director in 2012. Besides working on protecting children from child labour and on providing access to quality education for out-of-school children, Enda Mali has also run projects – together with our partner Kinderpostzegels – to end female genital mutilation and child marriage. Since January 2016 Enda Mali coordinates the HER CHOICE Programme in Mali, were we focus on building child marriage-free communities in the regions of Koulikoro, Segou, Mopti and in the areas around Bamako.
Soumana received the Medals of Honor out of the hands of General Amadoe Sagafourou Guèye – «le grand Chancelier des Ordres nationaux du Mali» – and in the presence of Ms. Traoré Oumou Touré, Minister for the Advancement of Women, Children and Families. She spoke about Soumana as a very dedicated Malian and an example for his fellow citizens.
