The UNMALESA consists of about 15 members, 5 of whom are seeking employment. The main challenges in Mali are the lack of efficient information about job openings and about work permits, and the fact that some posts are open only to citizens of Mali. On top of that, average salaries are very low.
In the last 6 months, UNMALESA has taken the following action in respect of placing our members in employment:
- We met with civil servants from the local administration to discuss work permits, from which we discovered that all foreigners had the right to work in Mali provided that they "followed the correct administrative procedure". - We compiled a weekly-updated list of vacancies and jobs websites in Mali for distribuition among our membership - We sent broadcast letters and résumés of our jobseeking members to all of the UN agencies represented in Mali.
One of our members is now happily employed having responded to a vacancy announcement on our list, and having taken benefit of our research into the work permit situation for citizens of her country.
We now plan to expand our efforts by requesting from the local administration written documents on the "administrative procedure" (until now we only have verbal information). We have also informed more staff about our weekly job list so that spouses and partners can access information before arriving in the country.
