Insights

Created in 1991, ONG Jigi, has worked for many years in different sectors of development to improve the quality of life of Malians throughout the country.  Their primary areas of intervention have been health, environment, economic growth and microfinance, education, water sanitation and hygiene, community development and governance. Jigi strongly follows community engagement approaches which support empowerment and ensuring equal access to healthcare, education and other services for Malians of all economic and social groups.  Jigi means “hope” in Bambara, one of the main national languages of Mali.  During Jigi’s history, they have received funding from the Global Fund, the World Bank, Unicef, the Dutch and French government, USAID and others.

Jigi began working in social marketing in 2018 under the Keneya Jamu Kan project funded by USAID.  Selected to be the lead local NGO to manage social marketing operations, Jigi was able to leverage its experience and expertise in community engagement and communications and to apply those skills to the promotion of contraceptives and other health products like chlorine tablets for water treatment.   However, Jigi staff were new to the commercial aspects of social marketing operations and required technical capacity building in areas such as warehouse management, brand marketing, sales and distribution. Jigi received some capacity strengthening under the KJK project and NPI EXPAND has picked up the capacity strengthening role by offering technical support for warehouse management and the adoption of a procedures manual, marketing plan development and financial systems. Most importantly, Jigi has taken the lead role in day to day operations of the social marketing program with NPI EXPAND playing a supporting role.

One of the most popular activities under the social marketing program have been the Jigi mobile clinics. These two clinics are run from well-equipped vans and staffed by promoters and trained midwives to go out to peri urban and rural communities to promote and provide family planning services. The communities are selected from request from regional government authorities who need assistance in reaching the communities in their catchment areas, but also provide supervision to the mobile clinics, commodities for long acting methods and act as referral centers for clients who require follow up. Even before NPI EXPAND began providing assistance to Jigi under the social marketing grant, Jigi was responding to community requests by organizing mobile clinic days using their own resources. Jigi’s institutional commitment to serving the Malian people is one of its greatest assets and a solid foundation for the future.