From April 6th to April 9th, 2021, a workshop on including SRHR, gender and social inclusion in the curriculum of health technicians’ and the bachelor curriculum of nurses and midwives took place in Sikasso, Mali, with teachers from the different partner schools of the FORCE project participating.

The objective of the workshop was to strengthen the schools’ approaches to SRHR by adapting curricula and teaching methods to the diversity of Mali’s youth and adolescent population as well as to other target groups. Participants discussed the needs of different groups such as adolescents, people living with disabilities, and people displaced by violence. National and international data was discussed, including the fact that 10 percent of Malians live with a disability.

Representatives of different groups such as adolescents and people with disabilities gave their views on their needs and the health sector’s responses, which led to a lively discussion. Subsequently, the participants developed competencies and learning objectives for health technicians and bachelor’s in SRHR and gender and social inclusion.

The group work was discussed in plenary, and then the teachers developed their lesson plans and taught them to their colleagues. One of the teachers remarked, “I really learned a lot about teaching techniques and especially the the use of a teaching plan, which will serve me greatly in my work.”