The idea of democracy has existed in traditional societies of Mali since the period of the great kingdoms. With the social and historical evolution, the concept of democracy has got many perceptions. The Malian perception is marked by the existence of a social basis and an agreement around the key questions. These are related to the organisation of the political power and the sharing of natural resources. This perception is different from the western view, being based on other notions of the vote and representative democracy. The present process of decentralisation sustains and reinforces democracy in the country. One of the present strategies of local development is the transfer of responsibility to the local population. This point of view favours a more advanced intervention of NGOs. This has also created new challenges for the NGOs financed by Norway.

The main objective of this survey is to evaluate the process of building up sustainable institutions that are able to continue project activities after the phasing out of Norwegian involvement. We have also looked upon the role of the NGOs in the actual process of decentralisation.

The notion of decentralisation entails a lot of hope for the local development, but there remain a lot of problems to be solved. The present process will be a difficult learning process during the first years. However there is a hope that the social capital in Mali and the socio-historical inheritance will help them succeeding in this difficult process.

The institutional development and decentralisation are two complementary dynamics linked together. They favour common actions, impulsed by local actors in the future commune.

Decentralisation coincides with the time of a slight improvement of the economic situation both at a national and local level. Concerning the local organisation it will be important that the new communes make their own plans and give their own preference independent of the international NGOs, who have played an important role until today.

The main objectives in the plans for the NGOs financed by Norway are food security, the environment rehabilitation and the equality of sexes. After the transfer of the responsibility to national projects, food security will remain a main objective. Concerning the environment rehabilitation they will give priority to the improvement of natural resources management. It will be a challenge for the local structures to make plans concerning environmental management in collaboration with the different actors of the civil society. Land conflicts are still a basic problem in all the areas visited.