“Institutions faced with the erosion of ethical standards and values in Mali” was, this Sunday, March 26, 2023, the theme of a symposium on the probable bankruptcy of our conventional institutions. Initiated by the Directorate of the Remembrance Pyramid, in collaboration with the Ministry of Crafts, Culture, Hotel Industry and Tourism, this symposium is part of the celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the events of March 26, 1991.
The opening of the work of the said symposium was chaired by the Minister of Crafts, Culture, Hotel Industry and Tourism, Andogoly GUINDO; in the presence of several members of the government; the director of the Remembrance Pyramid, Ms. Fadima COULIBALY; the former Minister, Mrs. SY Kadiatou SOW; of the president of the organization committee of the week of the martyrs, etc.
At the start of his remarks, Minister Andogoly GUINDO recalled that our country, for more than a decade, has been experiencing a multidimensional crisis. For him, one of its dimensions is, without a doubt, the human and social dimension, experienced through the erosion or even the collapse of the ethical and moral standards and rules characterizing the behavior of the citizen in a more than ostentatious way.
“Today the national building seems threatened by new winds,” he warned.
Faced with this identity and social crisis, with the continual degradation of our ancestral cultural values, the President of the Transition, Head of State, Assimi GOÏTA, he said, instructed the Ministry of Crafts, Culture, of the Hotel and Tourism Industry to develop a reference document called “Charter of Ethics and Values of Mali” which is a reference document inspired by the principles, habits and customs rooted in ancestral values and in universal civilization.
Nowadays, he lamented, everything suggests that the family, society and even the State are abandoning all or part of their prerogatives and duties of transmission to the street, to the mass media and more recently to social networks. which inflict on young and old, left to their own devices, models and standards that are totally contrary, not to say hostile to our ancestral societal values.
In general, for the Minister, this crisis is largely explained by the bankruptcy of the institutions in charge of the transmission of intergenerational values: family, school, religion, the State, etc.
Hence the organization of this symposium which deals with this probable bankruptcy of our conventional institutions.
During this scientific meeting, five papers were heard. They are all part of the continuity of the development of the Charter of ethics and values of Mali.
The first communication, “The Family faced with the erosion of ethical standards and values in Mali” was treated by Mrs. OUATTARA Djénébou KONÉ. For her, today the family is confronted with an identity and social crisis characterized by individualism and the continuous degradation of our ancestral cultural values.
In order to avoid the collapse of Malian society, it recommends drawing inspiration from the principles of habits and customs anchored both in our ancestral values and in universal civilization.
The second communication, “Fragility and resilience of the school in the face of the erosion of ethical standards and values”, presented by Moriké DEMBELE, deciphers the erosion of ethical standards and values observed in the school environment.
The speaker explained that the school institution resisted very little to the erosion of ethical standards and social values observed in other instances of socialization such as the family, the State and the street. The reasons given relate to the promotion and dissemination of images of easy success; attachment to material goods through accumulation; the commodification of the “school thing”; business and patronage attitudes and practices.
The third communication, “Religion between education and deviance: what normative language for the return to our societal values?” », dissected by Adama Diokolo COULIBALY, analyzes the concepts of religion and belief, the links between religion and education and the responsibility of religions in the erosion of our societal values.
The fourth presentation, “Religions facing the erosion of values and ethical standards”, explained by Birama DIAKON, demonstrates that religion plays an ambivalent role: building social ties but also destroying social cohesion in Mali.
The latest communication, “Citizenship education in the reconstruction of the State of Mali”, presented by lbrahima DAMA, explains the reasons for the citizenship crisis in Mali.
The speaker stressed the importance of civic education in rebuilding the Malian state. According to him, it will allow the Malian State to have citizens who respect societal values such as work; discipline ; solidarity ; the sense of honor; seniority; civility ; the Sinankunya; the Bandya; the Dambe etc.
By Abdoulaye OUATTARA