Virginia Friends of Mali

The two candidates are  Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta  (Rally for Mali) and  Soumaïla Cissé  (URD - Union for the Republic and Democracy). You can follow the voting process for today's polling on Mali Vote 2013,  http://malivote.com . So, here's a little music from the VFOM Mali INdependence Day celebration from 2012. Cheick Hamala Diabate and his band and dancer lit up the VCU Commons Ballroom that night! CHD's full band returns to Richmond on Friday, Sep. 20, to perform for the Women, War and Peace Conference. Special guest artists include Malian griotte Aissata Diabate and local Hotel X sax player, Tim Harding. This is video one of two. Click the Culture tab above to see both.

Films on Women, War & Peace Key Portion of the Women, War and Peace Conference 2013 (Sep. 20-21, 2013) The conference title is inspired by the 2011 PBS series of films on Women, War and Peace , in particular the documentary film on the women’s peace initiative in Liberia, entitled Pray the Devil Back to Hell . It is the story of Nobel Prize winners Ellen Johnson Sirleaf  (current president of Liberia) and Leymah Gbowee (founder of the Gbowee Peace Foundation) who peacefully took on the warlords and the regime of dictator Charles Taylor during a devastating civil war and brought an end to the conflict. This film will be shown during the conference, and esteemed film producer Abigail Disney will provide the Friday evening keynote address. She will discuss the film itself and the work of the Gbowee Peace Foundation USA . The Foundation facilitates international engagement with the vision and work of Leymah Gbowee and organizations working in Liberia, West Africa, and globall...

From The Guardian UK July 29th France 24 reports that: Sunday’s poll was conducted fairly smoothly with no reports of violence and a large number of Malians casting their ballots, defying security fears and disregarding Islamist threats to derail the vote. Official turnout figures have not been released, but analysts say the voting rate could exceed the 36 percent achieved in the 2007 elections. RPM candidate Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (known as “IBK”) and the URD’s Soumaila Cissé are considered the frontrunners among the  list of 27 presidential candidates . RPM projections  on Sunday  night put Keita in the lead, which led to hundreds of supporters gathering at the party’s Bamako headquarters and chanting, "IBK – the man we need." Similar scenes of jubilation unfolded at Cissé’s URD party headquarters in the Malian capital. These are the two candidates expected to face-off on August 11th.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/28/mali-elections-h...

VFOM has launched an IndieGoGo campaign! Click here to learn how you can help bring two special guest Malian Peacemakers to the Women, War and Peace conference, and receive fantastic Thank-You Rewards. Ibrahim ag Youssouf Noted Malian peacemaker Zakiyatou Oualett Halatine Malian peacemaker and  former  Minister of Tourism and Culture Updates on MALI's current situation: MALI ELECTIONS ARE IMMINENT Mali holds national elections Sunday, July 28 2013. The two candidates with the highest number of votes will move on to a run-off election in August. A new president and a new administration are about to be formed. THE PROBLEM OF CHILD SOLDIERS IN MALI The recent conflict in North Mali has raised yet again the problem of children as victims of war. Girls are even more vulnerable than boys: this is proven by the rumored rapes that took place in the city of Gao last summer, when it was invaded and taken over first by MNLA troops from the former L...