As with so many countries across Africa, independence from France in 1960 did not bring the long awaited freedom and chance for self fulfilment, but coups, rebellions and decades of military dictatorships until the 'soldier of democracy', Amadou Toumani Toure, overthrew military chief Moussa Traore and installed a transitional committee which held elections seeing Alpha Konare installed as Mali's first democratically elected president in 1992.

This election ushered in a period of relative political stability however the economy and infrastructure of the country had been badly mismanaged for decades so, although the country opened up to outside trade and investment, life in Mali only slowly began to change for the better with many of its natural resources underexploited.

With a population of around 13.44 million, life expectancy in Mali is just 50 years and there are 116 deaths for every 1000 births. Under 50% of the population is illiterate against a backdrop of Mali being one of the 25 poorest countries in the world. Despite this, Mali is working closely with international organisations and its economy is now growing although 80% of its population rely on subsistence farming and fishing in a country where 65% of the land is either desert or semi-desert.

Life in Mali is more stable today than it has been for many years, however remains tough particularly for its children. School and education is not available for all children, Mali has thousands of children living on the streets, and there are some 75,000 children orphaned through AIDS alone. The video above explores life in Mali today in more detail.