Baba Dembele is one of twenty young Malians who have received a training bursary this year from CIGEM, an EU funded office providing information and training to potential migrants.

Reporter: The EU in Mali

Summer is the season for holidays,   but it's also the season for migration.

Although the numbers are down   since last year,

the attraction of a better life in Europe

still tempts thousands   to take on dangerous journeys.

In Mali in West Africa, a project   is tackling the problem at its roots.

Founded in the Malian capital, Bamako,   with EU money two years ago,

the CIGEM Centre for Migration   Information and Management

but it also sponsors training   and advises on jobs and careers.

Baba Dembele   is one of 20 young Malians

to receive a training bursary   from CIGEM this year.

He is 24, an orphan, and has   three younger sisters to look after.

but this training made the difference   in terms of employability, he believes.

The first thing I liked about it   is that it takes you into a trade,

whereas my technology diploma, a DUT,   trained me for an area of employment,

But with this training   I can look for specific jobs.

is a field which is very active   in Mali now.

The bursary covers   five months of study abroad

and a three-month internship   back in Mali.

Baba is just finishing it   at a construction company

and he hopes to be   taken on permanently.

Mali is still one of the poorest countries   of the world.

It has no access to the sea, but it's at   the crossroads of many migratory routes,

This makes Mali as good a place as any   for an institution like CIGEM.

The main achievement of the project   is that we have put in place

a centre for help,   a centre for information,

and also a centre where we can guide   and accompany our target audience,

which is mainly made up of   potential migrants, returning migrants,

migrants in transit   and also from the diaspora.

In May for the first time a small delegation   from the EP's Home Affairs Committee

The delegation met   CIGEM clients and staff,

and also members   of the Mali government.

Initially the Mali authorities   worried that the centre

could become an extension of the   EU's border control agency Frontex.

The centre has a special programme   to reach out to Malians abroad

to make their experience count   for the country's development

and, at least to a degree,   reverse the brain drain.

Altogether, the two MEPs   were favourably impressed.

We believe it is a pilot project   which deserves to be maintained,

revised but also maintained   because it is useful for Mali

and because it produces synergies in   terms of reciprocity from Mali to Europe

CIGEM's budget is 10 million euros   over a five-year period ending in 2013.

The EP will continue to monitor   the success of the programmes

A difficulty I see is that CIGEM   is only working in Bamako

and in the city centre,   which already has some information.

It would be necessary   to decentralise the work

According to a report   by the EU border agency,

illegal migration was down   by one-third last year,

due to tougher naval controls   in the Mediterranean

and the economic crisis   making Europe less attractive.

The downward trend   is expected to continue this year.

The impact of CIGEM   is obviously hard to quantify,

but there's no doubt among the people   involved in or benefiting from the centre