Introduction

According to the multiple definitions given to it, living together is based on values such as respect for others, acceptance and plurality of opinions, interactions with openness and cooperation. Living together in peace means accepting differences, listening, respecting and esteeming others in a spirit of peace and harmony.

The expression living together is on the lips during inter-community crises, events favored in Mali by the multidimensional crisis that the country has been going through for so many years.

For lasting peace, healthy cohabitation is necessary:

For it to have social cohesion, we must start with the elite of tomorrow, because in fact, the youth of a country is undoubtedly its future. It is practically impossible to talk about social cohesion without talking about education and tolerance. These values must be taught both at home and at school. On the bench, the teacher must make it his primary mission to let the children know that they are all the same regardless of race and ethnicity and that they belong to humanity.

Incitements to hatred must not distance us from our mission, speech of any nature must obey the logic of the state and anyone who violates this logic in the name of any freedom must answer for these acts knowing well that all freedom is to a limit.

Isn’t our difference a strength?

In a cosmopolitan country such as Mali, several ethnic groups have lived and cohabited in perfect harmony for centuries, based on values such as sunankuya (joking cousinhood), mutual aid and even hospitality. Our difference, whether cultural, traditional or physical, is an asset, a bridge that leads us to inestimable intellectual wealth. Reaching out to others does not necessarily mean that you love them, but that you esteem them and respect them despite their differences. And only then will our mind develop and open up to others.

In Timbuktu, living together takes on its full meaning thanks to the “living together festival” celebrated each year by all social classes and all ethnic groups. Each with their skin colour, their character also different from each other, all in conviviality dance, sing and frolic with joy to the rhythms of the Tuareg guitar and the table (Arabic tam-tam) and the Sonrhaï calabash.

Conclusion

No one must remain on the sidelines in the fight for a better world, a world in which no one will be rejected or discriminated against for their skin colour, or physical or mental disability. This fight must be waged daily at school, at work, in the family, in the streets and alleys by everyone because it is up to us to weave and beautify this world.