Under the impulse of S.A.S Prince Albert II, the Government of Monaco is leading an international cooperative policy with one main goal : struggle against poverty in Southern countries.

More than 130 projects are currently being supported every year in 11 collaborating countries.

Help is essentially concentrated on the African continent, and more particularly on Least Developed Countries (LDC) such as Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Mali, Mauritania, Madagascar, Niger and Senegal. Some actions are also sustained around the Mediterranean basin : Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon.

The Direction of International Cooperation (DIC), who is in charge of the implementation of this cooperative policy, intervenes into 4 main sectors (linked to the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations Development Programme) : health, food security, education and sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Regarding health, a specific attention is dedicated to neglected diseases and most particularly to the Sickle cell disease treatment which is one of the 6 main programs of the DIC.

Research and fight against sickle cell disease center was opened in Bamako in Mali on March 15^th, 2010 under the direction of Professor Dapa A Diallo. He saw the day thanks to the combined action of the Malian State, the Pierre Fabre Foundation and the Government of the Principality of Monaco.

The structure consists of 5 offices consultation, on a day of 15 rooms of which 8 Pediatric Hospitals and 7 adults, a laboratory, a library/media library, a pharmacy, a training room, a canteen for the staff, 11 offices, 4 studios, 5 boxes for families, a physiotherapy room and a safety box.

Since its beginning, the CRLD has adopted a policy of support for all patients without discrimination. To avoid complications and their harmful consequences, the centre grants importance to the follow-up of patients in care through hospitalizations and the provision of drugs for the disease, and clinical research or operational.

More than 5,000 patients followed by the Center benefit from preventive care of crises, and occur when curative crises.

Since 2014, the CRLD is in charge of an academic diploma in Sickle cell disease study, a true specialisation addressed to African doctors from Mali but also from Southern bordering countries. This diploma, financed by the Deputy director of International Cooperation in Monaco, has been a successful training course for 84 doctors since its creation.