The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Martin Griffiths, approved on 30 December a USD 7 million allocation of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for emergency interventions in central and northern Mali. The funds will help provide life-saving assistance to 423,000 people in need, including internally displaced persons, refugees and host communities in Gao, Kidal and Mopti regions affected by insecurity and multifaceted conflicts.
Between January and December 2022, northern Mali faced increasing population movements, with more than 72,500 people newly displaced due to clashes between rival armed groups, multifaceted inter-community conflicts and military operations by the Malian armed forces against the non-state armed groups, mainly in the Center (Mopti and Ségou) and North (Gao, Menaka, Timbuktu, Taoudénit and Kidal) regions and parts of the South. Updates of the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) as of August 2022 reveal that in 263 IDP sites assessed, the living conditions of the internally displaced people have deteriorated, and poor access to basic social services makes them extremely vulnerable.
The Humanitarian Coordinator in Mali, Mr. Alain Noudéhou, appreciated this emergency allocation as “the expression of a renewed commitment by the international community to mobilize and act promptly so that vital humanitarian assistance reaches the people in the need “. As climate change has accelerated the vulnerability of the conflict-affected populations for the past decade in Mali, the Humanitarian Coordinator said he will continue “to plead for donors and partners to remain committed in Mali by granting more flexible funds to help bridge financial gaps for the humanitarian response and development programmes”.
This new CERF allocation for 2022 will help fund five projects for one-year multisectoral assistance in education and protection, access to water and hygiene and sanitation for displaced children affected by the crisis and victims of violations (implemented by UNICEF), holistic and integrated assistance for Gender-Based Violence (GBV) survivors and the promotion of sexual and reproductive health in the regions of Center and North (implemented by UNFPA), multidimensional support for the restoration of civil documentation for internally displaced persons (implemented by IOM), access to improved emergency shelter and non-food items for internally displaced persons (implemented by UNHCR), and medical and psychological assistance to the flood-affected populations and violence-hit communities in the regions of Gao, Kidal and Mopti (implemented by WHO).
The CERF allocation of 7 million arrives to increase the emergency humanitarian response in the context of exacerbation of the human impact of the crisis, with only 38% of the funding required for the humanitarian response plan 2022 received as of December 2022. In 2022, humanitarian partners reached over 3,5 million people in need with multisectoral assistance, in mutualizing their resources and efforts.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
