APA – Bamako (Mali) – The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned of “the serious consequences of not paying urgent attention to the worsening hunger in some parts of Mali, particularly in the regions of Ménaka and Timbuktu.”
Since 2012, the activities of jihadist movements have worsened the quality of life for many Malian citizens.
Currently, according to IRC, “8.8 million people, or about 40 percent of the country’s total population, are in need of humanitarian assistance throughout the country. This represents an increase of 17.3 percent compared with 2022.”
In a statement seen by APA, the NGO said that “more than 2,500 people are facing near starvation and 76,000 people are suffering from extreme hunger in Ménaka. In August alone, 30,000 people fled their homes in Timbuktu and Taoudéni and crossed into Mauritania.”
Citing “climate change, ongoing violence in some parts of the country, and economic shocks,” IRC reported that in the regions in question, “people are eating so little that they are physically starving.”
Furthermore, the document states that “in the first quarter of 2023, Mali recorded more than 375,000 internally displaced persons, surpassing the peak recorded in 2013, at the height of the armed conflict.”
“The IRC is working on the frontline, providing essential support to the communities most affected by this crisis in Mali and the central Sahel in general. One of our main concerns is the limited access to areas where urgent needs remain. Recent disruptions to flights, the only means of transporting vital aid, including food and medicines, to certain regions in northern and central Mali, are only exacerbating the crisis,” said Matias Meier, the NGO’s Mali Director.
“Earlier this month, the humanitarian community sounded the alarm about the worsening child malnutrition crisis. Without immediate assistance, nearly one million children under the age of 5 could be severely hungry by December 2023, and at least 200,000 of them would be at risk of starvation,” Mr. Meier added.
In Timbuktu, a city blockaded by jihadist groups, “people are facing increasing difficulties and are calling for help. We have been alerted to a growing shortage of supplies, food and fuel in the region. In August 2023 alone, more than 30,000 people (about 6,000 households) were preventively displaced in the regions of Timbuktu, Taoudéni and neighboring countries. This is a catastrophic humanitarian situation,” said the head of the IRC in Mali.
As a result, “rapid humanitarian action is needed to address the urgent crisis unfolding in Mali,” but “as the end of the year approaches, only 21 percent of Mali’s humanitarian response plan has been funded, leaving millions of people in the country in precarious conditions,” the statement said.
In addition to closing this funding gap, the document concluded, the IRC called on the international community to prioritise streamlining the approach to tackling child malnutrition in fragile situations to avoid massive loss of life and livelihoods.
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