World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Up to 10 million people across the Sahel region are at risk of food insecurity in 2013 and 1 million children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition, according to the United Nations. The U.N. regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, David Gressly, talks to AlertNet about preventing malnutrition, building resilience and other priorities for the region this year. He says getting the money for these activities is likely to be a challenge – without a drought being the rallying point for raising funds.

After weeks of airstrikes, the World Food Program and some of its partners have resumed operations in Mali’s north. Seven boats carrying 600 tons of food aid left the river port of Mopti over the weekend toward Nianfunké, near Timbuktu. The boats carried a month’s worth of food to some 35,000 people, according to U.N. food agency’s spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs.

The United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, David Gressly says the World Food Program started moving food into the north two days ago, and other supplies also are being sent north to Timbuktu.

First, and most pressing, is the humanitarian crisis. The numbers speak for themselves: 380,000 people have been displaced by the conflict. (..) These people need to be looked after and repatriated, the sooner the better. Then there's the food crisis Mali was having a tough time of it anyway, before all this started, but the fighting has meant that they've put virtually no measures in place to compensate for the droughts which have devastated crops. According to the United Nations, 4,6 million Malians are at risk from food insecurity. That's a substantial proportion of Mali's nearly 16 million-strong population.

In addition to help with school repairs, other priorities for Timbuktu’s residents are to repair dozens of damaged health centres and bring in fuel to run the electricity and water supply, said Timbuktu mayor Hallé Maïga. Food insecurity in the north is mounting due to disrupted supply routes and shortages of staple products, according to aid agencies. Earlier assessments by the UN World Food Programme indicated that 585,000 northern Malians were food-insecure out of an estimated population of 1.3 million.

Leaders of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation states are to meet in Cairo on Wednesday to tackle crises ranging from the French-led battle against Islamist militants in Mali to the Syrian civil war.

The United Nations refugee agency today announced it is urgently preparing for a possible spontaneous return of thousands of conflict-displaced people in northern Mali, where ongoing insecurity is hampering some 380,000 from returning home. (..) The World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it completed food distributions to 22,000 IDPs in Mopti and 12,000 IDPs in the capital city of Bamako. The distributions had been postponed following the outbreak of fighting and military intervention. Rapid analyses of the food security situation in other affected areas are underway.

22/01/2013 – Commissioner Georgieva today announced the mobilisation of an additional €20 million for Mali as the worsening crisis requires immediate relief for the people fleeing the conflict and for the growing number of severely malnourished children. These children, approximately 100.000 refugees from Mali in neighbouring countries, and 150.000 people displaced inside Mali who require access to basic food and services will be aided through this new funding.

The fact that so much has changed in Mali since I was here last month only goes to prove what an unstable world it is. Admittedly, the warning signals were there back in December and by the time I boarded the plane at Bamako to fly back to Europe I grew more and more concerned that we weren’t preparing sufficiently for the hard times to come.

By Kristalina Georgieva

Geneva/Niamey (ICRC) – Some 7,000 Malians (people displaced by fighting in the Diabali area and families hosting them) are today receiving emergency supplies of food and other basic necessities in the towns of Niono, Kala Seguida and Mariko, in the central part of the country. The aid is being distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Mali Red Cross.