Providing Life Saving Assistance to the People of Central Mali

World Vision continues to provide the support the most vulnerable in the most hard to reach places in Central and Northern Mali, as violence and insecurity have crippled life in the region.

Emergency

5.9 million people need humanitarian assistance

Central Mali Emergency

Inter-ethnic conflict and attacks on local authorities and institutional structures have gradually eroded the security situation in Central Mali since 2012 forcing an ever-increasing number of families to flee their homes and making it more difficult for humanitarian organizations, like World Vision, to help those who are affected. For example, As of November 2019, the Population Movement Commission reported that there were 201,429 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mali.

As a result of the situation, nearly millions are in need of humanitarian assistance, hundreds of schools have been closed and more than hundreds of thousands of children require emergency education support

Sadly, the situation is deteriorating and the impact of the conflict has spread across the borders to Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania as well.

Where we are working in Central Mali

In the remote community of Diallassagou, accessed only by about 60 km of rough and bumpy track, a safe haven for displace people has formed but find it hard to make ends meet. World Vision has been doing food distributions to support the displaced communities.

The Situation in Mali

451,000

children require emergency education support

835,000

people who require protection assistance

2.16 Million

children in need of humanitarian assistance

Elements of the Crisis

Population Movement

As of November, 2019 the Population Movement Commission recorded 201,429 internally displaced people (IDPs), A total of 85.73% of the IDPs are in the response area (Mopti: 60,916 people; Gao: 35,890 people; Tombouctou: 28,271 people and Ségou: 21,906 people). The number of internally displaced people quadrupled within a year.

Food Security

As a result of the conflict, some 50,089 hectares of cultivated land, were reported abandoned, directly impacting access to food for more than 50,000 people. Complicating the situation even further, an additional 8,696 hectares of crops were lost as a result of environmental factors, such as floods, drought and pests among other things.

Education

Access to education has been directly affected. Reports indicate that 1,113 schools and 40 Centres for the Development of Early Childhood (CDPE) have closed as a result of insecurity, the presence of armed groups, intimidation of communities, threats to teachers, voluntary departures of students. Several schools were even burnt in the Timbuktu region, to prevent French education instead of Arabic. As a result, more than 451,000 children require emergency education support across the country.

Health and Nutrition

Access to healthcare and proper nutrition has been affected by this humanitarian crisis. Regions in the northern part of Mali (Gao/Ménaka, Tombouctou/Taoudéni) and those in central (Mopti and the northern part of Ségou) are most affected by malnutrition with the acute malnutrition rates at 9% (Mopti) and 14% (Gao).

Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH)

Displacement of large numbers of people has placed unsustainable pressure on water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) infrastructure and facilities, which were already overstretched in northern and central Mali. In 2019, World Vision’s WASH specialists estimated 1.26 million people were in need of access or improved access to water, sanitation or hygiene facilities.

Safeguarding Children

Between January and June 2019, 600 people were killed and there were 1,058 people reported being raped. Additionally, there were 234 reported incidences of violations of children’s rights, including recruitment to armed forces, sexual violence, kidnapping and death. Seven schools were also attacked. (Source: Revised Humanitarian Response Plan).

Providing the means to start over

“I lost four people in the attack - my father, my little brother and my pregnant wife.” Boureima Boucar Barry stoically recounted the horrors that befell his family and community in the early hours of 24 March 2019, when an armed militia group attacked their village, Ogossagou. The 26-year-old man stood in front of his burnt house he is repairing, surrounded by other charred houses, motorcycles and sheep.

"These will go a long way to get us back on our feet as so many of us lost everything in the attacks. We want to thank World Vision and all the other partners who have been supporting us through this horrible time.”