Australia has pledged $5 million in humanitarian assistance for Mali and the surrounding region to assist hundreds of thousands of people affected by conflict and food insecurity.
An estimated 236,000 Malians have been forced to seek shelter across Mali due to conflict in villages and cities across the north of the country. Another 153,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries including Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. The pressure on communities is immense as they struggle to provide shelter, food, water and medical assistance to those affected.
The additional $5 million announced by Foreign Minister Bob Carr on January 30, 2013 includes $2 million for critical humanitarian assistance including shelter, medical, food and water supplies as well as essential household items for those displaced by the Mali crisis. The remaining $3 million will support the World Food Programme and UNICEF in Niger to provide emergency treatment for children under the age of five and address their chronic malnutrition.
Previous support
Australia is already a significant provider of humanitarian support to Mali, having provided over A$10 million for Mali in 2012 as part of A$44 million for the Sahel region in 2012.
Previous humanitarian assistance announced in 2012 includes:
- $4 million to the United Nations Refugee Agency for essential humanitarian assistance including providing food, water and shelter to Malian refugees fleeing violence in Burkina Faso and Niger (announced 26 September)
- $3 million for emergency operations including refugee assistance and protection in Mali (announced 26 September)
- $1.3 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) in support of emergency food assistance to IDPs in Mali and to Malian refugees in neighbouring Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger (announced 30 May)
- $2 million to UNICEF to provide nutrition support as well as water, sanitation and hygiene activities.
Addressing long-term food insecurity
Australia is also helping address the underlying causes of food insecurity and mitigate the impacts of disasters:
- Australia is providing more than $12 million through the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to address long-term food insecurity in the region, including through improving livestock management and preventing diseases affecting food crops.
- Australia also provided $3.5 million to build the capacity of countries in West Africa to identify the causes of humanitarian crises and reduce the risk of these occurring, as well as to become more resilient to changes in climate, through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).