Sorghum, wheat flour and Belem rice are the most important food commodities. Sorghum flour and Belem rice are most commonly consumed commodities in urban areas. Wheat flour mixed with sorghum flour is also purchased for the production of local pancakes, an important staple food for poor and middle-income households. Over 65 percent of the total population for Djibouti lives in and around Djibouti City, the capital, making this market the most important for understanding food security conditions. Dikhil is the second largest city and it supplies the rural communities in and around the city. Tadjourah supplies the central region, mainly urban areas. The pastoral areas in the northwest receive most of their staple food from neighboring Ethiopian markets of Elidar and Manda. Alisabieh supplies the pastoral border areas in the southeast. Arta is located in isolated area and supplies only the city. Obock is the main market for inhabitants of the central lowlands.

** Il faut 1,4 milliard de dollars É.-U. maintenant pour les enfants qui vivent dans des situations de crise humanitaire, affirme l’UNICEF**

GENEVE, 25 janvier 2013– L’UNICEF a lancé aujourd’hui un appel de près de 1,4 milliard de dollars É.-U. pour répondre aux besoins immédiats et essentiels des enfants de 45 pays et régions en proie cette année à des situations d’urgence complexes, comme des conflits, des catastrophes naturelles et autres. Les fonds recueillis grâce à l’appel annuel permettront également d’améliorer la préparation aux catastrophes et de renforcer les capacités des communautés à résister à de nouveaux chocs et à en atténuer l’impact.

« Nous sommes encore dans le premier mois de l'année 2013, et déjà cela a été très difficile pour les millions d'enfants qui souffrent en Syrie et pour les réfugiés qui ont dû fuir vers les pays voisins. Le conflit au Mali et celui en République centrafricaine s’aggravent également, ce qui menace la vie des enfants et des femmes », a déclaré M. Ted Chaiban, Directeur du Bureau des programmes d'urgence de l’UNICEF. « Les enfants sont extrêmement vulnérables dans les situations d’urgence car ils vivent souvent dans des conditions insalubres et dangereuses, fortement exposés aux risques de maladie, de violence, d'exploitation et de négligence. »

L’appel du rapport Action humanitaire pour les enfants 2013 comprend des pays qui figurent en ce moment à la une des médias ainsi que de nombreux autres qui sont beaucoup moins couverts, comme la Colombie, l’Éthiopie, les Philippines, la Somalie, le Tchad et le Yémen mais qui ont besoin eux aussi de toute urgence de l’attention et de l’assistance de la communauté internationale.

« La situation d'urgence complexe en Syrie représente un volet important de la réponse de l'UNICEF aux urgences mondiales, a rappelé M. Chaiban. Mais nous obtenons également des résultats pour les enfants dans des situations d'urgence très difficiles et en grande partie oubliées un peu partout dans le monde. »

Plus de 85 pour cent des besoins de financement concernent des situations humanitaires autres que la Syrie et la crise des réfugiés qui en découle. Les 45 pays et régions mentionnées dans l'appel constituent des priorités en raison de l'ampleur de la crise, de l'urgence de son impact sur les enfants et les femmes, de la complexité de la réponse à y apporter et de la capacité à intervenir.

Les contributions à l’appel lancé par l’UNICEF en 2013 lui permettront de faire fond sur son travail accompli en 2012. Les résultats obtenus entre janvier et octobre 2012 comprennent entre autres :

• Santé : 38,3 millions d'enfants vaccinés
• Eau, assainissement et hygiène : 12,4 millions de personnes ont accès à de l'eau salubre pour boire, cuisiner et se laver
• Éducation : 3 millions d'enfants ont obtenu accès à une meilleure éducation
• Protection de l'enfance : 2,4 millions d'enfants ont bénéficié de services de protection de l’enfance
• Nutrition : 2 millions d'enfants ont été traités contre la malnutrition aiguë sévère
• VIH et SIDA : 1 million de personnes ont eu accès à des services de dépistage, de conseil et d’orientation pour leur traitement

En 2012, nombre de besoins n’ont pu être satisfaits dans des pays comme Madagascar et la Colombie à cause d’importants déficits de financement. Des problèmes d’accès, de sécurité, de capacités des partenaires ont également fortement entravé la fourniture de l'assistance humanitaire dans beaucoup de pays.

« Les contributions à l'appel constituent un bon investissement dans les enfants et leur avenir, a déclaré M. Chaiban. L'UNICEF cherche des ressources non affectées afin de permettre à l'organisation de répondre aux urgences régulièrement sous-financées et là où les besoins sont les plus grands, afin d'appliquer des solutions innovantes à des situations complexes et d'intégrer le relèvement précoce aux situations d'urgence à grande échelle - dont un grand nombre concernent plusieurs pays en même temps. »

Téléchargez l'appel sur le site web de l'UNICEF

SC/10900

Security Council
6911th Meeting (AM)

Said Djinnit, Special Representative for West Africa, Briefs

Urging the Security Council to maintain its strong support for the leaders and countries of West Africa, the Head of the United Nations Office there called for greater international attention to a raft of complex challenges plaguing the region, where notable political progress was being offset by the ongoing crisis in Mali and the rise of organized crime and terrorism in the Sahel and other areas.

“West Africa [continues] to face significant challenges to governance, peace consolidation and conflict prevention, as illustrated by the crisis in the Sahel and especially in Mali, as well as in Guinea-Bissau,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Said Djinit, as he briefed the Council today on the efforts of the United Nations and its partners to help the leaders of the long-troubled region address a host of pressing issues — from tackling drug trafficking and other criminal activity, to preparing for peaceful and credible elections.

Updating the Council on the situation in Mali and the wider Sahel, he said he was working closely with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other stakeholders to support implementation of the African Union Strategic Concept adopted in October 2012. That plan emphasized Malian leadership, stressed the need for coordinated and sustained United Nations support, and set out seven objectives for the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA).

Mr. Djinit also highlighted a series of consultations he had held in the subregion aimed at fast-tracking the implementation of Council resolution 2085 (2012), especially the political process, as the preparations for the military deployment were ongoing. He had travelled to the Malian capital, Bamako, on 20 and 21 December, to encourage the authorities to strengthen the much-needed national cohesion to move forward with relevant tasks.

That visit had focused in particular on adoption of the road map to end the transition, including through the holding of elections, as well as to prepare for negotiations with armed groups willing to cut off ties to the terrorist groups and to recognize Mali’s territorial integrity. He said that while preparations had been under way with the ECOWAS Mediation for a subsequent round of negotiations — initially envisioned for 21 January, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso — the decision of Ansar Dine to renounce the cessation of hostilities, and the southward advances by the extremist elements had precipitated acceleration of the military track.

Those advances had prompted the Malian authorities to seek assistance, and the subsequent decision by France to launch a military intervention to pave the way for the deployment of AFISMA was widely supported by the international community. “All these developments have marked a turning point that has changed the focus to the military track,” he said, calling on all parties and forces to ensure full compliance with international humanitarian and human rights norms.

Since the beginning of the hostilities, he had visited Ouagadougou and Abuja, on 13 and 14 January, respectively, to engage with the ECOWAS Mediation and the President of the ECOWAS Commission. He had also travelled to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 18 and 19 January, to participate in the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council, as well as in the ECOWAS Summit of Heads of State and Government. That Summit had confirmed the readiness of the Heads of State of the subregion to deploy AFISMA, but had also highlighted some of the key challenges ahead, including in terms of logistical support, coordination, and command and control, for which the support of the United Nations and partners was requested.

While he welcomed the commitment Council Members had consistently expressed in support of the military and political tracks proceeding hand in hand, Mr. Djinit said the international community must ensure that the political process was not neglected and that efforts to consolidate and strengthen the transition process continued. “It is now essential that the Malian authorities finalize the road map to end the transition through an inclusive and consultative process, before its adoption,” he said, also underscoring that preparations for the holding of elections continued in earnest to ensure that the polls could be held as soon as feasible.

Further, it would be necessary to eventually pursue a broad reconciliation process that strengthened the foundations for national cohesion in Mali. The recently deployed United Nations team in Bamako would be fully available to support that process, and he would personally continue to do the same. In the coming weeks, he would also be supporting mediation efforts that involved engaging with non-terrorist groups and other representatives of the northern populations of Mali towards achieving a lasting solution to the issue in northern Mali.

“I wish to stress that the situation in Mali exemplifies the fragility and vulnerability that prevails in the whole of the Sahel region, while at the same time the Malian crisis has far-reaching implications for the subregion,” he said, explaining that, as developments unfolded in Mali, the risks for infiltration and destabilization were real in some of the countries that bordered it, as illustrated by the efforts of neighbouring countries to tighten security along the borders.

The overall terrorism threat in the subregion had been exacerbated by the crisis in Mali and he welcomed recent efforts of Mali’s neighbours and other West African countries to step up preventive security measures. “However, we have to remain mindful of the limitations faced by [those countries], and enhance international support in the areas of border control, counter-terrorism, among other priorities,” he said, adding that all this highlighted the importance of the United Nations initiative on the Sahel spearheaded by Special Envoy Romano Prodi, and which UNOWA and the United Nations regional team were backing fully.

Beyond the crises in Mali and the Sahel, he said the region continued to face the threat posed by piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea. Since his last briefing to the Council, UNOWA had facilitated the convening of two meetings of the Steering Committee established by ECOWAS, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Commission of the Gulf of Guinea on implementation of Council resolution 2039 (2012), in Libreville on 22 and 23 October 2012, and in Abidjan on 17 and 18 December 2012, respectively.

He was pleased to report that there was now agreement on convening a ministerial conference of the States of the Gulf of Guinea in Benin, in March 2013, to be followed by a Summit of Heads of State in Yaoundé to launch the process of finalizing a strategic framework for the fight against piracy and maritime organized crime. In preparation for those meetings, the Steering Committee had endorsed a draft memorandum of understanding between ECCAS, ECOWAS and the Commission of the Gulf of Guinea on security in the maritime space of West and Central Africa, as well as a draft of the Political Declaration to be adopted at the Summit.

Turning to other issues, he said that tensions along the borders between Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, and with other neighbouring countries, remained a source of concern. He welcomed the cooperation extended by the neighbouring countries of Côte d’Ivoire and encouraged them to continue their efforts to foster lasting peace in that country and in the region as a whole. Building on the inter-mission cooperation between United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), UNOWA was promoting the development of a subregional strategy to address the threat of cross-border movements of armed groups and weapons, as well as trafficking.

He went on to say that the situations in Guinea-Bissau and in Mali continued to illustrate the extent to which organized crime had developed its activities and extended its reach, thus threatening to seriously undermine governance and security in the subregion. At the same time, some positive steps to counter their impact had been taken during the last six months. In particular, the ECOWAS Commission, with the support of UNOWA and other bilateral partners, had initiated encouraging steps towards the implementation of its Regional Plan of Action to Address the Growing Problem of Illicit Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime and Drug Abuse in West Africa. He added that UNOWA was considering convening a donors’ conference to garner further support for the strategy.

Regarding electoral processes in the subregion, Mr. Djinit stressed the need to remain vigilant to avoid election-related violence. He commended the successful holding of general elections in Ghana and Sierra Leone, and praised the supportive role played by ECOWAS in that regard. “Their successful outcome, including the fact that challenges have been addressed through the legally established channels, provides reason for hope”, he said, noting, however, that concerns remained regarding developments in other countries where elections were to be held in 2013, including Mali, Guinea and Togo.

“It is essential that genuine dialogue between Governments, opposition and civil society is pursued in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation to create conditions for the holding of peaceful and credible elections are to be created,” he said, adding that UNOWA, for its part, would continue its good offices efforts to encourage dialogue whenever needed. Highlighting the importance of partnerships and of other United Nations–backed efforts in the region, he drew the Council’s attention to the very important progress that had been achieved by the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission in demarcating the boundary between the two countries.

Concluding his presentation, he said West Africa remained at a crossroads. On the one hand, the region’s leaders had made significant progress towards the promotion and consolidation of peace, and were taking decisive efforts to address pressing challenges to peace and security. “On the other hand, the situation in Mali and in the Sahel, combined with other cross-cutting threats, including drug trafficking and piracy, has the potential to undermine security in West Africa,” he said, adding that the root causes of instability in the region remained to be fully addressed. Against that backdrop, the continued attention and support of the international community, in particular the United Nations and the Security Council, to ECOWAS leaders and countries, remained essential towards ensuring lasting peace, stability and development in the subregion.

The meeting began at 10:06 a.m. and adjourned at 10:24 a.m.

For information media • not an official record

Researchers from Canada and Ethiopia are testing, adapting, and promoting practical solutions to grow pulse crops in poor regions of Ethiopia. Pulses — such as chickpeas, lentils, and beans — can fight malnutrition and release the soil’s potential for growing high-yield, healthy pulses.

The opportunity: Locally enhanced pulse seeds

A Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) project led by scientists at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and Hawassa University in Ethiopia has found a way to feed the depleted soil and add protein to people’s diets. Their efforts are critical to Ethiopia, which has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world. The problem is particularly acute in Southern Ethiopia, where livelihoods and diets are heavily dependent on high-yield cereals like wheat and teff and root vegetables like cassava. These crops deplete the soil of nitrogen, are high in carbohydrates, and contain minimal protein.

The researchers have identified local and abundant nitrogen-fixing bacteria that, when spread onto the seeds of improved pulse varieties, can increase crop yields up to 60% and leave valuable nutrients in the soil for the next season's crop.

These microorganisms — called rhizobia — are creating new incentives for Ethiopian farmers to supplement staple crops with high-protein pulses. The peas, lentils, and beans can be eaten (or sold for additional income), thus reducing widespread malnutrition, particularly among children and women in rural areas. They also provide an accessible, effective, and affordable alternative to inorganic fertilizers, which few smallholder farmers can afford.

“Good soil fertility is critical to increasing crop yields, which can make a real difference for food security and the incomes of smallholders, especially women and their children,” says Sheleme Beyene Jiru, a soil scientist at Hawassa University.

Finding the right seeds and bacteria

Until this project, researchers had no idea such diversity of rhizobia existed in Ethiopia. Rhizobia are able to extract atmospheric nitrogen found in the soil and convert it into a usable form for plants. These microorganisms provide ample nitrogen for growing protein-rich pulse crops, and may leave some left over for the next growing season of cereal and root crops.

“If your goal is to grow protein, you need nitrogen,” explains Fran Walley, an expert in soil fertility at the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the CIFSRF project team. “Given that nitrogen fertilizers are fairly expensive, there is tremendous potential to exploit a resource that is abundant in Ethiopian soil, and well adapted to the region’s harsh growing conditions.”

First, researchers needed to identify which strains of rhizobia — of the many indigenous strains in the country — work best with specific pulses in the four agricultural areas of this project. Of the 150 chickpea and 165 lentil rhizobia collected, laboratory studies identified 80 top strains for each crop. The study moved next to farmers’ fields where preliminary results indicate that several of these local rhizobia perform as well, if not better, than the commercially available strains imported from Canada. Further tests are underway.

Researchers are also working closely with farmers to identify and field test high-yield chickpea and lentil varieties that are drought tolerant, disease resistant, and rich in micronutrients. The trials compared the performance of these other varieties from across the country with those traditionally grown by farmers to see how each performed with or without local rhizobia. The results surprised both the researchers and the local farmers.

For example, 15 farmer field trials determined that these newly introduced chickpea varieties (treated with indigenous rhizobia) produced significantly higher yields compared to local varieties. In fact, one improved chickpea variety produced 62% higher yields than the variety farmers traditionally grow (3.4 versus 2.1 tonnes per hectare).

Higher incomes and exports

“Some of these regions grow only one major crop per year. We have shown there is potential to put chickpeas in rotation after cereal crops, which means more income for farmers,” says Bunyamin Tar'an at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre. “They are very interested in this at the national level because they see the opportunity to expand chickpea production to other regions.”

The results could help the country boost its national chickpea production from a low of 1.3 tonnes per hectare (even lower in Southern Ethiopia) to its potential yield of 4.5 tonnes per hectare. These higher yields would support the government’s goals of expanding export markets for pulse crops, and reducing widespread malnutrition.

In addition, the project is testing the potential of snap beans under rain-fed conditions. Preliminary observations suggest that, when coated with rhizobia, they produce beans similar in quality to those grown using irrigation and inorganic fertilizer. Snap bean is an export commodity crop that has only been recently introduced in Ethiopia, yet has a great economic potential. In 2008, the country’s snap-bean exports generated more than CA$15 million in revenue.

Next Steps: Ensuring future supplies

Researchers have identified the best-performing rhizobia strains and the best crop varieties for specific regions of Southern Ethiopia. The next goal is to ensure an adequate supply of both rhizobia and seed to meet farmers’ needs.

“Quality seed supply is one of the key challenges for scaling up this research,” Tar'an says. In the short-term, seed produced in the current trial was distributed to another 30 farms participating in more field trials beginning in September 2012. Once that trial ends, the plan is to have each of those 30 farmers supply seed to three or four more farmers for the next growing season. Over the coming year, more experienced farmers will receive training as seed growers at agricultural research centres to ensure a sustainable local supply once the project ends.

Researchers are also exploring opportunities to manufacture rhizobia locally. At one point in Canada they were made at the University of Saskatchewan. Likewise in Ethiopia, they could be made by a university and distributed to farmers through local farm cooperatives.

PROJECT DETAILS

Lead researchers: Dr. Sheleme Beyene (Hawassa University, Ethiopia)
Dr. Bunyamin Tar’an and Dr. Fran Walley (University of Saskatchewan, Canada)
Country: Ethiopia
Funding: CA$999,935 Duration: September 2010 to March 2013

For more information on this project, contact Pascal Sanginga, Senior Program Specialist, Nairobi, Kenya (psanginga@idrc.ca) or Kevin Tiessen, Senior Program Officer, Ottawa, Canada (ktiessen@idrc.ca).

White maize is the main staple grain consumed in Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia. In Uganda, white maize is grown mainly as a commercial crop for export in the region. Imported rice is a major staple for Djibouti and Somalia, which mainly consume belem—the imported red rice. Tanzania is also a major producer and source of rice in the region while Kenya and Uganda are minor producers.

Both red and white sorghum are produced and consumed in the region. This is an important staple in Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia as well as in other marginal agricultural areas of the region. It is also a substitute cereal among the rural poor. Red sorghum is mainly grown in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia, and is the preferred type for households in Djibouti. Beans are an important source of protein and a complementary food crop grown in the high potential agricultural areas of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia. It is consumed across household types. Maize and beans are the most heavily traded commodities in the region. The cooking banana– matoke—is the primary staple in Uganda. Uganda is also a main source of cooking and other types of bananas traded in the region especially in Southern Sudan. However, bananas are not traded nearly as heavily as maize or beans.

West Africa can be divided into three agro-ecological zones or three different trade basins (West Basin, Central Basin and East Basin). Both important for understanding market behavior and dynamics.

The three major agro-ecological zones are the Sahelian, the Sudanese and the Coastal zones where production and consumption can be easily classified. (1) In the Sahelian zone, millet is the principal cereal cultivated and consumed particularly in rural areas and increasingly, when accessible, in urban areas. Exceptions include Cape Verde where maize and rice are most important, Mauritania where sorghum and maize are staples, and Senegal with rice. The principal substitutes in the Sahel are sorghum, rice, and cassava flour (Gari), the latter two in times of shortage. (2) In the Sudanese zone (southern Chad, central Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, southern Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Serra Leone, Liberia) maize and sorghum constitute the principal cereals consumed by the majority of the population. They are followed by rice and tubers, particularly cassava and yam. (3) In the Coastal zone, with two rainy seasons, yam and maize constitute the most important food products. They are supplemented by cowpea, which is a significant source of protein.

The three trade basins are known as the West, Central, and East basins. In addition to the north to south movement of particular commodities, certain cereals flow horizontally. (1) The West basin refers to Mauritania, Senegal, western Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and The Gambia where rice is most heavily traded. (2) The Central basin consists of Côte d'Ivoire, central and eastern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo where maize is commonly traded. (3) The East basin refers to Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Benin where millet is traded most frequently. These three trade basins are shown on the map above.

“Our women have been beaten, raped, whipped, forced into polygamous marriages, and who knows what else. They have lost their dignity, but what is man’s dignity without that of women?” These are the words of Sophie*, a displaced woman living in Bamako, the country’s capital, but originally from Timbuktu in the north of Mali.

Like hundreds of thousands of other people, Sophie fled the violence carried out by radical armed groups such as Ansar Dine, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which have taken control of the northern part of the country, and apply an extreme interpretation of sharia law, with women as their targets. “We are the first victims of such crises; women and our children,” lamented Sophie.

The women assembled within the ECOWAS Women’s Peace and Security Network (REPSFECO/Mali), supported by UN Women, speak out at every chance they get, and as they meet leaders. Their message is clear. They ask for guarantees that women will be systematically represented in the various negotiation committees, for the assurance that there will be no amnesty for those who have committed rape and other forms of violence, for the economic re-establishment of displaced and refugee women, and for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the provision of aid to those in occupied areas.

Seated in their traditional tents set up on the grounds of the Maison de la Femme et de l’Enfant in Bamako, the displaced women reiterated these fundamental demands during the visit of UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet to Mali earlier this month.

They spoke emotionally about the situation of extreme violence that reigns in the north of the country. Rapes and forced marriages take place in towns under the control of these armed groups and women are forced to cover their faces, they explained. They also highlighted the economic costs of the crisis.

“It is women who generate revenue to cover most of the family’s expenses and today these women do not have the right to trade or go to the market for something that will keep the family going,” complained Dominique, from Gao.

Some women spoke about their journeys southwards risking their life and that of their children. The hardships continue, as they now live in precarious conditions in the capital, with very little to provide for their needs.

“Women are suffering on a daily basis as they are subjected to gender-based violence and abuses in all the occupied regions. Lasting peace that extends beyond the simple act of signing a peace agreement is unsustainable if it is not rooted in justice. When violations of human rights are not investigated, when victims’ calls for justice are not heard, the risks for renewed violence remain high,” said Ms. Bachelet during her discussion with the women.

Ms. Bachelet took the message of the Malian women to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Headquarters in Abuja, the next day. The ECOWAS Member States are in the process of building an International Support Mission to Mali. Ms. Bachelet emphasised to ECOWAS the need for justice and an end to sexual violence, as well as the importance of the full participation of women in mediation and transition to ensure durable peace in Mali.

• For security reasons, the names of persons mentioned in this article have been changed in order to protect their identity.

Prefacio del Director Ejecutivo

Acción Humanitaria para la Infancia 2013

A primera vista, Fatima aparentaba tener unos 4 o 5 meses. Pero, en realidad, acababa de cumplir su primer año de vida. Estaba entre los 126.000 niños con desnutrición aguda grave tratados en uno de los 425 centros nutricionales establecidos por el Ministerio de Salud de Chad en 2012 como parte de la expansión de la atención en todo el Sahel. Se llegó a cientos de miles de niños con la atención necesaria para salvar sus vidas. Tristemente, no se pudo llegar a otros muchos.

Cada día que pasaba, crecía la sonrisa de Rabab Mohammed Saleh, de 14 meses, y su cuerpo se hacía un poco más fuerte. Estuvo en el centro de alimentación terapéutica del Hospital Al-Sabaeen en Sana’a, Yemen, donde recibió tratamiento contra la desnutrición. Rabab vive con su madre soltera y sus 10 hermanos supervivientes. Otros cuatro murieron. En Yemen, casi un millón de niños sufren desnutrición aguda; más de 250.000 padecen desnutrición aguda grave y viven, cada día, con el fantasma de la muerte.

En el destartalado campo de refugiados de Za’atari, cerca de la frontera entre Jordania y la República Árabe Siria, Tabark, de 12 años, retomó sus clases en una nueva escuela de emergencia. Su sueño es ser profesora de árabe. Más de 47.000 niños sirios refugiados en países vecinos y 23.000 dentro de la República

Árabe Siria se han beneficiado de los programas de educación en emergencias, mientras que las iniciativas para proteger su bienestar psicológico han llegado a 32.000 niños en la República Árabe Siria y a 42.000 en países vecinos. No obstante, para muchos niños la educación y la protección se convierten en víctimas de la crisis.

Estos son sólo algunos de los cientos de niños valientes que he conocido durante viajes a terreno en los últimos 12 meses.

Acción Humanitaria para la Infancia 2013 pone de relieve los retos que afrontan niños como Fatima,
Rabab y Tabark en situaciones humanitarias de todo el mundo. El documento identifica el apoyo que es necesario para ayudar a estos niños a sobrevivir y salir adelante. Y lo que más importante, muestra los resultados que nuestros aliados y nosotros hemos logrado, y debemos esforzarnos por lograr, para los niños más necesitados.

Por ejemplo, en 2012, en colaboración con gobiernos nacionales, organizaciones de la sociedad civil y otras agencias de Naciones Unidas, se planificó que UNICEF tratara a 850.000 niños (de un total estimado de 1.100.000) menores de 5 años con desnutrición aguda grave en el Sahel, a pesar de que el conflicto en Malí empeoraba y provocó una crisis de refugiados en los países limítrofes.

Cada vez más, tratamos de hacerlo con un ‘reflejo de resiliencia’, en el sentido de fortalecer la capacidad de los centros de salud y de las comunidades y familias de cara al futuro. Por otro lado, en Pakistán, 109.000 niños y mujeres afectados por las inundaciones y la inseguridad pudieron acceder a servicios de protección, rehabilitación y ocio, así como a una educación en habilidades para la vida cotidiana, a través de los Servicios Comunitarios de Emergencia y Aprendizaje para la Protección. (PLaCES en sus siglas en inglés)

La respuesta humanitaria no es menos importante en aquellas partes del mundo que no captan la atención de los medios de comunicación. En los estados del Nilo Azul y Kordofán del Sur, en Sudán, el conflicto ha llevado a más de 210.000 personas, de las cuales más de la mitad son niños, al otro lado de la frontera, a los vecinos Sudán del Sur y Etiopía, mientras que alrededor de 695.000 se han desplazado dentro del propio país o se han visto gravemente afectadas. En la República Democrática del Congo, donde hay 2,4 millones de personas desplazadas, el número de niños gravemente desnutridos llega al millón.

A nivel mundial, seguimos mejorando nuestra capacidad de respuesta a las emergencias humanitarias. Hemos establecido nuevos estándares en los procedimientos operativos para orientar los esfuerzos de UNICEF en los casos de emergencias a gran escala, así como procesos para un mejor cumplimiento de nuestras responsabilidades de coordinación de grupos sectoriales (clusteres) y sectores en el amplio sistema humanitario. Además, hemos prestado apoyo al desarrollo de la Agenda Trasformadora del Comité Permanente Inter-Agencias.

A la vez que nos esforzamos por conseguir mejores resultados para aquellos con necesidades urgentes, también somos conscientes de la importancia de medir esos resultados y de identificar los cuellos de botella para alcanzar un mayor progreso.

Estos resultados son posibles gracias a las generosas contribuciones de los donantes que siguen apoyando la acción humanitaria de UNICEF incluso en tiempos de austeridad fiscal.

La financiación previsible y flexible sostiene programas como los descritos anteriormente y nos permite actuar de manera rápida en el lugar y el momento en que se produce una crisis.

Podemos conseguir resultados para los niños que se encuentran en entornos difíciles y en emergencias complicadas. Fatima puede recuperarse de la desnutrición aguda grave; la salud de Rabab mejorará; Tabark puede seguir yendo a la escuela. Juntos, podemos dar a todos los niños en situaciones humanitarias no sólo los instrumentos necesarios para recuperarse sino también para desarrollar su potencial, alimentar sus talentos y contribuir al crecimiento de sus naciones.

Anthony Lake
Director Ejecutivo de UNICEF

Descargue el llamado de Acción humanitaria de la página de UNICEF

01/26/2013 20:32 GMT

Par Serge DANIEL

BAMAKO, 26 jan 2013 (AFP) - Soldats français et maliens se sont emparés samedi du bastion islamiste de Gao, la principale ville du Nord du Mali, marquant un tournant majeur dans la lutte contre les groupes islamistes armés, au seizième jour de l'intervention militaire française dans le pays.

"Les forces maliennes et françaises libèrent Gao", a annoncé le ministère français de la Défense, dans un communiqué, précisant que des membres des forces spéciales s'étaient emparés dans la nuit de l'aéroport et d'un pont stratégique à Gao, à 1.200 km au nord-est de Bamako.

"Dès ce soir, Sadou Diallo, le maire de Gao réfugié à Bamako, a pu regagner sa ville accompagné par le colonel (Didier) Dacko", commandant les troupes maliennes sur le terrain, a précisé le ministère.

Paris a précisé que des contingents africains, formés de militaires nigériens et tchadiens, arrivaient sur zone pour prendre le relais des forces françaises.

"Les forces françaises et africaines maîtrisent à 100% la ville de Gao. Il y a une liesse populaire, tout le monde est content", a indiqué une source de sécurité malienne. Mais de premiers témoignages font aussi état d'actes de pillage.

Les soldats nigériens et tchadiens sont venus par la voie des airs, depuis Niamey. Ils étaient accompagnés de soldats maliens du colonel Alhaji Ag Gamou, qui étaient réfugiés au Niger depuis l'an dernier, après la débâcle face aux groupes armés, selon une source malienne de sécurité sur place.

"Il n'y a pas de combat à proprement parler" dans la région de Gao, selon un porte-parole de l'état-major français, "mais sporadiquement, des opérations de harcèlement avec des éléments terroristes qui ouvrent le feu sur nos positions après s'être abrités dans des zones urbaines".

L'entourage du ministre de la Défense français a jugé par ailleurs "plausible" le bilan de quelques centaines de combattants islamistes tués depuis le début de l'intervention française au Mali donné par le quotidien français Le Monde, citant des sources militaires.

Les positions des islamistes à Gao ont été à plusieurs reprises pilonnées par l'aviation française. Gao était un bastion des islamistes du Mouvement pour l'unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l'Ouest (Mujao), qui y ont commis de nombreuses exactions, dont des amputations de personnes accusées de vol.

Refus des "logiques de chantage"

C'est ce groupe qui a dit samedi à l'AFP vouloir négocier la libération d'un otage français qu'il détient depuis deux mois.

"Le Mujao est prêt à négocier la libération de l'otage Gilberto", a déclaré Walid Abu Sarhaoui, porte-parole du Mujao, en référence au Français Gilberto Rodriguez Leal, enlevé en novembre 2012 dans l'Ouest du Mali.

Le Premier ministre français Jean-Marc Ayrault a répondu en refusant "les logiques de chantage". "La France fera tout pour leur liberté", a-t-il ajouté, en évoquant les sept otages français au Sahel.

Interrogé pour savoir si cette volonté affichée de négociation était liée à l'intervention militaire française, le porte-parole du Mujao a simplement répondu: "Nous voulons négocier. Pour la guerre, entre musulmans, nous pouvons nous comprendre", sans autre précision.

Une déclaration qui peut être interprétée comme une ouverture pour des négociations avec Bamako et qui survient deux jours après l'annonce d'une scission au sein d'Ansar Dine (Défenseurs de l'islam), un autre des groupes islamistes du Nord du Mali.

Parallèlement à la prise de Gao, une colonne de militaires tchadiens et nigériens, qui étaient stationnés au Niger, faisait route samedi après-midi vers la frontière malienne, située à une centaine de kilomètres au nord.

La France s'est engagée depuis le 11 janvier au côté de ce qui reste de l'armée malienne, contre les islamistes armés, pilonnant leurs colonnes de pick-up et leurs bases arrière, afin d'empêcher leur progression vers le Sud et la capitale Bamako.

Les villes de Konna et Douentza (centre) ont été reprises par les soldats français et maliens, qui ont également repris vendredi le contrôle d'une localité du Nord, Hombori, à 920 km au nord-est de Bamako et à quelques 200 km de Gao.

Une autre colonne franco-malienne, après avoir pris le contrôle de Diabali (ouest), progresse vers Léré, plus au nord, avec pour objectif la ville-phare de l'islam en Afrique, Tombouctou, à 900 km au nord-est de Bamako.

Jean-Marc Ayrault a d'ailleurs indiqué que les "troupes françaises et maliennes" seraient "bientôt près de Tombouctou". Il a aussi répété que la France "n'avait pas vocation à rester, bien entendu" au Mali.

Les islamistes ont riposté à cette progression en dynamitant vendredi un pont stratégique près de la frontière nigérienne, sur une des deux routes que pourraient emprunter les soldats tchadiens venus du Niger.

De leur côté, les chefs d'état-major ouest-africains, réunis samedi en urgence à Abidjan, ont décidé de "relever" le volume de leurs effectifs promis au Mali, pour qu'ils atteignent "5.700 hommes".

Jusque-là, l'Afrique de l'Ouest visait le déploiement d'environ 4.000 militaires. Le Tchad a séparément promis plus de 2.000 soldats.

Au total, autour de 2.000 soldats africains sont d'ores et déjà stationnés au Mali ou au Niger voisin. Leur déploiement est ralenti par de sérieux problèmes de financement et de logistique pour les pays contributeurs.

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© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

01/26/2013 20:12 GMT

by Serge Daniel

BAMAKO, Jan 26, 2013 (AFP) - French-led troops Saturday recaptured the Islamist stronghold of Gao in a spectacular boost to a 16-day-old offensive against Al Qaeda-linked rebels holding Mali's vast desert north.

The seizure of Gao, the most populated town in Mali's northern region which is roughly the size of Texas, was announced by the French defence ministry and confirmed by Malian security sources.

Paris said troops from Niger and Chad "will pick up the baton" and that the town's mayor Sadou Diallo would arrive in Gao from the capital Bamako later Saturday.

"A first contingent of Malian, Chadian and Niger troops are presently in Gao to help secure the town," a Malian security source told AFP by telephone from the town.

"The French and African forces are in 100 percent control of the town of Gao," another Malian security source said, adding: "There is popular rejoicing and everyone is very happy."

In a parallel pincer-like movement, troops from Chad and Niger moved towards the Malian border from the Niger town of Ouallam, which lies about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Gao.

The French-led forces had overnight seized Gao's airport and a key bridge on the southern entrance of the town, held by the Al Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).

French defence ministry sources said a report in French newspaper Le Monde that hundreds of Islamists had died since the French military intervention in Mali was "plausible."

An alliance of Tuareg rebels who wanted to declare an independent homeland in the north and hardline Islamist groups seized the northern towns of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal in April last year after a coup in Bamako.

The Islamist groups include MUJAO, Ansar Dine, a homegrown Islamist group, and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, of which MUJAO is an offshoot.

The Islamists then sidelined the Tuaregs to implement their own agenda. Their harsh interpretation of Islamic sharia law has seen transgressors flogged, stoned and executed, and they have forbidden music and television and forced women to wear veils.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the troops were currently "around Gao and (will be) soon near Timbuktu," a fabled caravan town on the edge of the Sahara desert which for centuries was a key centre of Islamic learning.

"The objective is that the African multinational force being put together be able to take over, and that Mali be able to begin a process of political stabilisation," he said.

The MUJAO meanwhile said it was ready for negotiations to release Gilberto Rodriguez Leal, a French national of Portuguese origin who was kidnapped in western Mali in November.

"The MUJAO is ready to negotiate the release of Gilberto," said spokesman Walid Abu Sarhaoui. "We Muslims can come to an understanding on the issue of war," he added, without elaborating.

But Ayrault snubbed the offer, saying "we will not give in to blackmail" and added: "We cannot cede to terrorism because if this is the case they will win every time."

-- Slow deployment of regional forces --

West African defence chiefs meanwhile reviewed the slow deployment of regional forces to bolster the French-led offensive at an emergency meeting in Ivory Coast and boosted their troops pledges to 5,700 from about 4,500 earlier.

Chad, which neighbours Mali and is not a member of the Economic Community of West African States which raised the troop deployment, has promised a total of 2,000 additional soldiers.

Some Chadian troops are already in Niger to join 500 local troops to open a new front against the Islamists.

While a fraction of the African forces has arrived in Bamako and is slowly deploying elsewhere, the French and Malian forces have done all the fighting so far.

France has already deployed 2,500 troops to Mali and its defence ministry says 1,900 African soldiers are already on the ground in the country and Niger.

Aid agencies have expressed increasing concern about the growing food crisis for civilians in the vast semi-arid north of Mali and the drought-stricken Sahel as a whole.

Paris meanwhile has asked several Western countries and others to provide logistical support such as planes to allow aerial refuelling, sources close to Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

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© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

01/27/2013 01:38 GMT

by Serge Daniel

BAMAKO, Jan 27, 2013 (AFP) - French-led troops recaptured the Islamist stronghold of Gao on Saturday, in a major boost to their 16-day offensive against Al Qaeda-linked rebels holding Mali's vast desert north.

France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the nation's troops were also advancing on Timbuktu, another key northern town held by the insurgents.

The seizure of Gao, the most populated town in Mali's northern region, which is roughly the size of Texas, was announced by the French defence ministry and confirmed by Malian security sources.

France said troops from Niger and Chad "will pick up the baton" and that the mayor of Gao, Sadou Diallo, was due to return from the capital Bamako, 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) to the southwest.

"A first contingent of Malian, Chadian and Niger troops are presently in Gao to help secure it," a Malian security source told AFP by telephone from the town. They had been flown in from Niamey, capital of neighbouring Niger.

"The French and African forces are in 100 percent control of the town of Gao," another Malian security source said. "There is popular rejoicing and everyone is very happy."

Other soldiers from Chad and Niger meanwhile were moving toward the Malian border from the Niger town of Ouallam, which lies about 100 kilometres southeast of Gao.

French-led forces had seized overnight Gao's airport and a key bridge on the southern entrance of the town, held by the Al-Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).

There had not been substantive fighting around Gao, said a spokesman for the French military command, but there was sporadic gunfire from "terrorist elements."

Defence ministry sources in Paris described as "plausible" a report in Le Monde newspaper, citing military sources, that hundreds of Islamists had died since the French military intervention in Mali.

In April last year after a coup in Bamako, an alliance of Tuareg rebels who wanted to declare an independent homeland in the north and several hardline Islamist groups seized Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.

Extremist militants quickly sidelined the Tuaregs and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic sharia law. Transgressors were flogged, stoned and executed, they banned music and television and forced women to wear veils.

Groups involved include Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; the MUJAO, which is an offshoot of AQIM and the homegrown group Ansar Dine.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the troops were currently "around Gao and (will be) soon near Timbuktu," further west. A fabled caravan town on the edge of the Sahara desert, Timbuktu served as a centre of Islamic learning for centuries.

"The objective is that the African multinational force being put together be able to take over, and that Mali be able to begin a process of political stabilisation," Ayrault said.

-- Slow deployment of regional forces --

West African defence chiefs meanwhile reviewed the slow deployment of regional forces to bolster the French-led offensive at an emergency meeting in Ivory Coast boosting their troop pledges to 5,700 from the previous 4,500.

Chad, which neighbours Mali but is not a member of the Economic Community of West African States raising that force, has separately promised 2,000 soldiers.

A fraction of the African forces has arrived in Bamako, the Malian capital in the south of the country, and is slowly deploying elsewhere. So far, however, French and Malian forces have done all the fighting.

France has already deployed 2,500 troops to Mali and its defence ministry says 1,900 African soldiers are on the ground there and in Niger.

In Washington, the Pentagon announced it had agreed to refuel French warplanes operating in Mali, in response to a request from Paris. France has asked several other Western powers for similar support.

President Barack Obama has expressed clear support for the French operation.

Aid agencies have shown concern about the growing food crisis for civilians in the vast semi-arid north of Mali and the drought-stricken Sahel as a whole.

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© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

HIGHLIGHTS

Reporting December 2012 - Epidemiological weeks 49 – 52

• CHOLERA Ten alerts in Lower Jubba and Bay regions

• MALARIA Outbreak in Bossaso

• POLIO VACCINATION Campaign targets newly accessible areas

25 January 2013 - Since the start of the military intervention in Mali's Gao region two weeks ago, the population's access to food supplies across the region has deteriorated significantly. According to our team on the ground, the local economy is in a downward spiral and residents are in survival mode. Our experts are also increasingly concerned that a potential armed intervention from Niger will further decrease access to food and humanitarian supplies across northern Mali.

Supply routes disabled

Following the recent closure of the Algeria-Mali border, an already isolated Gao has seen severe restrictions in the flow of goods as key commercial routes between Mopti and Gao shut down. The only open supply route remains on the river and roads between Gao and Niger, and we fear that Niger’s planned armed intervention will cut off this last supply path for food, medicine and other essentials to enter Mali.

Food stocks dwindling

Mali faces routine shortfalls in agricultural production, so the combination of poor harvests last month and the current political insecurity has proved disastrous. The majority of Gao-based traders have moved their goods to towns and villages outside the main cities as a precaution. Three-quarters of all shops in the city of Gao were closed yesterday, and most markets deserted by farmers who moved their herds away for fear their livestock would be stolen. In addition, many traders and buyers stayed home, fearing for their safety.

Prices rising

Food prices have been increasing steadily in Gao for the past nine months; the region has seen a price increase of 38% on millet, 31% on rice and 25% on cooking oil. The past few weeks have made much food completely unattainable, and households are stockpiling what they can, depleting stocks even faster than expected. The banking system in Gao has been crippled since April of 2012, and liquidity simply does not exist.

Responding in the face of uncertainty

The potential closure of the last remaining entry point poses a serious threat to access to much needed food and humanitarian supplies -- not to mention the likelihood of increased violence, banditry, and looting that could accompany another ground intervention. Action Against Hunger, along with other humanitarian organisations in Gao, have had to adapt to the hightened insecurity by decreasing telecommunications activities, and restricting existing programmes to the region’s main cities of Ansongo Bourem, Gao, and Menaka. We won’t be able to resume travel to remote areas until hostilities cease and a climate of greater security is restored.

Still, our team spent the past week securing stocks of water purification tablets from Niger, and we are continuing our work treating individuals suffering from acute malnutrition. We’ve retained large stocks of nutritional products and are confident that our treatment efforts can continue. With over 15% of the region's children under five suffering from acute malnutrition (nearly 20,000 children), our priority remains delivering urgent care to the most vulnerable as efficiently as possible. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will scale up our response as soon as security conditions allow.

Posted by David Lane

David Lane serves as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome.

After an early morning departure from Tanzania, we arrived in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe in a steady rain. The rain is not always favorable for travel, but it was very welcome in Malawi after a drought during the 2012 rainy season impacted the maize crop and food security, particularly in the south.

As I continued my first media tour as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations food and agriculture agencies in Rome I was excited to have two reporters from Malawi join the group of seven talented reporters traveling with me, five African and two European, to witness programs on the ground and help tell the Malawian story of increasing food security in Africa.

Despite the difficult situation in the south, it is an exciting time to visit Malawi because of the Government of Malawi's great leadership in improving agriculture (as well as emergency response to the drought), promising innovations in improved crops and markets for smallholder farmers, and a growing 'bottom up' community ownership of food security and nutrition programs.

Innovative Markets and Home Grown Aid

On our first day in the country. we visited the Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ACE), an innovative USAID and the UN World Food Program (WFP) supported program that assists smallholder farmers to improve the quality of their crops, creates a market for them to sell in, and increases the prices they receive. Smallholder farmer Michael Banda told us how crop price updates he receives via text on his cell phone, and credit receipts for properly storing his maize allowed him to increase his profits by as much as 200 percent. "The warehouse receipt allowed me to get a loan, which I used to build a new house and pay school fees for my children," Banda told us. Even more exciting, the WFP, through its Purchase for Progress program, uses the commodity exchange to purchase much of its commodity needs locally. It was hard not to be impressed with this innovative new system that supports local farmers while increasing aid efficiency through reduced transportation costs.

Three Crops a Year, Even During a Drought

Improving food security involves many factors and one of the most impressive examples we saw was the USAID-funded Wellness Agriculture for Life Advancement (WALA) project in Zomba District. Despite the drought of last year, participants in this multifaceted project were flourishing after using a combination of conservation agriculture, small scale irrigation, community savings and loans, and mother care groups to improve health-related behavior. I was impressed to hear a group of women farmers tell me how, thanks to conservation farming techniques and diversification, their crops survived a three week dry spell last year while neighboring communities lost their entire harvest.

In the course of my visit, I was very encouraged to see that the U.S. Government's food security initiative, Feed the Future, was well aligned with the strategies of the Malawian government and the UN agencies and showing real results. As Beatrice Makwende, the director of the National Association of Smallholder Farmers told me, "The future belongs to the organized." I saw this organization coming from the community again and again, and I believe it will be the key to sustained success in improving food in Malawi.

Contexte d’intervention

Les combats qui ont eu lieu ces derniers jours dans la région de Konna ont eu des conséquences sur les populations civiles. D’après les premières informations récoltées à ce moment-là, il apparaissait qu’un nombre indéterminé de ménages s’était déplacé le long du fleuve Niger à partir de Konna vers le Sud en direction de Bamako.

Il était également pressenti que les mouvements de population se dérouleraient essentiellement le long du fleuve Niger du fait des faibles moyens financiers de ces ménages, dans l’impossibilité le plus souvent de se déplacer sur des distances importantes. Dans ce contexte, Solidarités International a décidé d’envoyer deux équipes mobilisées en urgence afin d’effectuer une enquête rapide dans une vingtaine de localités sur l’axe entre Konna et Djenné le long du fleuve.

26.01.2013, Jeddah, A shipment of 10000 frozen carcasses of Hajj-Meat utilized during Hajj Season 2012 has arrived in Dakar seaport today for distribution among the poor in Senegal.

The operation comes in line with the implementation of the Saudi Project for Utilization of Hajj Meat (ADAHI), managed by the Islamic Development Bank, IDB. According to the distribution plan for Hajj 2012, around 793,000 carcasses are for distribution in Makkah and other different parts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through 270 charity societies and more than 200,000 frozen carcasses in 24 Countries in Asia and Africa.

In a statement, the President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Government and People of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their relentless support to the project.

Rappel du contexte d’intervention

Le coup d’état survenu au Mali en mars 2012 a aggravé un contexte politique et sécuritaire déjà fragile et complexe : des groupes armés déjà présents et parfois actifs dans le cadre d’enjeux géopolitiques internationaux, se sont saisis du vide institutionnel créé par le coup d’état pour installer fortement leur présence dans la partie nord du Mali et ancrer une rupture territoriale.

Or, en amont de cette crise politique, la situation du Mali, était particulièrement inquiétante notamment sur le plan alimentaire. En effet, la saison d’hivernage de 2011 s’était avérée très mauvaise ce qui a entrainé une baisse de la production agricole et des pâturages insuffisants pour répondre aux besoins de tous les éleveurs. Les populations ont alors dû mettre en place des stratégies érosives pour assurer leur survie.

La détérioration rapide du contexte sécuritaire et humanitaire au Mali ces derniers jours associée au retrait ou à la réduction de la présence de certains acteurs dans les zones du Nord fait craindre une dégradation des conditions de vie des populations connaissant déjà nombre de difficultés.

La reprise des hostilités depuis le 9 janvier 2013 est déjà lourde de conséquences avec notamment la décision de l'Algérie à fermer sa frontière terrestre avec le Mali (le 14 janvier 2013 au soir), ce qui enraye tous les flux commerciaux d'approvisionnement des marchés de la région de Kidal.

C’est pour ces différents raisons que Sol Int a décidé d’envoyer un membre de ses équipes effectuer une évaluation sommaire des marchés de Kidal.

01/28/2013 07:31 GMT

Par Aymeric VINCENOT

ADDIS ABEBA, 28 jan 2013 (AFP) - Dirigeants internationaux et africains se réunissent mardi à Addis Abeba, au lendemain d'un sommet de l'Union africaine (UA), pour une conférence des donateurs destinée à financer le déploiement de la force africaine au Mali et la restructuration de l'armée malienne.

L'ONU, l'UE, la France, le Royaume-Uni, les Etats-Unis et le Japon notamment seront représentés à des niveaux divers qui ne sont pas tous précisés à ce stade.

Plusieurs chefs d'Etat africains, qui participaient dimanche et lundi au sommet de l'UA dans la capitale éthiopienne, devaient aussi prendre part à la conférence.

La France qui a déployé d'urgence depuis mi-janvier 2.500 soldats au côté de l'armée malienne pour l'aider à repousser une offensive des groupes islamistes en direction de Bamako, sera représentée par son ministre des Affaires étrangères Laurent Fabius.

Le commissaire européen au Développement Andris Piebalgs représentera l'UE, qui a déjà promis 50 millions d'euros pour la Mission internationale de soutien au Mali (Misma).

Londres a de son côté indiqué envisager d'entraîner la Misma et de fournir une aide logistique sans plus de précision.

Un état des besoins, sur l'année, de la Misma et de l'armée malienne a été élaboré par l'UA et la Communauté économique des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (Cédéao) à destination des donateurs, mais le montant de la contribution n'a pas été révélé publiquement.

Selon des diplomates, un pré-document soumis aux pays donateurs chiffre à environ 700 millions de dollars ces besoins, englobant le déploiement de la Misma d'une part, et l'effort de recomposition, de restructuration et de formation de l'armée malienne d'autre part.

Mais les chiffres restent à affiner car les effectifs de la Misma, commandée par un général nigérian, Shehu Abdulkadir, et dont le déploiement a été autorisé par la résolution 2085 du conseil de sécurité de l'ONU en décembre, ne sont pas encore fixés avec précision, a indiqué une source diplomatique d'un pays de la Cédéao.

Samedi, les chefs des états-majors ouest-africains, dont les contingents doivent former le gros de la Misma, ont décidé de faire passer leurs effectifs promis au Mali de 4.000 à 5.700 hommes. Le Tchad a séparément promis plus de 2.000 soldats.

Le manque de ressources financières et logistiques handicapent sérieusement le déploiement de la Misma, mise sur pied depuis plusieurs mois par la Cédéao pour venir en aide aux forces maliennes face aux groupes islamistes armés qui ont pris le contrôle de la moitié nord du pays mi-2012.

Seuls 2.000 soldats africains au total ont pour l'heure été acheminés au Mali ou au Niger voisin.

"Les contributions peuvent être (...) en nature, logistiques" pour pourvoir à "des besoins qui sont connus quand il s'agit de déployer des forces armées de pays en voie de développement", a déclaré à l'AFP le Commissaire de l'UA à la Paix et la Sécurité, Ramtane Lamamra.

M. Lamamra s'est dit "raisonnablement optimiste" sur les résultats de cette conférence.

"Nous avons bon espoir de mobiliser des ressources et des équipements propres à nous permettre d'assurer une certaine autonomie pour ces forces pendant quelques mois", a-t-il expliqué, soulignant que des "arrangements plus stables" seraient ensuite demandés à l'ONU sur le budget des opérations de maintien de la paix.

Vendredi soir, le Conseil de paix et de sécurité de l'UA a par ailleurs demandé d'urgence une aide "temporaire" - acheminement de troupes, médicaments, rations alimentaires... - à l'ONU, sur ce même budget du maintien de la paix, afin de permettre à la Misma de se déployer rapidement.

Selon Jakkie Cilliers, directeur exécutif du centre de réflexion basé à Pretoria International Strategic Studies (ISS), "un engagement substantiel est indispensable" de la part des pays donateurs.

En raison de la crise, "tout le monde sait que les ressources sont limitées partout dans le monde, mais il s'agit d'une priorité, pour l'Europe en particulier", a-t-il souligné.

"Ce qui se passe au Mali menace toute l'Afrique de l'Ouest, a des conséquences profondes pour l'Europe et je pense que les objectifs seront atteints", a estimé M. Cilliers.

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© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

L'Essentiel
- Reprise des hostilités au Mali provoquant un afflux de personnes déplacées dans un contexte restant difficile pour les populations déjà affectées (nord du pays, déplacés , réfugiés)
- Malgré de bonnes récoltes, les prix du mil demeurent élevés au Sahel
- Persistance de situations d’insécurité alimentaire provoquées par la crise de 2011-2012 à cause des catastrophes naturelles, des taux élevés de malnutrition et des prix encore élevés pour les ménages les plus pauvres au Sahel
- Baisse des infestations acridiennes

28-01-2013 Collection de photos

Quelque 7 000 personnes viennent de recevoir une assistance d'urgence sous forme de vivres et de biens de première nécessité dans les localités de Niono, Kala Siguida et Mariko dans le centre du pays. L'aide a été distribuée par le CICR et la Croix-Rouge malienne. Chaque famille de déplacés a reçu du riz, du mil, des haricots, du sel et de l'huile ainsi que des couvertures, des moustiquaires, des vêtements, des ustensiles de cuisine et d’autres articles de première nécessité. Les déplacés bénéficient avant tout de la solidarité des populations résidentes, qui partagent leurs maigres ressources et, quand elles le peuvent, les accueillent chez elles. Le CICR et la Croix-Rouge malienne fournissent aussi des vivres à ces familles d'accueil généreuses.

Voir le diaporama