The European Union will allocate an extra €12 million in humanitarian aid for Mali. This was announced today by ECHO´s commissioner Kristalina Georgieva during the international donor conference for the development of Mali, organised in Brussels jointly by the European Union, France and Mali.
"Today the international community is coming together to help give Mali a long-term development perspective. But we should not forget the urgent humanitarian needs of many Malians affected both by the conflict in the North since early 2012, and the food and nutrition crisis which continues to hit many of the most vulnerable people. The food crisis is now reaching emergency levels in some parts of Northern Mali. The lean season is making this worse, in Mali as elsewhere in the Sahel - so we need to act urgently to help get assistance to people."
The extra funding on humanitarian aid will increase food assistance and access to basic health services and clean water and will ensure that refugees and internally displaced Malians in and outside the country continue to receive vital aid.
In 2013, the European Commission has so far allocated €54 million in humanitarian funds to assist Malians, 400,000 of whom are either displaced within the country or refugees in neighbouring countries. Since the beginning of 2012, the European Commission has mobilised a total of €127 million in humanitarian aid for the country. This amount includes a total of €112 from the humanitarian budget and €15 million from the European Development Fund used for emergency food assistance. The EU Member States committed an additional €50 million of humanitarian aid to Malians in 2012-13.