KEY DEVELOPMENTS
· Nearly one year since the onset of the food insecurity and nutrition crisis in the Sahel, food security conditions have stabilized and are expected to improve to No Acute Food Insecurity—Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 1—in most areas by November due in part to positive agricultural production forecasts, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). Nonetheless, FEWS NET notes that recent flooding and increasing numbers of desert locusts remain significant threats and could reduce this year’s agricultural output in some areas. Ongoing insecurity in Mali and related displacement could also result in continuing above-average humanitarian assistance needs in parts of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger through late 2012.
· The rate at which Malians are fleeing to neighboring countries recently slowed, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In August, the number of new arrivals in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Niger declined by 61 percent compared to the preceding month, decreasing from an estimated 60,000 people per month to approximately 23,500 people per month.
· In mid-September, the Mali Protection Cluster—the coordinating body for humanitarian protection activities in the country—revised the estimated number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mali from 174,000 to 118,795, reflecting a decrease of 32 percent. Due to access challenges in the north, the new estimates may not represent the full number of IDPs in Mali, and the cluster continues working to obtain a more comprehensive count of IDPs.
· USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) recently provided nearly $20 million to partners in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal, primarily to support temporary employment and training opportunities that enable beneficiaries to generate income while improving community assets. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM) also contributed $4 million to increase access to community health care and support the operation of local water systems for conflict-affected populations in northern Mali.
· In FY 2012, the U.S. Government (USG) provided approximately $400 million in humanitarian assistance to benefit more than 3 million people in the Sahel. USG support included food aid, cash transfers, agricultural and livelihoods activities, protection and other assistance for displaced people, and humanitarian coordination and logistical support.