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| WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin with other officials at the Sévaré camp in Mopti. [PHOTO: UNifeed] |
Mopti, Mali: The people of Mali continue to suffer the impact of mass
displacement and they urgently need food and other humanitarian assistance,
said the Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Ertharin
Cousin, on her return from a five-day trip to Mali and Burkina Faso (13-17
March).
There, she met people affected by the conflict in Mali and
by cycles of drought and poor harvests.
Yesterday, meeting those displaced in Mopti, Cousin said
that "people are still suffering; the crisis is not over. It is not safe
in many of the communities in the North and people cannot go home."
Mopti is a central Malian town considered the gateway to the
country's north. From there, WFP is sending food by road and riverboat to
Timbuktu, further upstream.
Parts of Mali have recently become more accessible and WFP
has begun to send food to Northern Mali, which had been cut off from most
humanitarian assistance since conflict flared one year ago. However the
situation is still volatile and many areas remain out of reach.
The United Nations says more than 270,000 people have been
displaced within Mali, while more than 170,000 refugees have fled to
neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. WFP and its partners are
providing food assistance in all four countries. -UNifeed