UN increases assistance in Mali during drought, conflict

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) announced Friday that it is scaling up its emergency operation in Mali to reach more than 680,000 people, many of whom have been affected by the recent crisis in the country, as well as adverse weather conditions. WFP spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs told reporters in Geneva that the agency is increasing assistance to fragile communities in both the northern and southern parts of the country. In northern Mali, WFP increased its emergency school feeding coverage as more schools have re-opened in the Gao and Timbuktu regions. Currently, some 576 schools are being assisted with more than 120,000 students. Byrs said that nutrition activities will be increased in the area, with WFP having already launched food-for-work activities, consisting mostly in rehabilitation of irrigated plots in one district of the Timbuktu region. WFP is also providing supplementary feeding for children under five, pregnant women, and new mothers to prevent acute malnutrition. In southern Mali, WFP is providing food assistance to some 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host families, as well as vulnerable communities recovering from last year’s drought. The agency also reached 425,000 people with programs relating to urban and rural development, resilience, health, and education. In addition, WFP is working to connect Malian farmers to markets through the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative, which aims to reinforce the capacities of small-holder farmers to improve procurement practices, food processing, and commercialization as a means to increase their daily incomes. WFP estimated that, in the course of 2013, it had reached some 1 million people in the country. However, around $67 million were still needed for the continuation of the agency’s emergency operations until the end of the year.