Mali: People in north desperately need food, water and health care

There have been more clashes in the north of the country recently, and the plight of tens of thousands of people continues to alarm the ICRC. The organization is helping local communities to survive and to support themselves long-term.

In 2014, the ICRC:

• distributed 4,000 tonnes of food, household articles and other essential items to tens of thousands of displaced people in Mopti, Gao and Kidal, and to people who had returned to Mali after taking refuge in neighbouring countries;
• delivered food and over 610 tonnes of seed to 230,000 people around Gao, Kidal, Timbuktu and Mopti;
• distributed equipment to fishing and herding families, gave advanced training to veterinarians and vaccinated over 1.3 million animals;
• supported several community health centres, a referral centre, and Gao hospital, by supplying them with medicines and other supplies, together with financial support to help them pay their staff, while the ICRC's medical team in Gao continues to provide medical and surgical treatment free of charge;
• helped set up a psychosocial programme in Gao hospital for people who have been traumatized (victims of sexual violence, etc.);
• held a seminar on war surgery for 30 medical personnel;
• helped the Mali Red Cross to enable families who had been split up by the conflict restore and maintain contact, reuniting 22 children with their parents and enabling separated relatives to make over 3,850 phone calls;
• built or repaired water-supply systems, including wells for herders, in both towns and rural areas;
• provided fuel to run the water-purification system in the city of Kidal and the generator at Gao hospital;
• visited over 4,100 detainees in 30 places of detention, both established and temporary;
• distributed hygiene kits and repaired sanitary facilities and water-supply systems in places of detention;
• helped the authorities deal with malnutrition in places of detention and improve detainee access to health care;
• raised awareness among Malian and foreign soldiers (the latter from the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali), gendarmes and fighters from a variety of armed groups of their duty to comply with international humanitarian law, and in particular of the need to protect civilians.