Following the crises affecting the central and northern regions of Mali, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator has announced the allocation of 11 million dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the central response fund to United Nations emergencies.
Due to the intensification of clashes in Burkina Faso, in the first quarter of 2024, a massive arrival of refugees was recorded in Mali, in particular in the regions of Bandiagara, San, Mopti, Douentza and Sevare, who require registration and multisectoral assistance to cover primary needs.
Central and northern regions of Mali are currently grappling with two simultaneous crises: a sharp deterioration of food insecurity levels, and the arrival of 70,000 refugees, mostly from Burkina Faso. The latest results of the Cadre Harmonisé project over 120,000 people in Phase 4 and 5 in the upcoming lean season, June to August, in the region of Menaka and neighboring Gao and Mopti.
The CERF allocation will respond to the immediate food and nutrition needs of people in IPC phases 4 and 5 in the regions of Menaka, Gao and Mopti by assisting 380,000 people with lifesaving assistance in the Food Security and Nutrition sectors. In addition, it will support newly arrived refugees from Burkina Faso through multi-sectoral assistance targeting 70,000 people in the regions of San, Bandiagara and Mopti in the Food Security (including Agriculture), Nutrition, and multi-sectoral refugee assistance sectors.
Since its establishment, Italian Cooperation has invested in CERF according to the annual budget availability from the portion dedicated to humanitarian aid. In light of growing global humanitarian needs, since 2016, Italian support to the United Nations fund has been steadily increasing. In 2022, Italy reached (for the first time since the establishment of CERF) 9th place among the Fund’s donors, with over 17 million dollars. In 2023, the disbursement of 15 million euros allowed to position itself in the group of the main 10 donors of the Fund which currently sees the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Canada, USA, Belgium and Italy.