Mali Crisis Update No. 1 Regional Bureau for West Africa 19 October 2012 Food and nutrition assistance to people affected by the Mali crisis in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger Mali crisis in figures: Over 200,000 people displaced in Mali Over 200,000 people fled to Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger 270,000 were supported so far by WFP (195,000 refugees, and 74,000 IDPs). The regional Emergency operation faces critical funding shortfalls of USD 20.9 million (27 percent) Photo: Malian refugee women in M bera refugee camp, Mauritania. WFP/Alan Mouton. The Mali crisis has triggered displacement, generating additional needs amongst refugees and host communities in already vulnerable areas of the Sahel. The Sahel region has been heavily affected by this year s food and nutrition crisis the third in seven years hence leaving people with very limited survival strategies as they faced unusually high prices and prolonged hardship during the lean season. WFP has been providing food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable people in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and The Gambia. To date, with the start of the harvest, good crop prospects were noted through the Sahel, except in localized areas. Malians who were forced to leave their homes and those who stayed behind are thus facing a double burden. Host communities in neighbouring countries are equally affected by this crisis, as resources are stretched. More than 200,000 Malians 1 have sought refuge in Burkina Faso (34,877), Mauritania (108,000) and Niger (61,088 refugees and 3,118 returnees), while over 200,000 people are internally displaced in Mali. WFP provides food and nutrition assistance for internally displaced people in Mali and non-displaced persons in the North as well as for Malian refugees in the neighbouring countries through two emergency operations (Regional Emergency Operation in support of displaced, and Mali emergency operation for non-displaced conflict affected people). The WFP Regional Emergency Operation plans to support up to 555,000 beneficiaries in Burkina Faso (100,000), Mali (300,000), Mauritania (95,000) and Niger (60,000) from June until December 2012. WFP has so far supported nearly 270,000 displaced people (nearly 195,000 refugees and 74,000 IDPs) and 182,000 non-displaced conflict affected people in northern Mali. The humanitarian and security conditions for the people in Northern Mali remain of major concern, and the operational context to reach people in need remains challenging. Security concerns in the neighbouring countries hosting Malian refugees are on the increase. 1 UNHCR is currently conducting Level 2 registration in Mauritania, and will start the exercise in Niger at the end of October; numbers may be adjusted accordingly. Refugee numbers in Burkina Faso were recently revised following the completion of the Level 2 registration exercise. Profiling and registration exercises continue in country. This revised figure is the result of further data collection rounds from IOM and inputs from various partners in the areas that are difficult to access (18 October). 1
Operational update Burkina Faso 34,877 Malian Refugees have been identified in Burkina Faso (3 October 2012, following level II registration), mainly across sites in the Sahel region in the north-east of the country and in the urban areas of Ouagadougou and Bobo- Dioulasso. WFP provides general food distributions to refugees, in close collaboration with Red Cross Burkina Faso, and support to children with moderate acute malnutrition. Host communities also receive assistance. Through monthly food distributions, comprising of rice, pulses, oil, salt and CSB, WFP is providing food assistance to all refugees in Burkina Faso. During the reporting period, WFP assisted the sites of Déou, Tin Edjar, and Mentao Centre, totaling 4,156 refugees, through the distribution of 70.610 MT of food. During the week of 22-28 October 2012 distributions are planned to take place in the sites of Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Gandafabou, Fererio, Gountouré Ngnégné, Dibissi, Mentao, Damba and Goudebou. WFP is providing the 110 newly relocated refugees with hot meals. WFP will continue to assist UNHCR in its relocation exercise and which envisages the transferring of 600 refugees from the site of Déou to the site of Goudebou in the coming month. Distributions to Malian Refugees in the Mentao refugee camp in Burkina Faso. WFP/Benoit Geers CILSS/WFP/FAO/FEWS NET/NGOS are undertaking country-level Cadre Harmonisé analyses in Burkina Faso from 5-9 November. The analysis should highlight the most food insecure departments in November and give an estimated number of people at risk of food insecurity for November and from December to February. Results will be presented at the Regional CILSS meeting in Niamey from 19-21 November. Mali An estimated 204,000 people are currently displaced in Mali, the majority of whom are in the northern regions of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal. Most IDPs are staying with host families though there are some informal settlements in Mopti and Bamako. To date, WFP has reached 74,421 displaced persons with food assistance. In addition, WFP has supported more than 182,000 non-displaced conflictaffected beneficiaries in Northern Mali (from May to September) through food and nutrition assistance in a challenging operational context. WFP is aiming to assist some 305,000 vulnerable people in the non-state armed group occupied regions of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal: 240,000 non-displaced food insecure people and 65,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). Food and nutrition assistance in Northern Mali is currently carried out with nine NGO partners in Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal: CARE, Africare, Handicap International, Islamic Relief, Solidarités International, Action contre la Faim, OXFAM, Norwegian Church Aid and ACTED. NGO partners are distributing the food based on established vulnerability criteria and undertake awareness sessions to reinforce beneficiary comprehension of the distribution modalities and the composition of the ration. Third party monitoring by a locally contracted NGO for this purpose is being initiated next week. Distribution to internally displaced persons from Northern Mali in Bamako, Mali. WFP/Alice Golay. 2
Blanket supplementary feeding for the prevention of acute malnutrition continues to be implemented in the North for children 6-59 months as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers. Support to this age group of children is critical to protect the most vulnerable against acute malnutrition, as full functionality of the health centers is not assured. The children receive 15 sachets of Plumpy Sup per month and pregnant women and nursing mothers will receive 8.1 kg of SuperCereal and oil. In September, nearly 32,000 children and women were assisted. In addition, preventative nutrition activities for internally displaced children aged 6-59 months are starting in Kayes region and will subsequently start in the other regions hosting people from the North. Emergency School Feeding is starting this month in Southern Mali as the new school year starts. Hot meals will be given to pupils in 290 schools located in communes identified by the Early Warning System as food insecure and hosting displaced populations. The Emergency Food Security Assessment workshop and further analysis group work, with all partners involved, took place during the first half of October. This survey focused on the situation of displaced populations and host families in the eight regions of Mali. Preliminary findings of this joint WFP/Early Warning System survey confirmed the deterioration of living conditions in the North (Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal), with prices much higher than the last five-year average, the reduction of income and purchasing power across sectors and livelihoods, low consumption scores and adoption of negative coping mechanisms (borrowing of food and cash, reduction of meals, sale of assets etc.). A joint WFP/FAO/Government Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission is planned for November 2012 and should further complement existing data on crop prospect in the country. CILSS/WFP/FAO/FEWS NET/NGOS are undertaking country-level Cadre Harmonisé analyses in Mali from 5-9 November. The analysis should highlight the most food insecure cercles (districts) in November and give an estimated number of people at risk of food insecurity for November and from December to February. Results will be presented at the Regional CILSS meeting in Niamey from 19-21 November. Mauritania 108,952 Malian refugees (17 October 2012) are registered in Mauritania, most of whom are vulnerable women and children from pastoralist or trader households. The refugees are mainly settled at the M bera camp. Alongside the provision of targeted food distributions to all refugee households, children 6-59 months with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and malnourished pregnant women and nursing mothers are receiving treatment through targeted supplementary feeding. Food distributions are being carried out on a monthly basis in partnership with the Mauritanian Government s Food Security Commission (CSA) and UNHCR. Host communities in surrounding villages also receive assistance. 108,952 Malian refugees are currently hosted in M bera refugee camp. The next food distribution round is planned to start at the end of October 2012. In face of a commodity shortfall in cereals, oil and pulses, refugees will be provided with a reduced ration of oil and pulses, while wheat will be replacing rice in order to make up for the shortfall in this commodity. Prepositioning of 1,300 mt of wheat from Nema to Bassikounou is ongoing. Six nutrition rehabilitation centers (CRENAMs) are operational in the camp. During the month of August, 1,570 children with MAM and 134 malnourished pregnant women and nursing mothers received nutritional support through targeted supplementary feeding. 2,900 children aged between 6-23 months received their preventive ration under the first round of the blanket supplementary feeding activity (11 October). CILSS/WFP/FAO/FEWS NET/NGOS are undertaking country-level Cadre Harmonisé analyses in Mauritania from 4-8 November. The analysis should highlight the most food insecure moughataas in November and give an estimated number of people at risk of food insecurity for November and from December to February. Results will be presented at the Regional CILSS meeting in Niamey from 19-21 November. 3
Niger 61,088 Malian refugees and 3,118 returnees are currently settled in Niger (12 October 2012), mainly living in camps and makeshift settlements in the severely food insecure Tahoua and Tillaberi regions of western Niger along the border with Mali. Since February, WFP has been providing food assistance to an average of 45,000 refugees per month through general food distributions and to 2,000 children aged 6-23 months through the blanket feeding programme. During the reporting period, monthly distributions were implemented and completed in Tabarébaré, Agando, Chinowaren, Mangaize and Abala sites. So far (18 October), 40,663 beneficiaries have been supported since early October with food assistance. In Banibangou, distributions started on 12 October and are still ongoing; this will be the last distribution cycle on this site as the field level agreement with cooperating partner Care International ends on 31 October. Distribution plans will be adjusted for November distributions in Abala and Mangaize to take into account potential new arrivals from Banibangou sites. In Agando and Chinowaren refugee sites of Tahoua region, nearly 7,950 refugees benefited from food support. In Abala, Tabarébaré and Mangaize camps, up 32,400 refugees were supported in October. Under the blanket supplementary feeding activity, 608 children 6-23 months have received nutritious food rations in Abala camp, Agando and Chinowaren sites in October. During food distributions, children are screened for acute malnutrition by cooperating partners, and referred to the closest health center for treatment through targeted supplementary feeding or therapeutic feeding, as necessary. There is no health center geographically accessible to Agando and Chinowaren refugee sites in Tahoua region to provide treatment for malnourished children and pregnant women and nursing mothers. Local NGO Karkarass has therefore integrated two health houses (case de santé) in Agando and Chinowaren sites to facilitate the outpatient care of malnourished refugee children. Since May, WFP has been collaborating with Karkarass to treat refugee children aged 6-59 months with MAM, and malnourished pregnant women and nursing mothers in Agando. As of today, nearly 450 children aged 6-59 months with MAM and 560 malnourished pregnant women and nursing mothers have been registered and are being treated. CILSS/WFP/FAO/FEWS NET/NGOS are undertaking country-level Cadre Harmonisé analyses in Niger from 5-9 November. The analysis should highlight the most food insecure departments in November and give an estimated number of people at risk of food insecurity for November and from December to February. Results will be presented at the Regional CILSS meeting in Niamey from 19-21 November. Resourcing While the emergency response to the Sahel crisis is coming to an end, continued funding towards longer term resilience building activities for continued support to vulnerable populations in the Sahel will be required. These activities will be implemented alongside the provision of life-saving assistance to those affected by the Mali crisis. Operations established in response to the Sahel and Mali crisis are currently being redesigned and/or extended for the next step of the response in 2013. This will lead to an increase in funding requirements of operations. Regional Emergency Operation 200438 Assistance to Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Affected by Insecurity in Mali: Requirements for the regional emergency operation amount to US$ 78.9 million, of which US$ 20.9 million still need to be resourced (27 percent). WFP is most grateful for the critical support provided by multilateral donors, as well as of Andorra, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Commission, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, UN CERF, USA, and private donors. Critical funding gaps remain for this operation to enable WFP to provide urgent food and nutrition assistance to the Malian IDPs and refugees. WFP calls on additional donor contributions to cover remaining shortfalls. This will enable WFP continue providing much required assistance for refugees and IDPs who may remain in need of assistance for the coming months. 4
Mali EMOP 200389 Assistance to drought-affected populations faces a shortfall of US$6.2 million, equivalent to 10 percent of the total needs of US$63 million. Mali/Niger Special Operation 200316 UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) is fully funded, out of a funding requirement of US$9 million. Nevertheless, as an extension into 2013 is under preparation, additional contributions funds are needed for the operation to continue. Regional Special Operation 200402 Logistics Augmentation faces a shortfall of US$4.3 million, equivalent to 65 percent of the total needs of US$6.6 million. Above operations are included in the wider Sahel response (Regional Response Framework for the Sahel) which has total requirements of USD 888 million. Current shortfalls amount to US$265 million (30%). Contact Regional Bureau for West Africa, Senegal: Thomas Yanga, Regional Director, Dakar: +221 33 849 65 00, thomas.yanga@wfp.org Claude Jibidar, Deputy Regional Director, Dakar: +221 33 849 65 00, claude.jibidar@wfp.org For further information: www.wfp.org 5