MALI CARE and its local partners plan to start food distribution in Timbuktu

CARE calls for one million US dollars to respond to most urgent needs

January 31, 2013 (BAMAKO, Mali): As fighting has subsided in Timbuktu, CARE International and its local partners are ready to restart activities and support both returnees and people who have remained in the conflict-torn city. In the next days, CARE will distribute over 18,000 metric tonnes of food to more than 131,000 people.

“We know that people in Timbuktu have gone through a great deal of suffering, and have been forced to take tough decisions,” said Claudine Mensah Awute, Country Director with CARE Mali.

“Those who remained have not only been living in fear for nearly a year, but were cut off from everything. Schools, clinics have been shut down. There has been a lack of electricity and water. Food prices have been rising steeply, in some areas of northern Mali skyrocketing up to 90 percent. Those who fled–often women with their children or children by themselves–have been separated from their husbands or fathers. They have been living from one day to another, relying on good-hearted relatives or assistance from aid organisations, such as CARE. Many are ready to return to Timbuktu but they know that there is little to nothing waiting for them back home. In the next days, food supplies provided by the World Food Programme will arrive in Timbuktu and CARE and its partners are on the ground, ready to distribute this food to people in need,” said Awute.

CARE calls for US$1 million to assist Malians in need and respond to their most urgent needs over the coming three months.

“The fact that during the recent Donors Conference in Ethiopia, over $450 million was provided to support military operations demonstrates the ability of the international community to mobilise resources for Mali. There is a need for a similar level of commitment and mobilisation to meet urgent humanitarian needs,” said Awute.

There are significant unmet humanitarian needs in both Mali and in neighbouring countries hosting refugees. Since 11 January alone, more than 15,000 people have fled the country, and over 9,000 people have been displaced in southern Mali. According to OCHA, there are now nearly 400,000 Malians displaced because of the conflict.

CARE’s recent assessments in Ségou indicate that internally displaced people (IDPs) need immediate access to not only food, but also water, adequate shelter, kitchen utensils, blankets, mats, mosquito nets and soap.

In Ségou and Mopti, two of the five areas in most need of assistance, CARE has already been supporting displaced people and host families with food and basic relief items such as mosquito nets, soap, kitchen utensils, tarps, blankets and sleeping mats. To date, CARE has reached 22,000 people with food.

Learn more about the situation in Mali and CARE's response here.

Media contacts:
Adel Sarkozi (Bamako), [email protected], +22374066737
Sandra Bulling (Geneva), [email protected], +41792056951
Brian Feagans (Atlanta), [email protected], +1 4044574644

About CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to help lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. CARE has been working in Mali since 1975. Last year, CARE worked in 84 countries around the world to assist more than 122 million people improve basic health and education, fight hunger, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity, confront climate change, and recover from disasters.