A group of 13 NGOs urged the international community to grant humanitarian exceptions to sanctions imposed on Mali so that aid can reach Malians suffering from insecurity and food crisis
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2022) A group of 13 NGOs urged the international community to grant humanitarian exceptions to sanctions imposed on Mali so that aid can reach Malians suffering from insecurity and food crisis.
The European Union said last week that it was planning to support the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sanctions imposed on Mali on January 9.
"Malians are already bearing the brunt of the humanitarian catastrophe, punctuated by horrifying attacks against civilians. Sanctions must not hold us back from delivering essential assistance in a country," Director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Mali Elena Vicario said in a statement published on NRC's website.
This statement was signed by 13 organizations including NRC, International Rescue Committee (IRC), CARE, Danish Refugee Council, and others. They demanded urgent measures that could ease the delivery of humanitarian aid to Malians.
More than a third of Mali's population or 7.5 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance with 1.2 million facing food shortages. Millions of Malians are suffering from "drought, rising insecurity, and the economic impacts of COVID-19," according to the statement.
"Despite more than a third of the country's population being dependent on humanitarian aid, organizations working in Mali already face severe access constraints. It's imperative that the international community keeps responding to people's urgent needs, and that any new sanctions have concrete humanitarian exemptions," Franck Vannetelle, IRC Country Director in Mali, said in the statement.
Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop announced in November 2021 that presidential and parliamentary elections initially scheduled for early 2022 in Mali would be postponed until 2025 due to the volatile security situation across the country. The move prompted ECOWAS leaders to deride Mali's military authorities and impose sanctions on the country on January 9.
In response, Malian authorities recalled ambassadors to the ECOWAS member states and closed land and air borders with them.
