The European Commission will help respond to the escalating crisis in Mali with €20 million. The new emergency funding will be used to help severely malnourished children, to assist about 100,000 refugees from Mali in neighboring countries, and to provide up to 150,000 people in Mali affected by the ongoing fighting with food and basic services.

€20 million will be allocated as emergency humanitarian aid from the EU to help respond to the escalating crisis in Mali. European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva stressed that by acting early and coordinating the international response the EU was able to avert the worst effects of the food crisis, here and in the rest of the Sahel, bringing relief to some 18 million people. In addition, the Council also launched a mission to support the training and reorganisation of the Malian Armed Forces.

Malians displaced by last year's fighting – 145,000 refugees and 200,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) – are joined by newcomers in camps set up in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger and in villages and towns of southern Mali. According to the Commission, a large-scale emergency response is needed on two fronts: to address additional needs caused by the conflict and to limit the toll of food insecurity and malnutrition.

The humanitarian situation in Mali is increasingly volatile. Intense fighting is causing population displacements while humanitarian organisations are struggling to access certain areas. The new emergency funding will be used to help severely malnourished children, to assist about 100,000 refugees from Mali in neighbouring countries, and to provide up to 150,000 people in Mali affected by the ongoing fighting with food and basic services.