Two NGOs warn of the dramatic situation in the country in terms of violence and malnutrition

Three years ago, the military took power in the country. But while the junta was able to create illusions for a while, it seems that today Mali is sinking into poverty and violence, an opinion that seems to be shared by those working in the Sahel.

In Mali, the more months pass, the worsening the situation becomes. This week, two reports, which have nothing to do with each other, have just drawn up a dramatic assessment of the situation in Mali.

The first report to sound the alarm is that of the Action Against Hunger association. The NGO warns that the World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds for child malnutrition have been exceeded. In the northeast of the country, in the displaced persons camps around Gao, we can talk about acute malnutrition in children aged 6 months to 5 years, which represents 1.5 million children who do not have enough to eat.

This dramatic situation is amplified by a whole series of problems. Food insecurity is added to the lack of access to health services, poverty in certain regions, and forced displacement of populations. In addition, crops have yielded very meager harvests, due in particular to terrorism and war.

Action Against Hunger explains that it tries to intervene as much as possible in the camps where the NGO is present, but that it is overwhelmed by needs that are immense. In these refugee camps, displaced Malians are, in fact, joined by displaced people from neighboring Burkina Faso.

In addition to this dramatic humanitarian situation, the political situation is also catastrophic according to another report, that of ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data). The NGO ACLED is an organization that records victims of conflicts all over the world. Its meticulous count is coupled with the most objective work possible on those responsible for the massacres and deaths. Thus ACLED points the finger at the action of the Russians in Mali, with the presence on site of the famous paramilitary groups such as Wagner or the Corps Afrique group.

The NGO is categorical in its statements: the intensification of Russian military activities in Mali is correlated with the violence suffered by civilians. Russian soldiers do not distinguish between jihadists and the population and the methods are radical. ACLED mentions beheadings, summary shootings, victims burned, even when the latter are still alive. The report speaks of a shift into horror, with a situation on the ground that is difficult to verify, there are no more journalists in particular.

Mali is sinking, and it is the military in power who will have to take responsibility for the situation. We are no longer in 2022, when the junta could blame the West and France for the failures related to the war that was sweeping through the country. Three years after taking power, the junta chased France and Operation Barkhane out of the area a long time ago. It is now the Russians and the Malian military who are responsible. They must take responsibility for the situation, as well as the deterioration of this situation, before the Malians. Last week, another 15 Malian soldiers were killed in the center of the country.