The UN Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator in Mauritania, Joyce Msuya, has allocated 3 million dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support Malian refugees who have sought safety in the country.
The Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Mr Stephane Dujarric, disclosed this at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.
Dujarric said the funds would support the provision of life-saving assistance, including in the health and nutrition sectors, for more than 100,000 people – both Malian refugees and host communities – in the Hodh Chargui region, in the east of the country.
“As of July 2024, this region was hosting over 260,000 displaced people, putting severe pressure on local resources and services and the health sector.
“Mauritania has hosted a significant number of refugees, mainly from Mali, since 2013,’’ he said.
In a related development, Dujarric said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Syria had carried out a cross-line interagency assessment mission to Al-Kisrah district in Deir-ez-Zor for the first time since 2018.
According to him, the assessment took place on September 1.
“The inter-agency team met with local communities and visited essential service points, including water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, health facilities and markets.
“Al-Kisrah was impacted by the recent escalation of hostilities in Deir-ez-Zor, which resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths.
“The resurgence in hostilities, along with the closure of crossing points along the Euphrates River, have interrupted access to healthcare, water and food, and driven up already-high prices.
“More than 85 per cent of the population of Al-Kisrah, which is on the eastern side of the Euphrates, needs humanitarian assistance, including those at seven sites hosting some 22,000 displaced people.”
