MALI: FOOD:
Food aid taking too long

5/31/2012 4:56:27 AM
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SEGOU - Food aid for war displaced people in the southern Mali town of Ségou is taking too long. Thousands of civilians are often seen queuing for long periods of time waiting for food parcels from the World Food Programme. - Mali is plagued by political infighting, in January Tuareg rebels launched an uprising in northern Mali which the government struggled to contain. Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré was toppled by a coup on Mar. 22, and immediately after that, the Tuareg rebels, alongside various Islamist groups, took complete control of the northern part of the country. On May 20, the World Food Programme launched an operation to distribute basic foodstuffs in this region of the country. In Ségou, WFP distributed 18 tonnes of supplies to families who have taken in IDPs. According to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), nearly 320,000 people have fled the conflict in the north since January, with 160,000 now in refugee camps in neighbouring Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania. (END/RADIO BULLETIN EDITOR/2012)

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