|
|
 |
View Additional Info
JUNE 16, 2005 UPDATE: A double blow of bad rains and locusts has brought the southern Sahara to the verge of famine.
These past few weeks some very disturbing reports have been emerging from Northern Mali. Last year a meagre rainy season was followed by an invasion of locusts which destroyed many already depeleted pastures and crops in the area. Millions of people now face starvation, malnutrition and destitution. Even if this year’s rains, which are due any day, are good, it will not bring much respite to the thousands of nomadic herders who have already seen their livestock wiped out and their livelihoods eradicated.
I recently spoke to Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, guitarist and signer with the Touareg band Tinariwen, who is in the group’s hometown of Kidal in northeastern Mali. He told me that though people are used to hardships during amekessou, the hot season which immediately precedes the rains, this year the situation is critical. Most of his family, who normally live out in the desert and rarely come to town, are now taking refuge in Kidal. Wells in the region have dried up, nomads have seen their herds decimated, half the population are facing food shortages, one in three children under five are facing malnutrition and only half of the food aid promised by the government has arrived. Some say that water-shortages are now worse than they were during the historic droughts of ’73 – ’74 and ’84 – ’85, which were among the main contributing factors to the political and social upheavals that lead to the Touareg rebellion in the early 1990s.
This dire situation is replicated throughout the southern Sahara, from Mauretania to The Sudan. International news organisations, especially those in France, have already given the crisis some coverage but huge amounts of aid is now required in order to stave off a full-blown famine and prevent further long-term social and political degradation.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Various NGOs and aid organisations are already actively trying to help in northern Mali, and they all need funds and support. These include Oxfam, ACORD, Action Contre La Faim, Medecins Sans Frontières and SOS Sahel.
However this a special appeal on behalf of the Paris based ASSOCIATION AKASSA SAHEL, who have been active in the Kidal region of northeastern Mali since 2002. Akassa’s director, Aboubacrine Ag Rhissa, is seeking to raise around 5,000 Euros to fund a food and animal feed distribution drive in the area. For more information please visit Akassa’s website at www.akassa.org.
Those who feel able to help should make a donation by bank transfer to:
BANK: La Poste
ADDRESS: Centre Financier de Paris, 75900 Paris Cheques, France
BANK CODE: 30041
GUICHET CODE: 00001
ACCOUNT NAME: Associaion Akassa Sahel
ACCOUNT No.: 5853075 Z 020
CLÉ RIB: 57
IBAN NUMBER: FR7030041000012853075Z0257
If you’d like to contact Aboubacrine directly, his e-mail is info@akassa.org and his address is
6 rue Albert Camus, F-75010 Paris, France.
Many thanks for your time and your support,
Andy Morgan – Manager, Tinariwen
Andy.morgan@apartment22.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THESE WEBSITES:
IN ENGLISH:
Famine Emergency Warning System: www.fews.net
Mali closest neighbour Niger is on EMERGENCY status. “Around 2.5 million people need emergency assistance.
Oxfam: www.oxfam.org.uk
“Four million people at risk of a humanitarian disaster in West Africa”
Relief Web: www.reliefweb.int
“Famine and malnutrition loom after double jeopardy of locusts and drought”
Islamic Relief: www.irw.org
World Vision: donate.wvus.org
ACORD: www.acord.org.uk
SOS Sahel: www.sahel.org.uk
Medecins Sans Frontières: www.msf.org
IN FRENCH:
Kidal Info: www.kidal.info
Action Contre La Faim: www.acf-fr.org
Association Akassa: www.akassa.org
Additional Info
The Blue Men’s Blues:Tinariwen Tours the USA in April 2006
JUNE 16, 2005 UPDATE: A double blow of bad rains and locusts has ...
Top of Press Release
|
|
 |
|
|
|
