Malian refugees face food shortage as funds scarce

July 3, 2015 2:02 PM

WFP has been scrambling to cover food supplies to the camp after a shipment was delayed from the United States. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, which manages the camp, has not been able to find an alternative.

Elah, 7, (L) and Tahye Iselkou, 5, lie next to a box draped with a picture of U.S. President Barack Obama on the floor of their shelter at Mbera refugee camp in southern Mauritania, May 24, 2012. REUTERS/Joe Penney

Thousands of Malian refugees are facing food shortages in Mauritania because of a delayed rations shipment and a shortage of funding, as donors juggle several global crises, an official from the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

About 50,000 refugees fled to the Mbera camp after the outbreak of a conflict three years ago in neighbouring northern Mali between Tuareg separatists and government forces.

Though a peace agreement was signed by the separatists last month, violence still simmers in Mali, preventing refugees from returning home. Five peacekeepers were killed in an attack on a U.N. convoy on Thursday claimed by al Qaeda's north African arm, AQIM.

Janne Suvanto, WFP representative for Mauritania, said it was only able to provide food to the most vulnerable, including lactating women and children younger than five. The camp hopes to receive a small shipment of rice from neighbouring Senegal.

"When the food from the U.S. will come, that will cover two to three months of food, but after that, there is nothing,” Suvanto said.

The camp needs $12 million of food a year for its 50,000 refugees but has received less than half that amount from donors, he said.

Ursula Schulze Aboubacar, UNHCR Mauritania representative, said it also had a big budgetary shortfall: “There are many conflicts in the world competing for funds,” she said.

In March, food rations were canceled completely due to lack of funding. In June, rice rations were halved from 12 to 5.4 kg per person.

Malnourishment had declined since the camp opened but representatives from WFP and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said that progress could be reversed.

While some refugees have tried to keep livestock and grow gardens, they face scorching temperatures, sandstorms and drought.

"People are already fasting during daylight hours for the month of Ramadan and now they have little food to break their fast at sunset," said Maya Walet Mohamed, head of the camp’s women’s committee.