Mali

CRS distributes emergency food to people who were forced from their homes when violence intensified in March 2012. Photo by CRS staff

CRS distributes emergency food to people who were forced from their homes when violence intensified in March 2012. Photo by CRS staff

Since 1999 the Mali program is focused on development projects primarily in rural areas. The work includes programs in education, agriculture, health, microfinance, and water and sanitation. In November 2011, the program became emergency focused with the arrival of displaced persons from northern Mali. In March 2012, there was a coup and an immediate occupation of the northern regions by armed groups. It caused massive population displacement toward the southern regions and to neighboring countries: Niger, Burkina, Mauritania. This crisis came on the heels of a drought in 2011, followed by large-scale flooding during the 2012 rainy season. The Malian government, with support from ECOWAS, the UN and bilateral donors, will attempt to reclaim its northern territories in September 2013, creating fears for an even, larger humanitarian crisis.

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Stats

Population:15,494,466 (July 2012 est.)
Size:478,841 sq. mi.; slightly less than twice the size of Texas
People Served:843,518 (2012 est.)

History

Catholic Relief Services began work in Mali in 1999, with an education food assistance program in Mopti (central Mali) as a sub-office of the Burkina Faso program. In 2007, Mali became a full country program. Education, agro-enterprise, microfinance, nutrition, food security, emergency and health are the core domains of intervention for a total value of $22 million in FY13. Three international and 96 national staff members run the program from both the Mopti and Bamako offices.

Programs

Agriculture
Education
Disaster Response
Microfinance
Safety Net
Water and Sanitation
Other


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