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Abu Dhabi / WAM
The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), have announced that it is to build nine “pilot” villages in northern Mali to support thousands of displaced people in the region.
The villages are to be built at a cost of over AED2.2 million and will shelter around 38,625 people. Each village will include a school, a dispensary, an artesian well, and a mosque, as well as small projects to provide a stable source of income for those in need, and improve their economic conditions.
Over the past years, civil war and conflict in northern Mali have led to the displacement of thousands of families resulting in a critical humanitarian situation, which was exacerbated further by natural disasters, including drought and desertification, causing major food shortages.
In cooperation with a number of international and local humanitarian organisations, the ERC has embarked on several development projects to help the population face difficult living conditions.
Through their work with the Mali Red Cross, the ERC will implement the pilot villages project in areas including Kidal and Timbuktu.
Arrangements for the implementation of the first phase of the project, which includes five villages in the most displaced areas, have already begun.