UNITED NATIONS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Increasing violence in Mali is the worst in 10 years, with the number of people requiring aid doubling in five years, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.
"The situation in Mali has significantly deteriorated over the past six months due to increasing conflict and intercommunal clashes," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The number of Malians requiring humanitarian assistance, 7.5 million, means one in three Malians need aid, compared with 3.8 million in 2017.
"We face increasing challenges in humanitarian access in central, northern and eastern Mali due to the presence of armed groups and military operations," OCHA said. With 1.8 million people needing food assistance, it translates to a more than 50 percent increase compared to 2021.
"As of this month, only 16 percent of the 685 million U.S. dollars we need for the humanitarian response this year has been received," said OCHA. ■
