The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament said on Tuesday that it would find lasting solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Mali and the entire sub-region.
The Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Moustapha Cisse Lo, said this when he led a delegation of parliamentarians on a fact-finding mission to Mopti and Bamako in Mali.
The mission was to know the situation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the area.
Cisse Lo, also called on the Malian authorities to intensify its efforts in fostering peace and reconciliation among state actors to end the deadly attacks on it’s citizen.
“This situation has informed the decision by the ECOWAS Parliament to conduct a fact finding mission to Mali to review the condition of the internally displaced, especially those in Mopti and Bamako.
“The visit is aimed at creating an opportunity to express the Parliament’s solidarity with the Malian authorities following the large numbers of victims of terrorist attacks and communal clashes, most recently the one in Ogossagou (the Mopti region in Mali) in which almost two hundred people were killed.
“Mali has been experiencing security challenges since March 2012, following a military coup by separatists and terrorists groups who occupied over two thirds of the country for almost one year.
“For the ECOWAS Parliament, the representative Assembly of the people of the Community, the plight of the vulnerable population groups, including the internally displaced in Mali, has been a constant source of concern,” he said.
Cisse Lo, however, gave an assurance that appropriate actions would be taken to come up lasting solutions to humanitarian crisis in the sub-region.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that since the beginning of 2019, there has been an upsurge in insecurity in central Mali where recent deadly terrorist attacks and communal conflicts have triggered a new wave of displaced persons.
However, Minister of Health, Mali, Mr Michel Sidibe, said that the situation was quite serious, adding that the government was making concerted efforts to ensure peace in the country.
He said that the conflict had displaced more than 50,000 people in the region alone.
”These displaced people have been moving around and do not know where to go, so we have established camps for assistance, they can have access to shelter, water, food, health and also a temporary school so that children can have something to learn during this period.
“But most of the people here want to go back home, they don’t want to stay here but I am so happy that the ECOWAS Parliament is here to help in the fostering of peace and reconciliation.
“We believe that because we are one people from the same region and country, so we cannot be divided.
”I think the health situation is a very difficult one because for most of the people, access is a major problem, so what we have been trying to do is to position eight million CFA to make sure those people suffering will have access to health aid especially the children,” he said
Sidibe, however, said that the Malian government had already begun working to bring together parties to lead the fora for reconciliation and peace building especially between the Fulani and Dogon tribes in the region. (NAN)