(Jul. 23) – It was held yesterday at the airport of Ouagadougou a ceremony for the delivery of humanitarian aid from the Italian government. The Italian Minister for International Cooperation Andrea Riccardi has virtually delivered in the hands of UNHCR representatives 31 tons of material (medicines, tents, water purification units, food), prepared by the Directorate General for Development Cooperation. All the stuff are directed to the refugee camp that is hosting people fleeing from Mali. The humanitarian goods are part of the Italian Cooperation actions in response to the severe humanitarian crisis that is affecting the Sahel, where the already precarious food security situation has recently engaged an additional emergency determined by the conflict undergoing in Mali, which has so far caused the flight of 200,000 people to neighboring countries (of which 80 thousand in Burkina Faso) and over 150,000 displaced persons. Riccardi, accompanied by Director General of Development Cooperation Elisabetta Belloni, then visited the refugee camp in Somgandé, a few kilometers from the capital, where 2000 Malians are hosted by the UNHCR. “The situation in Mali is very serious. We have to be close to the refugees, who are in a desperate situation since several months, and also be thankful to the authorities of Burkina that, despite their internal problems, have made a considerable effort to address the emergency.”
