Mali — humanitarian situation

Mali faces compounding humanitarian pressures following a crisis on 25 April 2026 that disrupted assistance delivery and education services, particularly in central and northern regions. All 16 schools in Kidal region have remained closed since late April, affecting over 2,900 students including more than 1,400 girls (WFP). The operational environment remains complex and evolving, constraining humanitarian access and response capacity (UNHCR). The country continues to receive cross-border displacement from Burkina Faso, with UNHCR and the Commission nationale chargée des réfugiés monitoring approximately 1,419 households—totaling 4,257 individuals—who arrived recently in Koro cercle, Bandiagara region. Following the April crisis, WFP rapidly restored emergency food and nutrition assistance, reaching over 132,000 people between 30 April and 31 May across central and northern regions, including displaced populations and refugees. The Education Cluster is actively monitoring school operations and advancing advocacy for teachers, though specific enrollment figures and the number of non-functional schools were not detailed in available documents. WFP has activated emergency response measures to address food insecurity, though the scale of need remains substantial. Regional food security is deteriorating under projected El Niño conditions, which most forecasts indicate will reach at least moderate strength by mid-2026, with a strong event increasingly possible (OCHA, IFRC, IASC). Drier-than-normal conditions are expected initially in parts of the Sahel, followed by above-normal rainfall forecast for northern Africa from September onwards associated with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (FAO). These climate dynamics arrive amid record global temperatures and could significantly affect agricultural and pastoral livelihoods in a country where land degradation and desertification already limit productive capacity. The window for anticipatory action is narrowing as the El Niño event develops (Welthungerhilfe).