For many years, life in the West African Sahel country of Mali has been characterised by armed conflict, political instability and violence between different population groups. According to the UN, a third of the population is dependent on humanitarian aid. 26% of all children up to the age of five are chronically malnourished. Famine is looming, especially in the war-torn north of the country.

The United Nations World Food Programme, WFP, can provide valuable help. Around 1.2 million people in Mali receive food from the WFP. Children as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women are provided with special nutrition and food supplements.

However, due to inadequate funding of the aid programme the WFP can now only focus on the most urgent cases. In the summer, merely 30% of the people affected by the food crisis were able to get help. Liechtenstein is therefore making a much-needed contribution to the WFP's humanitarian emergency aid programme in Mali.