Guyana helps displaced Malians

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:01 by GxMedia

Guyana has donated US$10,000 to assist Malian Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees.

The money is being funneled through the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a senior Foreign Ministry official here confirmed.

ReliefWeb reported that fllowing the appeal made by the OIC Secretary General, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, to assist Malian IDPs and refugees, the Governments of the Republics of Cameroon and Guyana donated respectively, US dollars 100,000 and 10,000 to alleviate the plight of the most vulnerable and needy Malian people who have been badly affected by this current crisis unfolding in their country.

The OIC Secretary General expressed his gratitude to the Representatives of Cameroon and Guyana and informed them that the funds will be used to assist IDPs who have recently returned to Northern Mali after several months spent away from their houses and separated from their loved ones.

Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu reiterated his pressing appeals to all OIC Member States and the international community to generously donate to Mali which needs their assistance to tackle the daunting challenges of development and food insecurity.

The conflict dates back to January when thousands of French troops landed in Mali to  halt an Islamist advance and help the government re-establish its authority over the African country.

Mali is bordered by Algeria to the north, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania to the west.

Its size is just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi) with a population of 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako.