The United Nations has warned against an “endless cycle of instability” in Mali that can lead to food insecurity and millions of children being sent out of school.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, says the insecurity and humanitarian situation in the country have deteriorated.

Mr Wane told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that a decade after civil conflict erupted in Mali, hopes for an early resolution of insurgency and strife had not materialised.

Instead, the UN top envoy explained that “insecurity has expanded, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated. More children are out of school and the country has been affected by an endless cycle of instability.

“In fact, more than 1.8 million people are expected to need food assistance in 2022, compared to 1.3 million in 2021, the highest level of food insecurity recorded since 2014.’’

According to him, more than half a million children have been affected by school closures, which the envoy believes puts “the future of the country in jeopardy”.

Despite these challenges, Mr Wane argued that the situation “would have been far worse” without the engagement of the international community, including the deployment of the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) in 2013.

(NAN)