UK backs diplomacy to solve Mali crisis, gives £5.4m to food crisis
Britain is in favor of a diplomatic approach in solving the Malian crisis, where rebel groups have partitioned the country with their occupation of the north, Stephen O’Brien, the country’s Development Minister has said.
In the wake of last March military coup in Mali, the MNLA rebels and their Amsar Dine and their AQMIN rebel partners overran and occupied Kidal, Gao and Timbucktu holding firmly onto the northern region.
British International Development Minister O’Brien told West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) on a visit to Senegal on Thursday, that Britain supports efforts being made by ECOWAS and the African Union to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Click audio below to listen to O’Brien’s chat with WADR’s Kara Thioune.
Meanwhile, the British International Development Minister during a Dakar news conference spoke of the insight he got on the grave humanitarian situation in the Sahel region as a result of the drought and the Malian conflict, after his trips to Niger, Burkina Faso and rural Senegal.
O’Brien wanted to see for himself how British aid is helping thousands of people survive the food crisis hitting many parts of West Africa.
The British minister used the opportunity of his visit to announce his country will be giving an additional 5.4 million pounds to further support the response to the Sahel food crisis.
In another vein, a British development institute has said the world's poorest countries will receive a 238 billion dollars hit from Europe's sovereign debt crisis. This is said to be the knock-on effects from weak growth and austerity in the single currency zone affect trade, aid, investment and remittances.
A study by the Overseas Development Institute showed export-dependent emerging nations were vulnerable to a prolonged downturn in Europe triggered by fears of a break-up of monetary union.
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